A new time-discretization for delay multiple-input nonlinear systems using the Taylor method and first order hold

Abstract

A new discretization method is proposed for multi-input-driven nonlinear continuous systems with time-delays, based on a combination of the Taylor series expansion and the first-order hold (FOH) assumption. The mathematical structure of the new discretization scheme is explored. On the basis of this structure, the sampled-data representation of the time-delayed multi-input nonlinear system is derived. First the new approach is applied to nonlinear systems with two inputs, and then the delayed multi-input general equation is derived. The resulting time discretization method provides a finite-dimensional representation for multi-input nonlinear systems with time-delays, thereby enabling the application of existing controller design techniques to such systems.