Boundary Control of Nonlinear Distributed Parameter Systems by Input-Output Linearization

The present study focuses on boundary control of nonlinear distributed parameter systems and deals with Dirichlet actuation. Thus, a design approach of a geometric control law that enforces stability and output tracking of a given punctual output is developed based on the notion of the characteristic index. The control performance of the proposed strategy is evaluated through numerical simulation by considering two control problems. The former concerns the control of the temperature of a thin metal rod modelled by a heat equation with a nonlinear source, and the later concerns the control of concentration of a dye in liquid medium modeled by Fick law with nonconstant diffusivity.