Physics-guided gated recurrent units for inversion-based feedforward control

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lin, Mingdao, Bolderman, Max, Lazar, Mircea
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lin, Mingdao
Bolderman, Max
Lazar, Mircea
author_facet Lin, Mingdao
Bolderman, Max
Lazar, Mircea
contents Inversion-based feedforward control relies on an accurate model that describes the inverse system dynamics. The gated recurrent unit (GRU), which is a recent architecture in recurrent neural networks, is a strong candidate for obtaining such a model from data. However, due to their black-box nature, GRUs face challenges such as limited interpretability and vulnerability to overfitting. Recently, physics-guided neural networks (PGNNs) have been introduced, which integrate the prior physical model structure into the prediction process. This approach not only improves training convergence, but also facilitates the learning of a physics-based model. In this work, we integrate a GRU in the PGNN framework to obtain a PG-GRU, based on which we adopt a two-step approach to feedforward control design. First, we adopt stable inversion techniques to design a stable linear model of the inverse dynamics. Then, a GRU trained on the residual is tailored to inverse system identification. The resulting PG-GRU feedforward controller is validated by means of real-life experiments on a two-mass spring-damper system, where it demonstrates roughly a two-fold improvement compared to the linear feedforward and a preview-based GRU feedforward in terms of the integral absolute error.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14052
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Physics-guided gated recurrent units for inversion-based feedforward control
Lin, Mingdao
Bolderman, Max
Lazar, Mircea
Systems and Control
Inversion-based feedforward control relies on an accurate model that describes the inverse system dynamics. The gated recurrent unit (GRU), which is a recent architecture in recurrent neural networks, is a strong candidate for obtaining such a model from data. However, due to their black-box nature, GRUs face challenges such as limited interpretability and vulnerability to overfitting. Recently, physics-guided neural networks (PGNNs) have been introduced, which integrate the prior physical model structure into the prediction process. This approach not only improves training convergence, but also facilitates the learning of a physics-based model. In this work, we integrate a GRU in the PGNN framework to obtain a PG-GRU, based on which we adopt a two-step approach to feedforward control design. First, we adopt stable inversion techniques to design a stable linear model of the inverse dynamics. Then, a GRU trained on the residual is tailored to inverse system identification. The resulting PG-GRU feedforward controller is validated by means of real-life experiments on a two-mass spring-damper system, where it demonstrates roughly a two-fold improvement compared to the linear feedforward and a preview-based GRU feedforward in terms of the integral absolute error.
title Physics-guided gated recurrent units for inversion-based feedforward control
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14052