On the Minimum Number of Control Laws for Nonlinear Systems with Input-Output Linearisation Singularities

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Auteur principal: Tantaroudas, Nikolaos D.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Tantaroudas, Nikolaos D.
author_facet Tantaroudas, Nikolaos D.
contents This paper addresses the fundamental question of determining the minimum number of distinct control laws required for global controllability of nonlinear systems that exhibit singularities in their feedback linearising controllers. We introduce and rigorously prove the (k+1)-Controller Lemma, which establishes that for an nth order single-input single-output nonlinear system with a singularity manifold parameterised by k algebraically independent conditions, exactly k+1 distinct control laws are necessary and sufficient for complete state-space coverage. The sufficiency proof is constructive, employing the approximate linearisation methodology together with transversality arguments from differential topology. The necessity proof proceeds by contradiction, using the Implicit Function Theorem, a dimension-counting argument and structural constraints inherent to the approximate linearisation framework. The result is validated through exhaustive analysis of the ball-and-beam system, a fourth-order mechanical system that exhibits a two-parameter singularity at the third output derivative.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_18947
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Minimum Number of Control Laws for Nonlinear Systems with Input-Output Linearisation Singularities
Tantaroudas, Nikolaos D.
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Systems and Control
This paper addresses the fundamental question of determining the minimum number of distinct control laws required for global controllability of nonlinear systems that exhibit singularities in their feedback linearising controllers. We introduce and rigorously prove the (k+1)-Controller Lemma, which establishes that for an nth order single-input single-output nonlinear system with a singularity manifold parameterised by k algebraically independent conditions, exactly k+1 distinct control laws are necessary and sufficient for complete state-space coverage. The sufficiency proof is constructive, employing the approximate linearisation methodology together with transversality arguments from differential topology. The necessity proof proceeds by contradiction, using the Implicit Function Theorem, a dimension-counting argument and structural constraints inherent to the approximate linearisation framework. The result is validated through exhaustive analysis of the ball-and-beam system, a fourth-order mechanical system that exhibits a two-parameter singularity at the third output derivative.
title On the Minimum Number of Control Laws for Nonlinear Systems with Input-Output Linearisation Singularities
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18947