Global exponential stabilization of a force- and torque-actuated unicycle by flexible-step MPC

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Kolsi, Ala, Ebenbauer, Christian, Gharesifard, Bahman, Suttner, Raik
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Kolsi, Ala
Ebenbauer, Christian
Gharesifard, Bahman
Suttner, Raik
author_facet Kolsi, Ala
Ebenbauer, Christian
Gharesifard, Bahman
Suttner, Raik
contents We study the problem of global exponential stabilization of a force- and torque-controlled unicycle model in discrete time. To this end, we extend a recently introduced approach to model predictive control (MPC) in which a flexible number of inputs is implemented in every iteration. We present the first flexible-step MPC protocol with state-dependent weights for average descent. Notably, the proposed method relies neither on a suitable design of running or terminal cost functions nor on a suitable choice of terminal constraints. Instead, stability is guaranteed through a generalized discrete-time control Lyapunov function. We establish a new theoretical framework for global exponential stabilization of general nonlinear discrete-time control systems by flexible-step MPC. The obtained results go beyond the unicycle example. However, given the importance of the unicycle dynamics, we make that a focal point of our work. For the particular case of the dynamic (second-order) unicycle model, we show that global exponential stability cannot be attained in the classical sense, but in a slightly weaker sense. The proposed flexible-step MPC method is shown to induce the best possible notion of global exponential stability for this model. We provide explicit rules for the choice of parameters, which guarantee feasibility and global exponential stability. Our numerical simulations show that the discrete MPC method also works very well in applications to a continuous-time torque-actuated unicycle.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_03726
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Global exponential stabilization of a force- and torque-actuated unicycle by flexible-step MPC
Kolsi, Ala
Ebenbauer, Christian
Gharesifard, Bahman
Suttner, Raik
Optimization and Control
Systems and Control
We study the problem of global exponential stabilization of a force- and torque-controlled unicycle model in discrete time. To this end, we extend a recently introduced approach to model predictive control (MPC) in which a flexible number of inputs is implemented in every iteration. We present the first flexible-step MPC protocol with state-dependent weights for average descent. Notably, the proposed method relies neither on a suitable design of running or terminal cost functions nor on a suitable choice of terminal constraints. Instead, stability is guaranteed through a generalized discrete-time control Lyapunov function. We establish a new theoretical framework for global exponential stabilization of general nonlinear discrete-time control systems by flexible-step MPC. The obtained results go beyond the unicycle example. However, given the importance of the unicycle dynamics, we make that a focal point of our work. For the particular case of the dynamic (second-order) unicycle model, we show that global exponential stability cannot be attained in the classical sense, but in a slightly weaker sense. The proposed flexible-step MPC method is shown to induce the best possible notion of global exponential stability for this model. We provide explicit rules for the choice of parameters, which guarantee feasibility and global exponential stability. Our numerical simulations show that the discrete MPC method also works very well in applications to a continuous-time torque-actuated unicycle.
title Global exponential stabilization of a force- and torque-actuated unicycle by flexible-step MPC
topic Optimization and Control
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.03726