This second of three volumes from the inaugural NODYCON, held at the University of Rome, in February of 2019, presents papers devoted to Nonlinear Dynamics and Control. The collection features both well-established streams of research as well as novel areas and emerging fields of investigation. Topics in Volume II include influence of nonlinearities on vibration control systems; passive, semi-active, active control of structures and systems; synchronization; robotics and human-machine interaction; network dynamics control (multi-agent systems, leader-follower dynamics, swarm dynamics, biological networks dynamics); and fractional-order control.

This work presents overviews of Soviet research on nonlinear dynamics, particularly as applied to uncertain systems in a deterministic setting. The book concentrates on the three main branches of uncertain dynamics: differential games; evolution, estimation and control; and robust stabilization.

This treatment of modern topics related to the control of nonlinear systems is a collection of contributions celebrating the work of Professor Henk Nijmeijer and honoring his 60th birthday. It addresses several topics that have been the core of Professor Nijmeijer’s work, namely: the control of nonlinear systems, geometric control theory, synchronization, coordinated control, convergent systems and the control of underactuated systems. The book presents recent advances in these areas, contributed by leading international researchers in systems and control. In addition to the theoretical questions treated in the text, particular attention is paid to a number of applications including (mobile) robotics, marine vehicles, neural dynamics and mechanical systems generally. This volume provides a broad picture of the analysis and control of nonlinear systems for scientists and engineers with an interest in the interdisciplinary field of systems and control theory. The reader will benefit from the expert participants’ ideas on important open problems with contributions that represent the state of the art in nonlinear control.

This volume deals with controllability and observability properties of nonlinear systems, as well as various ways to obtain input-output representations. The emphasis is on fundamental notions as (controlled) invariant distributions and submanifolds, together with algorithms to compute the required feedbacks.

The interest of the applied mechanics community in chaotic dynamics of engineering systems has exploded in the last fifteen years, although research activity on nonlinear dynamical problems in mechanics started well before the end of the Eighties. It developed first within the general context of the classical theory of nonlinear oscillations, or nonlinear vibrations, and of the relevant engineering applications. This was an extremely fertile field in terms of formulation of mechanical and mathematical models, of development of powerful analytical techniques, and of understanding of a number of basic nonlinear phenomena. At about the same time, meaningful theoretical results highlighting new solution methods and new or complex phenomena in the dynamics of deterministic systems were obtained within dynamical systems theory by means of sophisticated geometrical and computational techniques. In recent years, careful experimental studies have been made to establish the actual occurrence and observability of the predicted dynamic phenomena, as it is vitally needed in all engineering fields. Complex dynamics have been shown to characterize the behaviour of a great number of nonlinear mechanical systems, ranging from aerospace engineering applications to naval applications, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, robotics and biomechanics, and other areas. The International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics grasped the importance of such complex phenomena in the Eighties, when the first IUTAM Symposium devoted to the general topic of nonlinear and chaotic dynamics in applied mechanics and engineering was held in Stuttgart (1989).

Fractional-Order Design: Devices, Circuits, and Systems introduces applications from the design perspective so that the reader can learn about, and get ready to, design these applications. The book also includes the different techniques employed to comprehensively and straightforwardly design fractional-order systems/devices. Furthermore, a lot of mathematics is available in the literature for solving the fractional-order calculus for system application. However, a small portion is employed in the design of fractional-order systems. This book introduces the mathematics that has been employed explicitly for fractional-order systems. Students and scholars who wants to quickly understand the field of fractional-order systems and contribute to its different domains and applications will find this book a welcomed resource. - Presents a simple and comprehensive understanding of the field of fractional-order systems - Offers practical knowledge on the design of fractional-order systems for different applications - Exposes users to the possible new areas of applications of fractional-order systems

There has been an increasing interest in the application of dynamical systems to the study of development over the last decade. The explosion of the dynamical systems framework in the physical and biological sciences has opened the door to a new Zeitgeist for studying development. This appeal to dynamical systems by developmentalists is natural given the intuitive links between the established fundamental problems of development and the conceptual and operational scope of nonlinear dynamical systems. This promise of a new approach and framework within which to study development has led to some progress in recent years but also a growing appreciation of the difficulty of both fully examining the new metaphor and realizing its potential. Divided into 4 parts, this book is a result of a recent conference on dynamical systems and development held at Pennsylvania State University. The first 3 parts focus on the content domains of development that have given most theoretical and empirical attention to the potential applications of dynamical systems--physical growth and movement, cognition, and communication. These parts show that a range of nonlinear models have been applied to a host of developmental phenomena. Part 4 highlights two particular methodological issues that hold important implications for the modeling of developmental phenomena with dynamical systems techniques.