Robotics, mechatronics and autonomous systems can exhibit complex nonlinear dynamics which can lead to unsatisfactory transients and deviation from setpoints or even to instability. A standard approach in the control of these systems had been the concept of diffeomorphisms to bring a system into a linear form. However, these methods are not straightforward and result in complicated state-space model transformations. In this monograph, new methods have been investigated which are not constrained by the shortcomings of global linearization-based control schemes. They can be implemented in a computationally simple manner, are followed by global stability proofs, and perform better than previous optimal control approaches for a wider class of nonlinear dynamical systems and applications.

• Chapter 1: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for robotic systems I
• Chapter 2: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for robotic systems II
• Chapter 3: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for cranes and pendulums I
• Chapter 4: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for cranes and pendulums II
• Chapter 5: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for space robotics I
• Chapter 6: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for space robotics II
• Chapter 7: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for mechatronics and power electronics
• Chapter 8: Nonlinear optimal and flatness-based control for biological and financial systems
• Appendix A: Nonlinear optimal control and Lie algebra-based control
• Appendix B: Differential flatness theory and flatness-based control methods