Analysis and Design of Linear/Nonlinear Control System—2nd Edition

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Control Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 454

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan
Interests: linear/nonlinear control system analysis and design; system modeling and parameter identification; sliding mode control and its applications; adaptive control and its applications; servo mechanism integration and control technology; servo motor motion controls; path planning and trajectory interpolation; unmanned aerial vehicle control design; control system design using artificial intelligence intelligent indoor perception; localization and mapping technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of control systems engineering has entered a new era driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven technologies. This Special Issue aims to gather pioneering research that advances both the theoretical foundations and practical realizations of intelligent control systems across linear, nonlinear, and complex dynamic environments. Topics of interest include model-based and model-free control, adaptive, sliding mode and robust control, learning-based and neural control, and hybrid AI-control frameworks. Emphasis will be placed on how modern AI techniques, such as reinforcement learning, deep learning, evolutionary optimization, and digital twin technologies, can enhance system autonomy, adaptability, and control decision-making capabilities. Contributions that bridge theory with real-world implementation, propose novel algorithms, or present comprehensive reviews of intelligent control trends are especially encouraged. This Special Issue will serve as a platform for researchers and practitioners to share breakthroughs that accelerate the convergence of control theory, computation, and artificial intelligence, shaping the next generation of smart, resilient, and self-evolving control systems across various industries.

Dr. Chao-Chung Peng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • system modeling and parameter identification
  • linear/nonlinear control design
  • sliding mode control (SMC) systems
  • model reference adaptive control (MRAC) systems
  • proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control
  • robust observer design for disturbance/state estimation
  • sensor-fusion-based control technology
  • servo mechanism control design and applications
  • artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology for control systems
  • system digital twin modeling for diagonisis and control decision-making
  • path planning and optimization
  • control design of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
  • advanced control applications and optimization
  • robot control, navigation, localization, and mapping

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 10396 KB  
Article
A Fan-Array Robotic-Arm Approach to Characterization of Pitch-Rate Dynamics of a Flapping-Wing MAV
by Woei-Leong Chan, De-Jing Liu, Hung-Yu Chen and Chia-Le Chin
Actuators 2025, 14(12), 592; https://doi.org/10.3390/act14120592 - 4 Dec 2025
Viewed by 185
Abstract
Flapping-wing micro-air vehicles (FWMAVs) exhibit unique aerodynamic characteristics that differ fundamentally from other aircraft, yet little is known about their dynamic stability derivatives. This study aims to identify pitch-rate stability derivatives of an in-house prototype, CKopter-1, to advance the modeling and control of [...] Read more.
Flapping-wing micro-air vehicles (FWMAVs) exhibit unique aerodynamic characteristics that differ fundamentally from other aircraft, yet little is known about their dynamic stability derivatives. This study aims to identify pitch-rate stability derivatives of an in-house prototype, CKopter-1, to advance the modeling and control of bio-inspired flight. Experiments were conducted using a robotic-arm fan-array system that enabled prescribed pitching motions under controlled inflow. Aerodynamic forces and moments were measured with a six-axis load cell, while vehicle kinematics were captured using motion tracking and synchronized during post-processing. Tests consisted of quasi-static cycles and dynamic cycles at pitch rates of 35°/s, 58.8°/s, and 68.4°/s. The results revealed static instability below an angle of attack of 33°, a trim condition near 58.5°, and positive stability up to 72.5°. Dynamic cases showed clear pitch-rate effects in the longitudinal components, from which the derivatives were extracted. A comparison with previous studies confirmed comparable magnitudes, with systematic differences attributable to wing dihedral and tail length. This study demonstrates that the fan-array robotic-arm method enables stability derivative identification even beyond feasible flight regimes, providing valuable parameters for future flight dynamics modeling and control of FWMAVs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Design of Linear/Nonlinear Control System—2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 9449 KB  
Article
Practical Prescribed-Time Trajectory Tracking Consensus for Nonlinear Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems via an Event-Triggered Mechanism
by Hui Cai, Yandong Li, Dan Yang, Yuyi Huang and Yuan Guo
Actuators 2025, 14(12), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/act14120574 - 26 Nov 2025
Viewed by 169
Abstract
This paper investigates the problem of practical prescribed-time trajectory tracking consensus for higher-order heterogeneous multi-agent systems (MASs) with unknown time-varying control gains and non-vanishing uncertainties, while also taking external disturbances into account. A directed graph is employed to characterize the communication topology. By [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the problem of practical prescribed-time trajectory tracking consensus for higher-order heterogeneous multi-agent systems (MASs) with unknown time-varying control gains and non-vanishing uncertainties, while also taking external disturbances into account. A directed graph is employed to characterize the communication topology. By introducing a time-varying scaling function and adopting an adaptive backstepping design, a distributed controller is developed that achieves practical prescribed-time trajectory tracking consensus of heterogeneous MASs, while avoiding unbounded control gains and preserving the continuity of control inputs. Furthermore, to optimize the use of communication resources, an event-triggered mechanism is incorporated to reduce the update frequency of controllers. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis and Design of Linear/Nonlinear Control System—2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop