2024/11/10 by Debojyoti Biswas, Eduardo D. Sontag, Biswas, Debojyoti +3 · 1 citation
Engineering · #Dynamical Systems (math.DS) #FOS: Electrical engineering #FOS: Mathematics #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Systems and Control (eess.SY) #electronic engineering #information engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2411.06612
openalex publication_date 2024/11/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We consider a general class of translation-invariant systems with a specific category of output nonlinearities motivated by biological sensing. We show that no dynamic output feedback can stabilize this class of systems to an isolated equilibrium point. To overcome this fundamental limitation, we propose a simple control scheme that includes a low-amplitude periodic forcing function akin to so-called "active sensing" in biology, together with nonlinear output feedback. Our analysis shows that this approach leads to the emergence of an exponentially stable limit cycle. These findings offer a provably stable active sensing strategy and may thus help to rationalize the active sensing movements made by animals as they perform certain motor behaviors.