edited by Gennady Leonov (St Petersburg State University, Russia) , Henk Nijmeijer (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands) , Alexander Pogromsky (Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands) , & Alexander Fradkov (Institute for Problems of Mechanical Engineering, St Petersburg, Russia)

The papers in this edited volume aim to provide a better understanding of the dynamics and control of a large class of hybrid dynamical systems that are described by different models in different state space domains. They not only cover important aspects and tools for hybrid systems analysis and control, but also a number of experimental realizations. Special attention is given to synchronization — a universal phenomenon in nonlinear science that gained tremendous significance since its discovery by Huygens in the 17th century. Possible applications of the results introduced in the book include control of mobile robots, control of CD/DVD players, flexible manufacturing lines, and complex networks of interacting agents.

The book is based on the material presented at a similarly entitled minisymposium at the 6th European Nonlinear Dynamics Conference held in St Petersburg in 2008. It is unique in that it contains results of several international and interdisciplinary collaborations in the field, and reflects state-of-the-art technological development in the area of hybrid mechanical systems at the forefront of the 21st century.

• Tools for Dynamical Systems Analysis:
  • Computation of Lyapunov Quantities for Lienard Equation (N V Kuznetsov & G A Leonov)
  • Absolute Observation Stability for Evolutionary Variational Inequalities (G A Leonov & V Rietmann)
  • A Discrete-Time Hybrid Lurie Type System with Strange Hyperbolic Nonstationary Attractor (V Belykh et al.)
  • Frequency Domain Performance Analysis of Marginally Stable LTI Systems with Saturation (R A van den Berg et al.)
  • An Augmented Lagrangian Based Shooting Method for the Trajectory Optimization of Switched Lagrangian Systems (K Yunt)
• Control of Hybrid Mechanical Systems:
  • Hybrid Control for Motion Systems with Improved Disturbance Rejection (M Heertjes et al.)
  • Hybrid Control of Underactuated Systems with Discontinuous Friction (R Martinez et al.)
  • Steady-State Vibration Mitigation in a Piecewise Beam System Using PD Control (R H B Fey et al.)
  • Hybrid Quantized Observer for Multi-Input-Multi-Output Nonlinear Systems (A L Fradkov et al.)
• Synchronization: Theory and Experiments:
  • Synchronization Between Coupled Oscillators: An Experimental Approach (D Rijlaarsdam et al.)
  • Control of Mechanical Systems with Constraints: Two Pendulums Case Study (M S Ananyevskiy et al.)
  • Two Van der Pol-Duffing Oscillators with Huygens Coupling (V N Belykh et al.)
  • Synchronization of Diffusively Coupled Electronic Hindmarsh-Rose Oscillators (E Steur et al.)
  • Multipendulum Mechatronic Set-Up for Studying Control and Synchronization (B Andrievsky et al.)