Linearization of discrete-time systems by exogenous dynamic feedback

It is shown that a discrete-time system may be linearizable by exogenous dynamic feedback, even if it cannot be linearized by endogenous feedback. This property is completely unexpected and constitutes a fundamental difference with respect to the continuous-time case. The notion of exogenous linearizing output is introduced. It is shown that existence of an exogenous linearizing output is a sufficient condition for dynamic linearizability. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an exogenous linearizing output are provided. The results of the paper are obtained using transformal operator matrices. The properties of such operators are studied. The theory is applied to the exact discrete-time model of a mobile robot, showing that the above-mentioned property concerns not only academic examples, but also physical systems. c © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.