Necessary and Sufficient Lyapunov-like Conditions for Robust Nonlinear Stabilization

In this work, we propose a methodology for the expression of necessary and sufficient Lyapunov-like conditions for the existence of stabilizing feedback laws. The methodology is an extension of the well-known Control Lyapunov Function (CLF) method and can be applied to very general nonlinear time-varying systems with disturbance and control inputs, including both finite and infinitedimensional systems. The generality of the proposed methodology is also reflected upon by the fact that partial stability with respect to output variables is addressed. In addition, it is shown that the generalized CLF method can lead to a novel tool for the explicit design of robust nonlinear controllers for a class of time-delay nonlinear systems with a triangular structure. Mathematics Subject Classification. 93D15, 93D30. Received October 16, 2008. Published online August 11, 2009.