Finite-Time Stabilization of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems via Control Vector Lyapunov Functions

Finite-time stability involves dynamical systems whose trajectories converge to an equilibrium state in finite time. Since finite-time convergence implies nonuniqueness of system solutions in reverse time, such systems possess non-Lipschitzian dynamics. Sufficient conditions for finite-time stability have been developed in the literature using holder continuous Lyapunov functions. In this paper, we develop a general framework for finite-time stability analysis based on vector Lyapunov functions. Specifically, we construct a vector comparison system whose solution is finite-time stable and relate this finite-time stability property to the stability properties of a nonlinear dynamical system using a vector comparison principle. Furthermore, we design a universal decentralized finite-time stabilizer for large-scale dynamical systems that is robust against full modeling uncertainty.