NLControl: a symbolic computation toolbox for nonlinear control by extended linearization

We describe the symbolic computation tool NLControl, a computing aid to automate the design of linear/nonlinear controllers and observers to compensate smooth enough nth order nonlinear dynamical control systems by Jacobian and extended linearization. NLControl is conceptually built upon the decomposition of any mth order linear filter into a generalized kth order input PD-like controller followed by a mth order state-feedback like controller. Such decomposition formally reduces the design of a nonlinear extension of an arbitrary linear filter to the appropriate assembly of two independent design sub-algorithms: the former for the design of extended nonlinear state-feedback controllers, and the latter for the design of extended PID controllers. These supporting sub-algorithms and their symbolic computation implementations using Mahtematica/sup R/ were already described in previous works.