Actuator fault estimation observer design for discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying descriptor systems

Summary This paper deals with actuator fault estimation for a class of discrete‐time linear parameter‐varying descriptor systems. By considering the fault as an auxiliary state vector, an augmented system is established. Then, a fault estimation observer is designed based on the augmented system. In this paper, the fault estimation observer design is formulated as a linear matrix inequality (LMI) feasibility problem. Therefore, all parameters of the observer can be simultaneously designed by solving a set of strict LMIs. In order to attenuate the effect of the unknown disturbance, fault variation, and measurement noise, we further propose a robust fault estimation observer design method, which is the main contribution of this paper. Finally, performance of the proposed robust fault estimation observer is shown through the application to a truck–trailer model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.