Bounded error identification of Hammerstein systems with backlash

Actuators and sensors commonly used in control systems may exhibit a variety of nonlinear behaviours that may be responsible for undesirable phenomena such as delays and oscillations, which may severely limit both the static and the dynamic performance of the system under control (see, e.g., [22]). In particular, one of the most relevant nonlinearities affecting the performance of industrial machines is the backlash (see Figure 22.1), which commonly occurs in mechanical, hydraulic and magnetic components like bearings, gears and impact dampers (see, e.g., [17]). This nonlinearity, which can be classified as dynamic (i.e., with memory) and hard (i.e. non-differentiable), may arise from unavoidable manufacturing tolerances or sometimes may be deliberately incorporated into the system in order to describe lubrication and thermal expansion effects [3]. The interested reader is referred to [22] for real-life examples of systems with either input or output backlash nonlinearities.