Simultaneous interval estimation of actuator fault and state for a class of nonlinear systems by zonotope analysis.

In this paper, an actuator fault and state interval estimation method for a class of nonlinear systems is proposed by integrating observer design and zonotope analysis. For the considered systems, we present a novel unknown input observer structure with broad applications. The design procedure is based on H ∞ method to decrease the influence of unknown but bounded process disturbances and measurement noise. Moreover, a novel interval estimation method is presented based on zonotope analysis to obtain tighter intervals. Numerical simulations of a quadruple-tank system are conducted to assess the performance of the proposed approach. • A novel robust observer is designed to decouple the unknown input and to attenuate the effect of disturbances and noise. • Zonotope analysis is used to achieve tight interval estimation. • The proposed method is applied to a quadruple-tank system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]