Recursive design of finite-time convergent observers for a class of time-varying nonlinear systems

This paper considers the problem of designing globally finite-time convergent observers for a class of nonlinear systems with time-varying and output-dependent coefficients, which make the existing design approaches inapplicable. To solve this problem, a bottom-up design approach is first employed to recursively construct a finite-time convergent observer with time-varying coefficients for the nominal system. Then, using the homogeneous domination approach, we scale the finite-time convergent observer with an appropriate choice of gain for the original nonlinear system satisfying a Holder condition. In addition, we show that the Holder condition imposed on the nonlinearities can be removed for nonlinear systems with bounded trajectories. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.