Fixed‐time output regulation of linear delay systems by smooth time‐varying control

Abstract This article investigates the fixed‐time output regulation problem (FxTORP) for linear systems in the presence of input delay. A linear controller consisting of the linear periodic delayed feedback (PDF) gain and the feedforward gain obtained by solving regulator equations is designed, such that FxTORP is addressed. If only the measurable output can be used for feedback, a linear observer with periodic coefficient and artificial delay is designed so that its state converges to the state of the augmented system at a prescribed finite time. Based on the estimated state, the output regulation problem can also be solved by using observer‐based output feedback. The most significant advantages of this article are that the PDF gain can be taken as smooth and the output regulation problem is achieved within a prespecified regulation time. Finally, a simulation example is given to substantiate the validity of the proposed approaches.