Funnel control with input filter for nonlinear systems of relative degree two

We address the problem of output reference tracking for unknown nonlinear multi-input, multi-output systems with relative degree two and bounded-input bounded-state (BIBS) stable internal dynamics. We propose a novel model-free adaptive controller that ensures the evolution of the tracking error within prescribed performance funnel boundaries. By applying an output filter, the control objective is achieved without utilizing derivative information of system’s output. The controller is illustrated by a numerical example.