Satisficing: A New Approach to Constructive Nonlinear Control

In this paper we develop a new approach to the design and analysis of state-feedback control laws based on control Lyapunov functions (clfs). The technique, which we call satis cing control, is motivated by the recently introduced notion of satis cing decision theory. It is shown how the satis cing framework parameterizes a set of asymptotically stabilizing control laws that obey an instantaneous cost-bene t inequality. Every satis cing control is shown to constitute a new \universal formula", moreover the satis cing framework is shown to subsume all smooth and stabilizing clf-based control laws. A region of the satis cing set is then de ned and parameterized in which control laws are guaranteed to be inversely optimal with desirable stability margins. The framework introduced in this paper can be used as both a design tool and an analysis tool. I