Controllability of a nonlinear hybrid system

International audienceIn this paper we study a controllability problem for a simplified 1-d nonlinear system which models the self-propelled motion of a rigid body in a fluid located on the real axis. The control variable is the difference of the velocities of the fluid and the solid and depends only on time. The main result of the paper asserts that any final position and velocity of the rigid body can be reached by a suitable input function