Linear system theory has had significant contributions to developments
in the area of classical controls in the past three decades. The moti
vation of this work emerges from the need to develop novel control str
ategies that can be applied to nonlinear dynamic systems. Furthermore,
the need for an adaptive scheme emerges for dealing with time varying
systems. This paper presents model reference based neural network str
ucture that can be used for adaptive control of linear and nonlinear p
rocesses, The proposed neural network controller is tested on several
simulated nonlinear systems. Also, a fast algorithm is introduced for
training the proposed neural network controller. This algorithm is bas
ed on Davidon's least squares minimization technique. Finally, a neura
l network linearization methodology is presented that provides a frame
work under which the local stability of the feedback control system ca
n be analyzed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.