English

Positive Observers Revisited

Optimization and Control 2026-04-21 v2 Systems and Control Systems and Control

Abstract

The paper shows that positive linear systems can be stabilized using positive Luenberger-type observers. This is achieved by structuring the observer as monotonically converging upper and lower bounds on the state. Analysis of the closed-loop properties under linear observer feedback gives conditions that cover a larger class than previous observer designs. The results are applied to nonpositive systems by enforcing positivity of the dynamics using feedback from the upper bound observer. The setting is expanded to include stochastic noise, giving conditions for convergence in expectation using feedback from positive observers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.22924,
  title  = {Positive Observers Revisited},
  author = {David Ohlin and Anders Rantzer and Emma Tegling},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.22924},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication at the 2026 European Control Conference

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:34:59.943Z