  In this paper we propose an energy pumping-and-damping technique to regulate
nonholonomic systems described by kinematic models. The controller design
follows the widely popular interconnection and damping assignment
passivity-based methodology, with the free matrices partially structured. Two
asymptotic regulation objectives are considered: drive to zero the state or
drive the systems total energy to a desired constant value. In both cases, the
control laws are smooth, time-invariant, state-feedbacks. For the nonholonomic
integrator we give an almost global solution for both problems, with the
objectives ensured for all system initial conditions starting outside a set
that has zero Lebesgue measure and is nowhere dense. For the general case of
higher-order nonholonomic systems in chained form, a local stability result is
given. Simulation results comparing the performance of the proposed controller
with other existing designs are also provided.
