We prove the continuity and the Hölder equivalence w.r.t. an Euclidean distance of the value function associated with the L1 cost of the control-affine system q̇ = f0(q) + ∑j=1m uj fj(q), satisfying the strong Hörmander condition. This is done by proving a result in the same spirit as the Ball–Box theorem for driftless (or sub-Riemannian) systems. The techniques used are based on a reduction of the control-affine system to a linear but time-dependent one, for which we are able to define a generalization of the nilpotent approximation and through which we derive estimates for the shape of the reachable sets. Finally, we also prove the continuity of the value function associated with the L1 cost of time-dependent systems of the form q̇ = ∑j=1m uj fjt(q).

The weightless planar 2R underactuated manipulators with passive last joint are considered in this paper for investigating a feasible method to stabilize the system, which is a second-order nonholonomic-constraint mechanical system with drifts. The characteristics including the controllability of the linear approximation model, the minimum phase property, the Small Time Local Controllability (STLC), the differential flatness, and the exactly nilpotentizable properties, are analyzed. Unfortunately, these negative characteristics indicate that the simplest underactuated mechanical system is difficult to design a stable closed-loop control system. In this paper, nilpotent approximation and iterative steering methods are utilized to solve the problem. A globally effective nilpotent approximation model is developed and the parameterized polynomial input is adopted to stabilize the system to its non-singularity equilibrium configuration. In accordance with this scheme, it is shown that designing a stable closed-loop control system for the underactuated mechanical system can be ascribed to solving a set of nonlinear algebraic equations. If the nonlinear algebraic equations are solvable, then the controller is asymptotically stable. Some numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented approach.