A geometric generalization of the discrete-time linear deadbeat control problem is studied. The proposed method to generate a deadbeat tracker for a given nonlinear system is constructive and makes use of sets that can be computed iteratively. For demonstration, derivations of the deadbeat feedback law and tracker dynamics are provided for an example system. Based on the method, a simple algorithm that computes the deadbeat gain for a linear system with scalar input is given. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.