APPLICATIONS

RECENT RESULTS IN LINEAR MULTIVARIABLE CONTROL BASED ON THE COMBINED STABLE FACTORIZATION AND H INFINITY -OPTIMIZATION METHODOLOGIES (SH/ H INFINITY) NOW ALLOW A SYNTHESIS-ORIENTED SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO ROBUST CONTROLLER DESIGN. THIS POWERFUL NEW APPROACH PROVIDES SOLUTION TO SEVERAL PREVIOUSLY UNSOLVED BUT WIDELY ENCOUNTERED CONTROL DESIGN PROBLEMS. DURING PHASE I OF A THREE PHASE RESEARCH PROGRAM IT IS PROPOSED THAT FURTHER ALGORITHMIC AND THEORETICAL RESULTS IN SF/H INFINITY BE EVOLVED AND APPLIED TO THE CONTROL OF A FLEXIBLE ROBOT. THE PHASE I EFFORT CONSISTS OF FIVE MAJOR TASKS WHICH ADDRESS REPRESENTATIONS OF MODEL UNCERTAINTY, COMPUTATION OF H INFINITY -OPTIMAL CONTROLLERS, MODEL REDUCTION IN CONTROL DESIGN ROBUST PERFORMANCE, FAULT TOLERANT CONTROLLER DESIGN , AND APPLICATION OF THE SF/H APPROACH TO STABILIZATION AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF A FLEXIBLE ARM. THIS WILL LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR PHASE II DURING WHICH SF/H INFINITY -BASED CAD SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS WILL BE DEVELOPED.