Continuous Time Controller Design: (Control, Robotics and Sensors)

This book covers theoretical methods for the design of continuous time controllers for linear multivariable systems. It is intended for use by those wishing to build on a first course in control systems, either to expand their knowledge as practising engineers or as postgraduate students doing higher degrees in control engineering. It brings together state space and frequency domain design methods for linear multivariable systems. It compares their similarities and highlights the advantages or isadvantages of the various approaches for particular applications. The introductory first chapter is followed by five chapters dealing with state space design methods. Chapter two gives a detailed coverage of basic state space concepts including canonical forms, controllability and observability and minimal realisations. This is followed by a chapter on modal control which deals with both state and output feedback. A detailed coverage of quadratic optimal control is given in chapter four and this is logically followed by a chapter on observer design, which covers both full and reduced order observers, and shows how optimal control can be implemented when some states are not measurable. The final state space chapter deals with decoupling contol, model following control and the robust seromechanism problem. Chapter seven is the first chapter dealing with frequency domain methods for multivariable systems and covers basic frequency domain relationships, system matrices and the Smith-McMillan form. The following two chapters cover the inverse Nyquist array and characteristic locus design methods and includes several examples to illustrtate applications of the methods. Chapter ten considers frequency domain design using factorisation techniques and contains an introduction to polynomial matrix methods. The final chapter discusses stochastic control problems begining with the classical Wiener filter, continuing with an overview of estimation theory and concluding with the Kalman filter.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The state space analysis of systems Chapter 3: Modal control Chapter 4: Quadratic optimal control Chapter 5: Design of observers Chapter 6: Other selected state space design methods Chapter 7: Frequency domain analysis of multivariable systems Chapter 8: The inverse Nyquist array method Chapter 9: The characteristic locus method Chapter 10: Frequency domain design by factorisation methods Chapter 11: Selected stochastic problems in control

About the Author :
Ramachandran Balasubramanian was born in 1942 in Periakulam, Tamil Nadu, India. He had an outstanding academic career starting at the University of Madras where he passed the BE examination in Electrical Engineering with distinction, securing first rank. He was awarded a ME from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, specialising in control engineering, and a PhD in the same field from the University of New Brunswick in 1968. He joined the faculty of the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of New Brunswick in 1969, and served as a full Professor from 1979 until his untimely death in the Air India plane crash in June 1985. Professor Balasubramanian taught at the University of New Brunswick on control engineering post-graduate courses and also on power systems, communications and general systems theory. He published over 50 papers on various control engineering and power topics, although his major interests were in nonlinear multivariate and stochastic control. He served as Director of Graduate Studies and Research in the Department of Electrical Engineering between 1978 and '81. His broad knowledge was also evident in his work as a consultant, in which position he advised on satellite altitude control to the Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, on power systems to the New Brunswick Power Commission and on myoelectric control to the Bio-engineering Institute of the University. In 1983 he delivered a series of lectures in the People's Republic of China. It was while preparing for these lectures that he felt the need for a text covering the topics of this book.