Mixed \(H_2/H_{\infty}\) control of flexible structures (Q1841261)

This paper addresses the design of full order linear dynamic output feedback controllers for flexible structures. Unstructured \(H_\infty\) uncertainty models are introduced for systems in modal coordinates and in reduced order form. Then a controller is designed to minimize a given \(H_2\) performance function while keeping the maximum supported \(H_\infty\) perturbation below some appropriate level. To solve this problem the authors develop an algorithm able to provide local optimal solutions to optimization problems with convex constraints and non-convex but differentiable objective functions. A controller design procedure based on a trade-off curve is proposed and a simple example is solved, providing a comparison between the proposed method an the usual minimization of an upper bound to the \(H_2\) norm. The method is applied to two different flexible structure theoretical models and the properties of the resulting controllers are shown in several simulations.