TALK    Decoupling Systems By Design

Date & Time:

Friday, August 23, 2013; 12:00 PM

Abstract:

Coordinate coupling raises serious numerical, analysis, and control design problems that grow with the size of the system. On the other hand, decoupled dynamic equations facilitate all of the above processes since each equation can be treated independently. Unfortunately, due to the inherent heterogeneity typical of most practical, complex systems, these are not naturally decoupled so developing accurate enough decoupled approximations is of interest.

In this talk the issue of building such accurate decoupled approximations is addressed by leveraging concepts from robust control theory. Specifically, system gains (e.g. energy gain, peak to peak gain) are used to characterize the approximation error. Then some system parameters are selected to minimize this approximation error. The advantage of using system gains is that the decoupling approximation is guaranteed to be accurate over an entire class of signals (e.g. finite energy/finite peak signals). These ideas are illustrated on linearized models of tensegrity structures which are designed to yield accurate decoupled models with respect to all signals of finite energy and finite peak. Further analysis corrects several misconceptions regarding decoupling, system properties, and control design.

Speaker:

Dr Cornel Sultan
Virginia Tech

Cornel Sultan holds M.S. in Mathematics, Ph.D. in Aerospace Engr. from Purdue University (1999) and has been affiliated, among others, with Harvard Medical School and United Technologies Research Center. Currently he is an Assistant Prof. in the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department at Virginia Tech where his principal research activities are in tensegrity, membranes, rotorcraft, and coordinated control. He received a NSF CAREER Award in 2010.