Advanced gain-scheduling techniques for uncertain systems

This paper is concerned with the design of gain-scheduled controllers for uncertain linear parameter-varying systems. Two alternative design techniques for constructing such controllers are discussed. Both techniques are amenable to linear matrix inequality problems via a gridding of the parameter space and a selection of basis functions. These problems are then readily solvable using available tools in convex semidefinite programming. When used together, these techniques provide complementary advantages of reduced computational burden and ease of controller implementation. The problem of synthesis for robust performance is then addressed by a new scaling approach for gain-scheduled control. The validity of the theoretical results are demonstrated through a two-link flexible manipulator design example. This is a challenging problem that requires scheduling of the controller in the manipulator geometry and robustness in face of uncertainty in the high-frequency range.