| This research proposes a direct approach to solve the output-transition problem in linear systems. The objective is to find an input that changes the system output from an initial value to a final value during a specified output-transition time-interval. It is noted that the output-transition problem (i.e., changing the output of a system from one value to another) is a fundamental control problem, which appears in a wide range of flexible structure applications. When performing fast maneuvers with such flexible structures, it is critical to suppress residual vibrations (at the end of the maneuver) that cause a loss of positioning precision. For example, in disk-drive applications, read and write operations cannot be performed (before and after the output transition) if the output position is not precisely maintained at the desired track. This research studies such residual-vibration-free (rest-to-rest) output transitions, where the output is maintained at a constant value outside the output-transition time-interval. The novelty of the proposed approach is that inputs are not applied just during the output-transition time-interval; rather, inputs are also applied outside the output-transition time-interval, i.e., before the beginning of and after the end of the output-transition time-interval (these inputs are called pre-actuation and post-actuation, respectively). The advantage of using pre-actuation and post-actuation when compared to standard methods that do not use such pre- and post-actuation is studied in this research. |
