Structure/Control Synthesis with Nonnegligible Actuator Mass

Abstract

Simultaneous design of a structure/active control system in which the mass of the actuators required to implement the active control is considered is addressed. The inclusion of required actuator mass essentially tightens the coupling between structure and control dynamics and introduces an inner iteration loop in the overall design process. Because this inner iteration loop significantly increases the computational burden, an algorithm for estimating the required actuator mass, given the control law and the desired maneuver, is presented. Additionally, a secant‐based actuator mass update algorithm is investigated in order to improve convergence characteristics of the inner iteration loop. A nonlinear optimization algorithm is used to direct the design process. The methodology is demonstrated on the design of a large two‐dimensional L‐shaped structure in which it is desired to minimize the line‐of‐sight‐pointing error between the two ends of the L after a worst‐case slew maneuver.