A project-based course of nonlinear control

The main objective in the project of a last year Master Engineering course on discrete control where students develop projects based on discrete control at a Spanish university has been to emphasize that there are several points of view when focusing on discretization and the associate mathematical developments depending on the particular analysis technique and problem at hand. In particular, a combined nonlinearity consisting of resolution (quantifier) and mechanical backlash has been assumed to operate on a linear plant subject to input discretization under a sampling and zero-order hold device. It has been proved through the project that because of sampling the system possess nonlinear inertia with the frequency of the first harmonics of nonlinear steady-state sustained oscillations being dependent on the sampling period and the critical locus being depending on frequency