Robust LQG position control of a flexible structure using participation factors

This paper presents a novel method of improving the robustness of linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controllers to parameter variations by using participation factors to tune the LQG cost functional. The technique is demonstrated through its application to the position control of a gimballed payload attached to a flexible structure. Improved controller performance is realized despite imprecise knowledge of the locations of the lightly damped poles and zeros that are characteristic of a flexible structure. Both theoretical and real-time experimental results are presented to verify the success of the robust LQG controller