On the sensitivity of the control structure selection problems in large scale multivariable systems

Current approaches to solve the control structure selection problem either rely on the control engineer´s experience and intuition, or solutions of difficult and non- convex combinatorial optimisation problems. In this paper a set of new computationally inexpensive graphical analysis tools based on basis pursuit regularization methods are presented which provide significant insight into the control structure selection problem. With the aid of an example it is shown how these tools are used directly to assess the local structural sensitivity of the problem and identify key and important connections within the controller.