From circuit to mechatronic system tolerance optimization

This paper introduces a method for the worst case design of engineering systems, provided that the design problem is formulated in an algorithmic manner. Applicability of the Piecewise Ellipsoidal Approximation (PEA) to the constraint region, originally developed for electronic circuits, is extended in this paper. A two level algorithm for the worst case design, exploiting the properties of ellipsoidal functions, is introduced. A benchmark example of the worst case design of the fourth order servomechanism is effectively solved.