Extremum control of continuous systems

An extremum control system is considered which consists of the following in cascade: an integrator, a function of the parabolic type and a first-order system. A method is presented for determining and maintaining the extremum in the presence of disturbances. The method suggested consists of perturbing the system input, then using the discontinuities in an appropriate derivative of the system output to determine the extremum. The advantage gained is speed in identifying the extremum independent of the initial conditions. Analog and digital computer results are given.