Model reference control of a linear plant with feedthrough element

A simple control law that guarantees that the outputs of a linear time invariant plant with feedthrough element will converge asymptotically to be prespecified set of desired trajectories is developed. This control law is illustrated on a gas turbine engine to demonstrate its applicability to higher dimension problems and the fast asymptotic convergence to the desired trajectories. With this method, the plant transfer function or plant state equation can be identified continuously and parameter variations in the transfer function of the plant simply can be compensated for by adjusting parameters of the controller and thereby obtaining satisfactory system performance continuously. The algorithm presented allows for the use of model reference control when the plant model has a feedthrough element and bypasses the selection of a candidate Lyapunov function. It is easy to implement and can be made to converge arbitrarily fast.<>