A technique for the adaptive control of high-order systems

A technique which is a modification of the model-reference method of adaptive control is developed to handle high-order systems. The transfer function of the model is the inverse of the desired transfer function of the closed-loop system insofar as it is practically realizable. Proper operation is obtained by adjusting the system until the poles of the closed-loop system are canceled by the zeros of the model. Special filters are designed to aid in the detection of this cancellation. They have a narrow pulse for an impulse response and the dispersion of this pulse is used as the measure of error when an impulse is applied to the system. The criterion used for the design of the filter is that its impulse response should have a minimum second moment about the time of the maximum. The technique is applied to a fourth-order pitch-rate control system and the results of the computer simulation are given.