Dissipative design, lossless dynamics, and the nonlinear TORA benchmark example

Issues of dissipative design, including the balance of dissipative and lossless dynamics and effects of inherent limitations on internal power flow rates are illustrated both by the nonlinear translational oscillator/rotational actuator (TORA) benchmark and by the linear double integrator. In particular, it is demonstrated that the use of a fixed structure, damper type compensator, optimized near steady state may lead to inferior performance and to actuation requirements that are two orders of magnitude larger than what is achievable by a compensator that is structurally tuned to internal power flow. An observer-based design is also presented