Reduced-order filtering for flexible space structures

Flexible space structures are often modeled by a large set of coupled second-order differential equations. A Kalman filter designed for such a model might not be a very practical idea because of the high dimensionality required and the associated complexity of implementation. A class of reduced-order filters which reduce the complexity of the design and filtering process is derived. As an added feature, the reduced-order filter performance is shown to be completely insensitive to system parameters for an important class of problems