Controllability and observability enhancement through switching: application to vibration control

Many dynamical systems use transducers that can perform both as actuators and sensors. Such systems can continuously switch the functionality of the transducer elements and effectively use each element both as an actuator and a sensor. This provides the scope for significantly reducing the number of actuators and sensors without loss of controllability and observability, which is effectively gained back through switching. In this paper we discuss the application of this principle in the problem of vibration suppression in a flexible beam. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of our approach.