A Control System Design Methodology for Large-Scale Interconnected Systems

The complexity of large-scale interconnected systems necessitates the availability of a thorough methodology for evaluating design options that are faced by engineers and physicists during all phases of system development. Additionally, methods for designing reasonably simple control systems that provide robust stability and high performance with a control system architecture comprised of local subsystem controllers coordinated through higher-level control authority must be available. The significant need to develop analysis approaches that may be applied to complex design problems to complement the experience of design engineers is addressed herein by the development of a large-scale interconnected control system design methodology. An overview of the methodology developed to date is presented in this paper, and an application of modern multivariable techniques to a space-based laser jitter control system illustrates the development and utilization of the methodology.