On adaptive control systems

An attempt is made in the subject paper to evolve a basic philosophy for adaptive control systems. A method is described for determining the system impulse response from measurements of instantaneous system input and output. The impulse response is expanded in a Taylor series, to facilitate solution of the convolution integral. From a knowledge of the impulse response and the system error, the necessary correction to the system forcing function is determined, in a manner similar to that used for determination of the impulse response. The techniques developed are applied to two systems - one stable and one unstable. Curves of the results are presented.