DISTRIBUTED DIGITAL CONTROLLER ARCHITECTURE FOR ADAPTIVE CONTROL

DIGITAL CONTROL, AND ESPECIALLY ADAPTIVE CONTROL, IS DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT FOR HIGH-BANDWIDTH SERVO-LOOP BECAUSE OF THE EXTREMELY HIGH DATA RATES INVOLVED. TO REDUCE THE COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN, THE USUAL COMPROMISING SOLUTION IS TO USE REDUCED ORDER MODELS FOR THE PLANT AND THEN REDUCE THE CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM'S BANDWIDTH. THIS RESEARCH INVESTIGATES THE FEASIBILITY OF A NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR DIGITAL CONTROLLERS WHICH CAN SUPPORT THE DATA RATES NOW PRESENT AND EXPECTED IN HIGH-BANDWIDTH SERVO-LOOPS. THE PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS ARE DISTRIBUTED AMONG AN ARRAY OF INTELLIGENT MODULES, EACH OF WHICH IS CAPABLE OF SEMI-AUTONOMOUS OPERATION. A MICROPROCESSOR BASED SUPERVISOR ADMINISTRATES AND MONITORS THE COMPUTATIONAL TASKS OF THE DISTRIBUTED PROCESSORS. ANTICIPATED PHASE I RESULTS ARE THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A COMPACT PROGRAMMABLE GENERAL PURPOSE DIGITAL CONTROLLER WHICH CAN CONTROL HIGH-BANDWIDTH SERVO-LOOPS USING DIGITAL (ADAPTIVE OR NOT) CONTROL ALGORITHMS. PHASE II EFFORTS WILL LEAD TO A COMPLETED SYSTEM FOR THESE APPLICATIONS.