Comparative Analysis of H2 and H∞ Robust Control Design Approaches for Dynamic Control Systems

Abstract

This paper discusses using H2 and H∞ robust control approaches for designing control systems. These approaches are applied to elementary control system designs, and their respective implementation and pros and cons are introduced. The H∞ control synthesis mainly enforces closed-loop stability, covering some physical constraints and limitations. While noise rejection and disturbance attenuation are more naturally expressed in performance optimization, which can represent the H2 control synthesis problem. The paper also applies these two methodologies to multi-plant systems to study the stability and performance of the designed controllers. Simulation results show that the H2 controller tracks a desirable closed-loop performance, while the H∞ controller guarantees robust stability for the closed-loop system. The validation of the techniques is demonstrated through the robust and performance gamma index, where the H∞ controller achieved a robust gamma index of 0.8591, indicating good robustness and the H2 controller achieved a performance gamma index of 2.1972, indicating a desirable performance. The robust control toolbox of MATLAB is used for simulation purposes. Overall, the paper shows that selecting a suitable, robust control strategy is crucial for designing effective control systems, and the H2 and H∞ robust control approaches are viable options for achieving this goal.