Extension of the Dahlin-Higham controller to multivariable systems with time delays

Abstract

The well-known Dahlin-Higham controller for a scalar control system with dead time is extended to the control of a class of multivariable control systems using a matrix fraction representation. The main result of this work is the design of a MIMO controller that can achieve simultaneously exact decoupling and time delay compensation. Sufficient conditions under which a MIMO system with equal delays is decoupled and a sufficient readability condition for a MIMO controller are given. Exact decoupling for plants with unequal time delays is achieved by a suitable increase in the time delays of the controller, This results in a highly computationally efficient MIMO controller. Simulation results are given to illustrate the analysis.