9520447 Bernstein The Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan will purchase a real-time control processor and related diagnostic equipment that will be dedicated to support research in engineering. The equipment will be used for several research projects, including, in particular: control of a rotating actuator, control of noise, control of rotating imbalance, control of combustion, and control os slosh. Control-system technology is an enabling technology for many complex, high performance systems. In many of these applications the control system is so essential that the system simply cannot operate without it. On the other hand, failure of the control system can have dire consequences. Graphic examples include the Chernobyl disaster and Airbus crashes. In view of the importance and risks of control-system technology, this proposal seeks laboratory equipment in the form of a real-time control processor and related equipment to allow researchers to carry out a broad range of experiments in feedback control technology. The equipment to be purchased under this grant will allow us to upgrade and expand our current control laboratory facilities. Multichannel identification and control capabilities will be used to implement and assess the performance of multivariable controllers. Our goal is to develop a vertically integrated control laboratory in which data is passed seamlessly from identification experiments to control law synthesis and,, finally, to real-time code generation for implementation and testing. This high degree of integration will be critical for exploiting and demonstrating the capabilities of new developments in control technology for a variety of applications. ***
