9626287 Posbergh This research project deals with the development of a design methodology for robust stabilization and control of nonlinear dynamical systems in uniform rotation. Typical examples of such systems are rotating helicopter blades, gas turbines, and spin stabilized spacecrafts. In recent years, Lyapunov methods, coupled with developments in geometric system theory, have provided powerful new tools for the design of robust nonlinear feedback control systems. In this research project, this methodology is modified to include a special energy-momentum functional instead of a Lyapunov function, and the energy-momentum method of nonlinear stability analysis is employed. By combining recently developed methods of stability analysis with carefully formulated structural models, a new class of nonlinear feedback control laws are developed that fully exploit the nonlinearities in the model. The use of high performance computing, symbolic manipulation, and the development of numerical design tools are emphasized in this research.
