Something of revolution has occurred in control theory in the past 10 years which involves a renewed focus on the critical role that uncertainty in modeling physical systems plays in controller design. Although this revolution has included the introduction of significant new mathematics into the field (e.g. Structured Singular Values (SSV or mu), H infinity optimal control, mu-synthesis), it is most noteworthy for the impact it is having on practical applications. There has finally emerged systematic, quantitative methods for the design of robust control systems, systems that provide performance in the presence of substantial uncertainty about the physical system being controlled. The focus of this research effort will be on further extensions to the mathematics, particulary mu-synthesis. This effort will complement the other research in this area at Caltech, which is focused on applications, nonlinear control, and system identification.
