A separation principle for hybrid control system design

A method is presented here, based on automatic control system design practice, for the synthesis of hybrid control systems, controllers which contain both real-time feedback loops and logical decision-making components. In the proposed framework, the overall design task is separated into three component parts: 1) design of the real-time control loops; 2) synthesis of the decision-making logic; and 3) construction of appropriate boolean/real-time translation routines. This is an effective partitioning of the control system design task, as shown through two examples: 1) control of a highly flexible structure and 2) a robotic manipulator control task. This framework was found to be compatible with expert system-based intelligent control systems and can employ expert system techniques when necessary or effective.<>