Application of QFT to control system design - An outline for engineers

Control system design is an interdisciplinary and multistage process, and is not a sub-area of mathematics but rather an engineering endeavour. It behoves the engineer to reduce the real world control task to a tractable mathematical problem. The required simplifying assumptions and the attendant mathematical modelling effort require sound engineering knowledge and judgement. Furthermore, the mathematical solution of the control problem needs to be implemented, and the validity and applicability of the modelling assumptions need to be verified, by the engineer. Hence, in this paper the process of applying the QFT robust control system design method is presented from this broad perspective and it is shown that it is uniquely suited to address and solve engineering control system design problems. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.