Validating Controllers for Internal Stability Utilizing Closed-Loop Data

We introduce novel tests utilizing a limited amount of experimental and possibly noisy data obtained with an existing known stabilizing controller connected to an unknown plant for verifying that the introduction of a proposed new controller will stabilize the plant. The tests depend on the assumption that the unknown plant is stabilized by a known controller and that some knowledge of the closed-loop system, such as noisy frequency response data, is available and on the basis of that knowledge, the use of a new controller appears attractive. The desirability of doing this arises in iterative identification and control algorithms, multiple-model adaptive control, and multi-controller adaptive switching. The proposed tests can be used for SISO and/or MIMO linear time-invariant systems.