There is often freedom in choosing the location of actuators on systems governed by partial differential equations. The actuator locations should be selected in order to optimize the performance criterion of interest. The main focus of this thesis is to consider H-∞-performance with state-feedback. That is, both the controller and the actuator locations are chosen to minimize the effect of disturbances on the output of a full-information plant. Optimal H-∞-disturbance attenuation as a function of actuator location is used as the cost function. It is shown that the corresponding actuator location problem is well-posed. In practice, approximations are used to determine the optimal actuator location. Conditions for the convergence of optimal performance and the corresponding actuator location to the exact performance and location are provided. Examples are provided to illustrate that convergence may fail when these conditions are not satisfied. Systems of large model order arise in a number of situations; including approximation of partial differential equation models and power systems. The system descriptions are sparse when given in descriptor form but not when converted to standard first-order form. Numerical calculation of H-∞-attenuation involves iteratively solving large H-∞-algebraic Riccati equations (H-∞-AREs) given in the descriptor form. An iterative algorithm that preserves the sparsity of the system description to calculate the solutions of large H-∞-AREs is proposed. It is shown that the performance of our proposed algorithm is similar to a Schur method in many cases. However, on several examples, our algorithm is both faster and more accurate than other methods. The calculation of H-∞-optimal actuator locations is an additional layer of optimization over the calculation of optimal attenuation. An optimization algorithm to calculate H-∞-optimal actuator locations using a derivative-free method is proposed. The results are illustrated using several examples motivated by partial differential equation models that arise in control of vibration and diffusion.

There is often freedom in choosing the location of actuators on systems governed by partial differential equations. The actuator locations should be selected in order to optimize the performance criterion of interest. The main focus of this thesis is to consider H-∞-performance with state-feedback. That is, both the controller and the actuator locations are chosen to minimize the effect of disturbances on the output of a full-information plant. Optimal H-∞-disturbance attenuation as a function of actuator location is used as the cost function. It is shown that the corresponding actuator location problem is well-posed. In practice, approximations are used to determine the optimal actuator location. Conditions for the convergence of optimal performance and the corresponding actuator location to the exact performance and location are provided. Examples are provided to illustrate that convergence may fail when these conditions are not satisfied. Systems of large model order arise in a number of situations; including approximation of partial differential equation models and power systems. The system descriptions are sparse when given in descriptor form but not when converted to standard first-order form. Numerical calculation of H-∞-attenuation involves iteratively solving large H-∞-algebraic Riccati equations (H-∞-AREs) given in the descriptor form. An iterative algorithm that preserves the sparsity of the system description to calculate the solutions of large H-∞-AREs is proposed. It is shown that the performance of our proposed algorithm is similar to a Schur method in many cases. However, on several examples, our algorithm is both faster and more accurate than other methods. The calculation of H-∞-optimal actuator locations is an additional layer of optimization over the calculation of optimal attenuation. An optimization algorithm to calculate H-∞-optimal actuator locations using a derivative-free method is proposed. The results are illustrated using several examples motivated by partial differential equation models that arise in control of vibration and diffusion.

In this paper introduce new approach for unified theory for continuous and discrete time (optimal) control problems based on the generalized Cayley transformation. We also relate the associated discrete and continuous generalized algebraic Riccati equations. We demonstrate the potential of this new approach proving new result for discrete algebraic Riccati equations. But we also discuss where this new approach as well as all other approaches still is non-satisfactory. We explain a discrepancy observed between the discrete and continuous cse and show that this discrepancy is partly due to the consideration of the wrong analogues. We also present an idea for a metatheorem that relates general theorems for discrete and continuous control problems.

In this paper introduce new approach for unified theory for continuous and discrete time (optimal) control problems based on the generalized Cayley transformation. We also relate the associated discrete and continuous generalized algebraic Riccati equations. We demonstrate the potential of this new approach proving new result for discrete algebraic Riccati equations. But we also discuss where this new approach as well as all other approaches still is non-satisfactory. We explain a discrepancy observed between the discrete and continuous cse and show that this discrepancy is partly due to the consideration of the wrong analogues. We also present an idea for a metatheorem that relates general theorems for discrete and continuous control problems.

Cette thèse porte sur la commande H∞ par loop-shaping pour les systèmes linéaires à temps invariant d'ordre faible avec ou sans retard et dépendant de paramètres inconnus. L'objectif est d'obtenir des correcteurs H∞ paramétriques, c'est-à-dire dépendant explicitement des paramètres inconnus, pour application à des viseurs gyrostabilisés.L'existence de ces paramètres inconnus ne permet plus l'utilisation des techniques numériques classiques pour la résolution du problème H∞ par loop-shaping. Nous avons alors développé une nouvelle méthodologie permettant de traiter les systèmes linéaires de dimension finie grâce à l'utilissation de techniques modernes de calcul formel dédiées à la résolution des systèmes polynomiaux (bases de Gröbner, variétés discriminantes, etc.).Une telle approche présente de multiples avantages: étude de sensibilités du critère H∞ par rapport aux paramètres, identification de valeurs de paramètres singulières ou remarquables, conception de correcteurs explicites optimaux/robustes, certification numérique des calculs, etc. De plus, nous montrons que cette approche peut s'étendre à une classe de systèmes à retard.Plus généralement, cette thèse s'appuie sur une étude symbolique des équations de Riccati algébriques. Les méthodologies génériques développées ici peuvent s'étendre à de nombreux problèmes de l'automatique, notamment la commande LQG, le filtrage de Kalman ou invariant. / This PhD thesis deals with the H∞ loop-shaping design for low order linear time invariant systems depending on unknown parameters. The objective of the PhD thesis is to obtain parametric H∞ controllers, i.e. controllers which depend explicitly on the unknown model parameters, and to apply them to the stabilization of gyrostabilized sights.Due to the unknown parameters, no numerical algorithm can solve the robust control problem. Using modern symbolic techniques dedicated to the solving of polynomial systems (Gröbner bases, discriminant varieties, etc.), we develop a new methodology to solve this problem for finite-dimensional linear systems.This approach shows several advantages : we can study the sensibilities of the H∞ criterion to the parameter variations, identify singular or remarquable values of the parameters, compute controllers which depend explicitly on the parameters, certify the numerical computations, etc. Furthermore, we show that this approach can be extended to a class of linear time-delay systems.More generally, this PhD thesis develops an algebraic approach for the study of algebraic Riccati equations. Thus, the methodology obtained can be extended to many different problems such as LQG control and Kalman or invariant filtering.