A ripple free sampled-data robust servomechanism controller using exponential hold

In a general command tracking and disturbance rejection problem, it is known that a sampled-data controller using zero-order hold may only guarantee the asymptotic tracking at the sampling instances, but cannot smooth out the ripples between the sampling instances. In this paper, a sampled-data robust servomechanism controller using exponential hold is developed for guaranteeing the asymptotic tracking not only at, but also between, the sampling instances. In this development, a so called "internally-reducible" condition to characterize a class of robust servomechanism controllers is derived first, then the proposed controller is shown to be contained in this class. Generally speaking, a sampled-data structure using exponential hold can provide more design freedoms so that it tends to simplify the construction of a robust servomechanism controller and facilitate the implementation on digital computers. An example for a DC motor control is presented to illustrate the advantages of this approach. >