On the stability problem caused by finite actuator dynamics in the collocated control of large space structures

As large space structures are basically distributed systems, serious consideration must be given to the very high order, and consequently very high bandwidth, of these systems. In particular, as practical active control devices such as sensors and actuators have finite bandwidth, great care must be exercised so that control of low-frequency modes does not destabilize the intermediate and higher-order modes. In this paper, the nature of these stability problems is investigated and a technique using position feedback is considered.