Application of the l/sup 1/-optimal regulation strategy to a hard disk servo system

This paper examines the use of the l/sup 1/-optimal regulation strategy on a hard disk servo system. The l/sup 1/-optimal regulation algorithm seeks to minimize the maximum position error signal (PES), which is the deviation of the read/write head from the center of the track. Comparison studies were made against the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimal control strategy. Experimental results show that the LQG control algorithm helps to reduce the energy of the PES, but does not help to reduce the maximum error signal. On the other hand, the l/sup 1/-optimal control scheme reduces the maximum error signal. The energy of the error signal, however, is larger.