Compensator improvement program: new developments and results

In numerous cases, the application of analytical techniques to control system design has been found to yield unsatisfactory results. The need for an analytical model, the small number of design specifications that can be satisfied, and the possibility of a high order resulting controller are disadvantages common to many of these techniques. An alternate approach to compensator design is to use data models to design and/or fine-tune fixed order controllers. The compensator improvement program (CIP) was developed in the 1970's as an aid in the design of controllers for MIMO systems. CIP uses a search technique to iteratively modify the parameters of an initial compensator until multiple frequency domain design specifications are satisfied. In this paper, recent additions and enhancements to CIP are presented. These include compensator damping ratios and DC gain specifications, closed loop specifications, and a new interactive front end and graphical user interface.<>