Sensor selection via closed-loop control objectives

The ability to stabilize a system and achieve performance objectives using active feedback control is highly dependent on the location, quality, type, and number of control actuators and sensors. One role of a control engineer is to interact with the system designer to locate, size, and determine the quality of actuators and sensors required for effective control. This paper addresses one of these issues: location of sensors based on closedloop objectives. A systematic approach, based on H2 optimal control design techniques, is developed for sensor selection which achieves desired performance objectives and includes system constraints. This approach is applied to the selection of sensors for active vibration attenuation on the NASA Langley Mini-Mast experimental structure.