Optimal quasi-elastic shape control for large aerospace antennae (Q797539)

In this paper, we propose an on-line control approach which will adjust the steady-state shape of a large antenna arbitrarily close to any achievable desired profile. The method makes use of distributed parameter system theory and allows refocusing using a limited number of control actuators and sensors. The controller gains are calculated by approximating the solution to an infinite-dimensional optimal quasi-static control problem. We prove a very general converge result for such quasi-static controllers here and apply it to the antenna controller to show convergence using any Galerkin (finite-element) approximation method.