Chapter6 2 6. Investigation and Synthesis of Robust Polynomials in Uncertainty on the Basis of the Root Locus Theory

Abstract The root locus method is proposed in the chapter for searching intervals of uncertainty for coefficients of the given (source) polynomial with constant or interval coefficients under perturbations, which ensures its robust stability regardless of whether the given polynomial is Hurwitz or not. The method is based on introduction and application of the “extended root locus” notion. Polynomial adjustment is performed by setting up each one of its coefficients separately and sequentially and determining permissible values of coefficient variation intervals (intervals of uncertainty). The effect of each coefficient variation upon the polynomial root dynamics (behavior) is considered and analyzed separately, and this influence could be observed in the root locus portraits. Root locus method is thus generalized to the cases when the number of polynomial variable coefficients is arbitrary. The root locus parameter distribution diagram along the asymptotic stability bound is introduced and applied for observing the roots behavior regularities. On this basis, the stability conditions are derived, and analytical and graphic-analytical methods are worked out for calculating intervals of variation for the 4th order polynomial family parameters ensuring its robust stability. It also allows to extract Hurwitz subfamilies from the non-Hurwitz families of interval polynomials and to determine whether there exists at least one stable polynomial in the unstable polynomial family.