Optimal control of first-order plants by dead-beat techniques

The design of optimal dead-beat controllers for first-order plants is considered. The simple nature of these plants leads to ripple-free step response, a property that is highly desirable. The minimum energy and minimum effort control problems are formulated and solved with an analytical and generalized approach. Analytical expressions for the digital controller pulse transfer functions along with the resulting control sequences are derived. Generalized curves for the maximum control signals appearing in the system are also presented. The latter can be used for the determination of the minimum sampling period when the maximum control signal is specified.