Robust tracking error feedback control for output regulation of Euler–Bernoulli beam equation

In this paper, we consider robust output tracking for an Euler–Bernoulli beam equation under the guidance of the internal model principle, where the disturbances in all possible channels are considered. Three typical cases are investigated in terms of different regulated outputs. The first case is based on boundary displacement output, for which only asymptotic convergence can be achieved due to the compactness of the observation operator. The second case considers two outputs of both boundary displacement and velocity. Since the control is one-dimensional, we can only arbitrarily regulate the boundary displacement and at the same time, the velocity is regulated to track the derivative of the reference. This is not the standard form investigated in the literature for robust error feedback control of abstract infinite-dimensional systems. The last case represents an extreme case that the system is non-well posed. In all the above cases, this paper demonstrates the same technique of an observer-based approach to robust control design. In the latter two cases, we can achieve exponential convergence and the closed loop is also shown to be robust to system uncertainties. Numerical simulations are carried out in all cases to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controls.