Power-constrained intermittent control

In this article, input power, as opposed to the usual input amplitude, constraints are introduced in the context of intermittent control. They are shown to result in a combination of quadratic optimisation and quadratic constraints. The main motivation for considering input power constraints is its similarity with semi-active control. Such methods are commonly used to provide damping in mechanical systems and structures. It is shown that semi-active control can be re-expressed and generalised as control with power constraints and can thus be implemented as power-constrained intermittent control. The method is illustrated using simulations of resonant mechanical systems and the constrained nature of the power flow is represented using power-phase-plane plots. We believe the approach we present will be useful for the control design of both semi-active and low-power vibration suppression systems.