Dissipative design, lossless dynamics, and the nonlinear TORA benchmark example

Issues of dissipative design, including the balance of dissipative and loss less dynamics and effects of inherent limitations on internal power flow ra tes are illustrated both by the nonlinear translational oscillator/rotation al actuator (TORA) benchmark and by the linear double integrator. In partic ular it is demonstrated that the use of a fixed structure, damper type comp ensator, optimized near steady state may lead to inferior performance,and t o actuation requirements that are two orders of magnitude larger than what is achievable by a compensator that is structurally tuned to internal power flaw. An observer-based design is also presented.