Hassan K. Khalil, Ph.D., E.Eng. Michigan State University of Michigan State University

High-gain observers play an important role in the design of feedback control for nonlinear systems. This lectures overviews the essentials of this technique. After a brief historical background, a motivating example is used to illustrate the main features of high-gain observers, with emphasis on the peaking phenomenon and the role of control saturation in dealing with it. The use of the observer in feedback control is discussed and a nonlinear separation principle is presented. The use of an extended high-gain observer as a disturbance estimator is covered. Challenges in implementing high-gain observers are discussed, with the effect of measurement noise as the most serious one. Techniques to cope with measurement noise are presented. The lecture ends by listing the speaker's experience with experimental testing of high-gain observers. 

Biography:

Hassan K. Khalil received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, in 1973 and 1975, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1978, all in electrical engineering.

Haiyi Zhu, Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University

Biography:

Haiyi Zhu is an Assistant Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Zhu received a B.S in Computer Science from Tsinghua University and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Zhu has received an NSF CRII award as well as several paper awards in venues such as CHI, CSCW, and Human Factors, and an Allen Newell Award for Research Excellence. Dr. Zhu has also taken on major service roles in the community, such as serving as the secretary/treasurer of HCIC, and program committee members for CHI and CSCW.