Experimental Investigation of a Time Scales-Based Stability Criterion Over Finite Time Horizons
Feedback control systems that employ large area networks or other unpredictable or unreliable communications protocols between sensors, actuators, and controllers may experience nonuniform sampling characteristics. Previous work by Poulsen, et. al. gives a criterion for exponential stability of non-uniformly discretized feedback control systems, assuming sample periods drawn from a known statistical distribution. However, the given stability theorem assumes an infinite time horizon. This work therefore examines the exponential stability criterion experimentally, over a finite time horizon, on a 2nd-order servo mechanism. This paper is the first to experimentally investigate the validity of this time scales stability criterion.