An Objective Investigation or a Feedforward Servomechanism

This paper concerns an objective, analytical and experimental investigation of a novel control technique, namely, the feedforward technique. Following a brief literature survey outlining the genesis of the technique, a detailed analysis of an ideal feedforward servomechanism model is presented. In the analysis Liapunov's direct method has been used for the determination of the stability of the system. An estimate of the settling time of the system has also been made using the Liapunov function. Next, the experiments that were carried out on a simulated feedforward mechanism model are reported. The paper concludes with a suggestion on the possible use of this technique in the design of a model reference adaptive system, investigation on which is underway.