Control of (otherwise) uncontrollable linear mechanical systems through non-smooth impacts

This paper, largely inspired by Brogliato and Zavala-Rio (IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 45(2) (2000)), considers a particular class of jugglers, i.e., under actuated linear mechanical systems subject to non-smooth impacts (e.g., due to one clearance), which would be uncontrollable if the impacts were absent. It is shown that, under mild assumptions, the overall system is controllable, and that just the impacts can be used to solve a dead-beat regulation problem, which in absence of them would have no solution, due to the uncontrollability of the unconstrained (impulse free) mechanical system. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.