Lecture 29 Notes (Draft) ECE6550, Fall 2017

Sam Coogan
November 6, 2017
In Lecture 29:

We saw in the single-input case that arbitrary pole placement is pos- Pole-placement for multi-input
systems
sible for controllable systems. Eigenvalue placement for stabiliz-
able systems
Here, we develop a similar result for systems with multiple inputs.

Multiple Input Case

One solution is to apply pre-feedback to make the system single-

input:

u u x
+ x = Ax + Bu

F
x = ( A + BF ) x + Bu, b = B

Theorem. Suppose ( A, B) is controllable and let b R( B). Then there

exists F such that ( A + BF, b) is controllable.

Proof. Define

z1 = b
z2 = Az1 + Bv1
zi+1 = Azi + Bvi

where vi is chosen such that zi+1 is independent of {z1 , z2 , . . . , zi }.

This process will terminate when i = n. To see this, suppose not so
that there exists i such that for all vi , it holds that

Azi + Bvi span{z1 , . . . , zi } =: M

and dimM = i < n. In particular, this implies that Azi M (choose

vi = 0). This further implies that Bvi M for all vi , i.e., R( B) M.
Furthermore, recall

Az1 = z2 Bv1
Az2 = z3 Bv2
..
.
 lecture 29 notes (draft) ece6550, fall 2017 2

and each z1 , . . . , zi1 M trivially so that Az1 , Az2 , . . . , Azi1 M.

Since {z1 , . . . , zi } span M and now { Az1 , . . . , Azi } M, we have that
M is A-invariant and contains R( B). But this would then imply that
rank(C) = i < n, a contradiction to the fact that ( A, B) is controllable.
Now, back to finding F. We choose F such that
h i h i
F z1 z2 . . . z n = v1 v2 . . . vn
h i
where vn is arbitrary. This is possible because z1 z2 ... zn is
invertible.
Finally, we have

z1 = b
z2 = Az1 + Bv1
z3 = Az2 + Bv2 = ( A + BF )z2 = ( A + BF )2 b
..
.
zn = ( A + BF )n1 b

so that zn are the columns of the controllability matrix for ( A +

BF, b). Thus, ( A + BF, b) is controllable. 

Now, to place the eigenvalues of ( A + BK ), choose b R( B) and let

be such that b = B. Now find F1 using above procedures such that
( A + BF1 , b) is completely controllable. Then choose the vector f 2 so
that ( A + BF1 + b f 2 ) has the desired eigenvalues (note that f 2 will be
a row vector.) It follows that we can choose

K = F1 + v f 2 .

Example. Let
" # " #
1 0 1 0
A= , B= .
0 2 0 1

Choose
" #
1
b= .
0

We have
" #
1
z1 = ,
0
"
#
1
z2 = Az1 + Bv1 = + Bv1 .
0
 lecture 29 notes (draft) ece6550, fall 2017 3

" #
0
We choose v1 = so that
1
" #
1
z2 = .
1
" #
0
Let vn = and we choose F such that
0
" #
h i h i 0 0
F z1 z2 = v1 v2 = F1 = .
1 1

Then
"#
1 0
A + BF1 = .
1 1

We can verify that ( A + BF1 , b) is controllable. N

Theorem. If ( A, B) is controllable, then ( A + BK, B) is controllable for

any choice K.

Proof. We will show that if ( A + BK, B) is not controllable, then

( A, B) is not controllable. Suppose ( A + BK, B) is not controllable.
Then there exists v and s such that
h i
v T sI ( A + BK ) B = 0.

But since v T B = 0, we also have v T BK = 0 so that the above gives

h i
v T sI A B = 0

so that ( A, B) is not controllable. 

Eigenvalue Placement of Stabilizable Systems

For stabilizable systems, we can place the eigenvalues of the control-

lable modes arbitrarily. To see then, convert the system into standard
controllable form:
" # " #
Ac A12 B
z = z+ 1 u
0 Au 0

Then choose F1 such that Ac + B1 F1 has eigenvalues in the desired

location. This is possible since ( Ac , B1 ) is controllable. Now choose
h i
K = F1 F2
 lecture 29 notes (draft) ece6550, fall 2017 4

where F2 is arbitrary. It follows that

" #
Ac + B1 F1 A12 + F2
A + BK =
0 Au

so that the eigenvalues of the controllable modes have been moved

to the desired eigenvalues but the uncontrollable modes remain
unchanged.