QFT prefilter design for multivariable systems using interval constraint satisfaction technique

In this paper, a computationally efficient method is proposed for automated design of the prefilters for multivariable systems. In quantitative feedback theory (QFT) method, proposed by Horowitz, the prefilter is designed to achieve the desired tracking specifications. In the proposed approach, we pose the prefilter design problem as an interval constraint satisfaction problem and solve it using the well-established interval constraint satisfaction techniques. The proposed method finds optimal values of the parameters of fixed structure prefilter within the initial search domain. An approach based on prefilter synthesis for single-input single-output is already developed. The purpose of this paper is to extend this approach to QFT prefilter design for general multivariable systems. To validate the above design approach, we applied the method to a laboratory setup of magnetic levitation system.