Digital control of negative imaginary systems: a discrete-time hybrid integrator-gain system approach

A hybrid integrator-gain system (HIGS) is a control element that switches between an integrator and a gain, which overcomes some inherent limitations of linear controllers. In this paper, we consider using discrete-time HIGS controllers for the digital control of negative imaginary (NI) systems. We show that the discrete-time HIGS themselves are step-advanced negative imaginary systems. For a minimal linear NI system, there always exists a HIGS controller that can asymptotically stablize it. An illustrative example is provided, where we use the proposed HIGS control method to stabilize a discrete-time mass-spring system.