This article gives a broad heuristic overview of some concepts in the application of robust control to flexible structures. It includes the modeling, analysis, and design of controllers and the sort of results that can be expected in a realistic setting for a flexible structure control problem, beyond single input/single output. A goal of this article is to convince, by heuristic means, those who are profoundly skeptical concerning robust control, at the least the intimate connection that exists between classical and multivariable robust control theory. Indeed, the classical robustness concepts in a single loop generalizes to multivariable robust control theory for multiple loops. An underlying theme of this article is the fact that important practical limitations originate from limitations in the accuracy of mathematical models representing flexible structures, not because of computational or numerical limitations or even a lack of sound ideas in mathematical modeling, but rather because of the lack of reliable detailed knowledge necessary in practice to accurately quantify the dynamical process in a given physical system. To this end, recent results are highlighted in the construction of uncertainty bounds directly from measured data.
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