Placing dynamic sensors and actuators on flexible space structures

Input/Output Cost Analysis involves decompositions of the quadratic cost function into contributions from each stochastic input and each weighted output. In the past, these suboptimal cost decomposition methods of sensor and actuator selection (SAS) have been used to locate perfect (infinite bandwidth) sensor and actuators on large scale systems. This paper extends these ideas to the more practical case of imperfect actuators and sensors with dynamics of their own. NASA's SCOLE examples demonstrate that sensor and actuator dynamics affect the optimal selection and placement of sensors and actuators.