Switching between impacting and non-impacting co-existing attractors via intermittent control

Resumo

Multistability manifests itself in several nonlinear systems and structures including origamis, energy
harvesters, oil well drilling and microelectromechanical systems. In some applications, this effect is a desired
aspect that brings adaptability but in others, only a specific configuration is useful. In all cases, the ability to
exchange between undesired and desired responses is crucial for the system proper operation. Usually, this
configuration change occurs in a quasi-static framework where the system operation is required to halt for
reconfiguration, leading to losses of productivity and waste of time. Hence, control techniques that can transfer
between coexistent orbits in a dynamical framework are required. However, there are only a few studies that
tackle the control of multi-stable systems, with most controllers only working in the vicinity of the desired
behaviour. This work aims to study the intermittent control application from numerical and experimental points
of view and analyse its properties in a realistic scenario where noise is present. An experimental impact
oscillator is used as a standard multi-stable system. Results show that the controller presents difficulties to
exchange coexistent orbits when noise is considered, needing high control gains.