With the growing capacity of renewable energy production sources, nuclear energy, once a mainstay of power generation, faces challenges due to its limited adaptability to fluctuating energy demands. This inherent rigidity makes it less desirable than the more flexible renewable sources. However, integrating thermal energy storage (TES) systems offers a promising avenue, enabling nuclear power plants (NPPs) to enhance their operational flexibility and remain competitive in an evolving renewable market. A comprehensive ranking methodology has been introduced, delineating the criteria and processes to determine the most synergistic TES/NPP design couplings. This methodology considers the unique characteristics of both current and prospective reactor fleets, ensuring broad applicability across various nuclear technologies. Economic analysis further supports the case for TES integration. Findings indicate that when equipped with TES systems, NPPs can remain price competitive, even with carbon-neutral alternatives like solar power generation. A lab-scale TES system was meticulously designed and constructed to validate these theoretical propositions. For its control, the Python GEKKO model predictive control (MPC) was employed, a decision influenced by the proven efficacy of GEKKO in managing complex systems. Tests conclusively demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of using GEKKO for MPC of TES systems. A novel methodology for the MPC of a RELAP5-3D input deck has been proposed and elaborated upon. This methodology was rigorously tested at two distinct scales. The initial focus was on a thermal-hydraulic model of the lab-scale TES system. Subsequent efforts scaled up to control a more intricate thermal-hydraulic model, representing a small modular reactor (SMR) paired with an oil-based TES system. In both scenarios, GEKKO exhibited exemplary performance, controlling the RELAP5-3D models with precision and ensuring they met the stipulated demand parameters. The research underscores the potential of RELAP5-3D MPC in streamlining the licensing process for TES systems intended for NPP coupling. This approach could eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming experiments, paving the way for more efficient and cost-effective nuclear energy solutions.

Advancements in robotics have the potential to aid humans in many realms of exploration as well as daily life: from search and rescue work, to space and deep sea exploration, to in-home assistance to improve the quality of life for those with limited mobility. One of the main milestones that needs to be met for robotics to achieve these ends is a robust ability to manipulate objects and locomote in cluttered and changing environments. A prerequisite to these skills is the ability to understand the current state of the world as well as how actions result in changes to the environment; in short, a robot needs a way to model itself and the world around it. With recent advances in machine learning and access to cheap and fast computation, one of the most promising avenues for creating robust models is to learn a neural network to approximate the dynamics of the system. Learning a data-driven model that accurately replicates the dynamics of a robot and its environment is an active area of robotics research. This model needs to be accurate, it needs to operate using sensors that are often high dimensional, and it needs to be robust to changes within the system and the surrounding environment. In this thesis, we investigate ways to improve the processof learning data-driven dynamics models as well as ways to reduce the dimensionality of a robot’s state space. We start by trying to improve the long-term accuracy of neural network based forward models. Learning forward models is more complicated than it appears on the surface. While it is easy to learn a model to predict the change of a system over a short horizon, it is challenging to assure this performance over a long horizon. We investigate the concept of adding temporal information into the loss function of the forward model during training; we demonstrate that this improves the accuracy of a model when it is used to predict over long horizons. While we are currently working with low dimensional systems, we eventually want to apply our learned models to robots with high dimensional state spaces. To make learning feasible, we need to find ways to learn a lower dimensional representation of the state space (also known as a latent space) to make learning models in the real world computationally feasible. We present a method to improve the usefulness of a learned latent space using a method we call context training: we learn a latent space alongside a forward model to encourage the learned latent space to retain the variables critical to learning the dynamics of the system. In all of our experiments, we spend significant time in analysis and evaluation. A large portion of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of data-driven forward models in robot control settings often only presents the final controller performance. We were often left curious about what the model was learning independent of the control scenario. We set out to do our own deep dive into exactly what data-driven forward models are predicting. We evaluate all of our models over long horizons. We also look deeper than just the mean and median loss values. We plot the full distribution of loss values over the entire horizon. The literature on data-driven models that do evaluate model prediction accuracy often focuses on the mean and median prediction errors; while these are important metrics, we found that looking at these metrics alone can sometimes obscure subtle but important effects. A high mean loss is often a result of poor performance on only a subset of the test dataset; one model can outperform other models with lower mean error values on a majority of the test set, but it can be skewed to look like the worst performer by having a few highly inaccurate outliers. We observe that models often have a subset of a test dataset on which they perform best; we seek to limit the use of a model to regions of the test dataset where it has high accuracy by using an ensemble of models. We find that if we train an ensemble of forward models, the accuracy of the models is higher when they all agree on a prediction. Conversely, when the ensemble of models disagrees, the prediction is often poor. We explore this relationship and propose future ways to apply it. Finally, we look into the application of improved model accuracy and context trained latent spaces. We start by testing the performance of our context training architecture as a method to reduce the state space dimensionality in a model-free reinforcement learning (MFRL) reaching task. We hypothesize that a policy trained with a latent space observation derived using our context trained encoder will outperform a policy trained with a latent space observation derived from a standard autoencoder. Unfortunately, we found no difference in task performance between the policies learned using either method. We end on a bright note by looking at the power of model-based control when we have access to an accurate model. We successfully use model predictive control (MPC) to generate robust locomotion for a simulated snake robot. With access to an accurate model, we are able to generate realistic snake gaits in a variety of environments with very little parameter tuning that are robust to changes in the environment.

Data-driven model predictive control framework of semicontinuous distillation process / Distillation technology is one of the most sought-after operations in the chemical process industries. Countless research has been done in the past to reduce the cost associated with distillation technology. As a result of process intensification, a semicontinuous distillation system is proposed as an alternative for purifying the n-component mixture (n>=3) which has the advantage over both batch and continuous process for low to medium production rates. A traditional distillation setup requires n-1 columns to separate the components to the desired purity. However, a semicontinuous system performs the same task by integrating a distillation column with n-2 middle vessel (storage tank). Consequently, with lower capital cost, the total annualized cost (TAC) per tonne of feed processed is less for a semicontinuous system compared to a traditional setup for low to medium throughput. Yet, the operating cost of a semicontinuous system exceed those of the conventional continuous setup. Semicontinuous system exhibits a non-linear dynamic behavior with a cyclic steady state and has three modes of operation. The main goal of this thesis is to reduce the operating cost per tonne of feed processed which leads to lower TAC per tonne of feed processed using a model predictive control (MPC) scheme compared to the existing PI configuration This work proposes a novel multi-model technique using subspace identification to identify a linear model for each mode of operation without attaining discontinuity. Subsequently, the developed multi-model framework was implemented in a shrinking horizon MPC architecture to reduce the TAC/tonne of feed processed while maintaining the desired product purities at the end of each cycle. The work uses Aspen Plus Dynamics simulation as a test bed to simulate the semicontinuous system and the shrinking horizon MPC scheme is formulated in MATLAB. VBA is used to communicate the inputs from MPC in MATLAB to the process in Aspen Plus Dynamics. / Thesis / Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (MSChE)

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第24613号 / 工博第5119号 / 新制||工||1979(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科原子核工学専攻 / (主査)教授 村上 定義, 教授 横峯 健彦, 教授 宮寺 隆之 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Gene therapy is advancing rapidly, with Recombinant Adeno-associated virus (rAAV) being investigated for potential use in treating cancer and neurological disorders. Plasmid DNA transfection and viral infection are standard methods for producing large-scale rAAV vectors. However, improving yield production requires careful monitoring and control of process state variables, which can be expensive and time-consuming. This thesis proposes a model predictive control (MPC) model that can efficiently monitor, predict, and optimize the final product by controlling state variables like DOT and temperature. The model relies on an unstructured mechanistic kinetic model designed explicitly based on rAAV upstream production. Monitoring viral vector production based on substrate or biomass concentration enhances bioprocess production efficiency. However, other state variables like dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and temperature should also be considered. The objective of this thesis is to enhance cell growth in bioreactors by regulating dissolved oxygen and temperature levels using a Model Predictive Control (MPC) system. This model can be employed in different processes to enhance cell growth and examine the impact of control measures. The goal is to achieve a high cell density, increase productivity, and lower costs in a shorter duration. Simulink, a software tool developed by MATLAB, seamlessly integrates Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) to optimize bioprocesses in bioreactors. The Model Predictive Control (MPC) controller expertly regulates Dissolved Oxygen Tension (DOT) and temperature, thereby increasing cell growth concentrations. This sophisticated controller efficiently manages multiple variables simultaneously and exceeds the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller. The model is straightforward to comprehend and promptly responds to anomaly data. To evaluate the suggested resolution, we conducted tests on both PID and MPC controllers by introducing measurement noise to the DOT. Our analysis indicated that MPC demonstrated superior performance based on the ISE (Integral of Squared Error), IAE (Integral of Absolute Error), and ITAE (Integral of Time-weighted Absolute Error), all of which were substantially higher for the PID controller. Regardless of changing conditions, MPC adeptly tracks the setpoint and optimizes the variable to enhance production efficiency.

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<p>Among all additive manufacturing processes, material jetting, or inkjet 3D printing, builds the product similar to the traditional inkjet printing, either by drop-on-demand or continuous printing. Aside from the common advantages as other additive manufacturing methods, it can achieve higher resolution than other additive manufacturing methods. Combining its ability to accept a wide range of functional inks, inkjet 3D printing is predominantly used in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. A height profile model is necessary to achieve better estimation of the geometry of a printed product. Numerical height profile models have been documented that can estimate the inkjet printing process from when the droplet hits the substrate till fully cured. Although they can estimate height profiles relatively accurately, these models generally take a long time to compute. A simplified model that can achieve sufficient accuracy while reducing computational complexity is needed for real-time process control. In this work, a layer-to-layer height propagation model that aims to balance computational complexity and model accuracy is proposed and experimentally validated. The model consists of two sub-models where one is dedicated to multi-layer line printing and the other is more broadly applicable for multi-layer 2D patterns. Both models predict the height profile of drops through separate volume and area layer-to-layer propagation. The layer-to-layer propagation is based on material flow and volume conservation. The models are experimentally validated on an experimental inkjet 3D printing system equipped with a heated piezoelectric dispenser head made by Microdrop. There are notable similarities between inkjet 3D printing and inkjet image printing, which has been studied extensively to improve color printing quality. Image processing techniques are necessary to convert nearly continuous levels of color intensities to binary printing map while satisfying the human visual system at the same time. It is reasonable to leverage such image processing techniques to improve the quality of inkjet 3D printed products, which might be more effective and efficient. A framework is proposed to adapt image processing techniques for inkjet 3D printing. Standard error diffusion method is chosen as a demonstration of the framework to be adapted for inkjet 3D printing and this adaption is experimentally validated. The adapted error diffusion method can improve the printing quality in terms of geometry integrity with low demand on computation power. Model predictive control has been widely used for process control in various industries. With a carefully designed cost function, model predictive control can be an effective tool to improve inkjet 3D printing. While many researchers utilized model predictive control to indirectly improves functional side of the printed products, geometry control is often overlooked. This is possibly due to the lack of high quality height profile models for inkjet 3D printing for real-time control. Height profile control of inkjet 3D printing can be formulated as a constrained non-linear model predictive control problem. The input to the printing system is always constrained, as droplet volume not only is bounded but also cannot be continuously adjusted due to the limitation of the printhead.  A specific cost function is proposed to account for the geometry of both the final printed product and the intermediate layers better. The cost function is further adjusted for the inkjet 3D printing system to reduce memory usage for larger print geometries by introducing sparse matrix and scaler cost weights. Two patterns with different parameter settings are simulated using model predictive controller. The simulated results show a consistent improvement over open-loop prints. Experimental validation is also performed on both a bi-level pattern and a P pattern, same as that printed with adapted error diffusion for inkjet 3D printing. The model predictive controlled printing outperforms the open-loop printing. In summary, a set of layer-to-layer height propagation profile models for inkjet 3D printing are proposed and experimentally validated. A framework to adapt error diffusion to improve inkjet 3D printing is proposed and validated experimentally. Model predictive control can also improve geometric integrity of inkjet 3D printing with a carefully designed cost function to address memory usage. It is also experimentally validated.</p>

As vehicles become electrified and more intelligent in terms of sensing, actuation and processing; a number of interesting possibilities arise in controlling vehicle dynamics and driving behavior. Over-actuation with inwheel motors, all wheel steering and active camber is one such possibility, and can facilitate control combinations that push boundaries in energy consumption and safety. Optimal control can be used to investigate the best combinations of control inputs to an over-actuated system. In Part 1, a literature study is performed on the state of art in the field of optimal control, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and their applicability to a vehicular system. Out of these methods, Dynamic Programming and Model Predictive Control are of particular interest. Prior work in overactuation, as well as control for reducing tire energy dissipation is studied, and utilized to frame the dynamics, constraints and objective of an optimal control problem. In Part 2, an optimal control problem representing the lateral dynamics of an over-actuated vehicle is formulated, and solved for different objectives using Dynamic Programming. Simulations are performed for standard driving maneuvers, performance parameters are defined, and a system design study is conducted. Objectives include minimizing tire cornering resistance (saving energy) and maintaining the reference vehicle trajectory (ensuring safety), and optimal combinations of input steering and camber angles are derived as a performance benchmark. Following this, Model Predictive Control is used to design an online controller that follows the optimal vehicle state, and studies are performed to assess the suitability of MPC to over-actuation. Simulation models are also expanded to include non-linear tires. Finally, vehicle implementation is considered on the KTH Research Concept Vehicle (RCV) and four vehicle-implementable control cases are presented. To conclude, this thesis project uses methods in optimal control to find candidate solutions to improve vehicle performance thanks to over-actuation. Extensive vehicle tests are needed for a clear indication of the energy saving achievable, but simulations show promising performance improvements for vehicles overactuated with all-wheel steering and active camber.

<p>In this thesis, a human-in-the-loop control system is presented to assist an operator in teleoperation of a mobile robot. In a conventional teleoperation paradigm, the human operator would directly navigate the robot without any assistance which may result in poor performance in complex and unknown task environments due to inadequacy of visual feedback. The proposed method in this thesis builds on an earlier general control framework that systematically combines teleoperation and autonomous control subtasks. In this approach, the operator controls the mobile robot (slave) using a force-feedback haptic interface (master). Teleoperation control commands coordinate master and slave robots while an autonomous control subtask helps the operator avoid collisions with obstacles in the robot task environment by providing corrective force feedback. The autonomous collision avoidance is based on a Model Predictive Control (MPC) philosophy. The autonomous subtask control commands are generated by formulating and solving a constrained optimization problem over a rolling horizon window of time into the future using system models to predict the operator force and robot motion. The goal of the optimization is to prevent collisions within the prediction horizon by applying corrective force feedback, while minimizing interference with the operator teleoperation actions. It is assumed that the obstacles are stationary and sonar sensors mounted on the mobile robot measure the obstacle distances relative to the robot. Two formulation of MPC-based collision avoidance are proposed. The first formulation directly incorporates raw observation points as constraints in the MPC optimization problem. The second formulation relies on a line segment representation of the task environment. This thesis employs the well-known Hough transform method to effectively transform the raw sensor data into line segments. The extracted line segments constitute a compact model for the environment that is used in the formulation of collision constraints. The effectiveness of the proposed model-predictive control obstacle avoidance schemes is demonstrated in teleoperation experiments where the master robot is a 3DOF haptic interface and the slave is a P3-DX mobile robot equipped with eight (8) sonar sensors at the front.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

This thesis focuses on utilizing the persistent voltage vector injections by finite control set model predictive control (FCSMPC) to enable simultaneous estimations of both position and parameters in order to realize robust sensorless interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) drives valid at the entire operating region including no-load standstill without any additional signal injection and switchover. The system (here, IPMSM) needs to meet certain observability conditions to identify the parameters and position. Moreover, each combination of the parameters and/or position involves different observability requirements which cannot be accomplished at every operating point. In particular, meeting the observability for parameters and position at no-load standstill is more challenging. This is overcome by generating persistent excitation in the system with high-frequency signal injection. The FCSMPC scheme inherently features the persistent excitation with voltage vector injection and hence no additional signal injection is required. Moreover, the persistent excitation always exists for FCSMPC except at the standstill where the control applies the null vectors when the reference currents are zero. However, introducing a small negative d axis current at the standstill would be sufficient to overcome this situation.The parameter estimations are investigated at first in this thesis. The observability is analyzed for the combinations of two, three and four parameters and experimentally validated by online identification based on recursive least square (RLS) based adaptive observer. The worst case operating points concerning observability are identified and experimentally proved that the online identification of all the parameter combinations could be accomplished with persistent excitation by FCMPC. Moreover, the effect of estimation error in one parameter on the other known as parameter coupling is reduced with the proposed decoupling technique. The persistent voltage vector injections by FCSMPC help to meet the observability conditions for estimating the position, especially at low speeds. However, the arbitrary nature of the switching ripples and absence of PWM modulator void the possibility of applying the standard demodulation based techniques for FCSMPC. Consequently, a nonlinear optimization based observer is proposed to estimate both the position and speed, and experimentally validated from standstill to maximum speed. Furthermore, a compensator is also proposed that prevents converging to saddle and symmetrical ( ambiguity) solutions. The robustness analysis of the proposed nonlinear optimization based observer shows that estimating the position without co-estimating the speed is more robust and the main influencing parameters on the accuracy of the position estimation are d and q inductances. Subsequently, the proposed nonlinear optimization based observer is extended to simultaneously estimate the position, d and q inductances. The experimental results show the substantial improvements in response time, and reduction in both steady and transient state position errors. In summary, this thesis presents the significance of persistent voltage vector injections in estimating both parameter and position, and also shows that nonlinear optimization based technique is an ideal candidate for robust sensorless FCSMPC. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)