Yes / This paper presents a novel minimum entropy control algorithm for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems subjected to non-Gaussian noises. The entropy control can be considered as an optimization problem for the system randomness attenuation, but the mean value has to be considered separately. To overcome this disadvantage, a new representation of the system stochastic properties was given using the cumulant-generating function based on the moment-generating function, in which the mean value and the entropy was reflected by the shape of the cumulant-generating function. Based on the samples of the system output and control input, a time-variant linear model was identified, and the minimum entropy optimization was transformed to system stabilization. Then, an optimal control strategy was developed to achieve the randomness attenuation, and the boundedness of the controlled system output was analyzed. The effectiveness of the presented control algorithm was demonstrated by a numerical example. In this paper, a data-driven minimum entropy design is presented without pre-knowledge of the system model; entropy optimization is achieved by the system stabilization approach in which the stochastic distribution control and minimum entropy are unified using the same identified structure; and a potential framework is obtained since all the existing system stabilization methods can be adopted to achieve the minimum entropy objective.

The scheduling of material requirements at a factory to maximize profits.or productivity is a difficult mathematical problem. The stochastic nature of most production setups introduces additional complications as a result of the uncertainty involved in vendor reliability and processing times. But in developing the descriptive model for a system, a true representation can only be attained if the variability of these elements is considered. Here we present the development of a normative model based on a new type of descriptive model which considers the element of stochasticity. The arrival time of an assembly part from a vendor is considered to be a normally distributed random variable. We attempt to optimize the system with regard to work-in-process inventory using a dynamic programming algorithm in combination with a heuristic procedure. The decision variable is the prescribed assembly part delivery date. The model is particularly suitable for application in low volume assembly lines, where products are manufactured in discrete batches. / Master of Science

<p>The presence of vibration is an important problem in many engineering applications. Various passive techniques have traditionally been used in order to reduce waves and vibrations, and their harmful effects. Passive techniques are, however, difficult to apply in the low frequency region. In addition, the use of passive techniques often involve adding mass to the system, which is undesirable in many applications.</p><p>As an alternative, active techniques can be used to manipulate system dynamics and to control the propagation of waves and vibrations. This thesis deals with modeling, estimation and active control of systems that have resonant dynamics. The systems are exposed to stochastic disturbances. Some of them excite the system and generate vibrational responses and other corrupt measured signals. </p><p>Feedback control of a beam with attached piezoelectrical elements is studied. A detailed modeling approach is described and system identification techniques are employed for model order reduction. Disturbance attenuation of a non-measured variable shows to be difficult. This issue is further analyzed and the problems are shown to depend on fundamental design limitations.</p><p>Feedforward control of traveling waves is also considered. A device with properties analogous to those of an electrical diode is introduced. An `ideal´ feedforward controller based on the mechanical properties of the system is derived. It has, however, poor noise rejection properties and it therefore needs to be modified. A number of feedforward controllers that treat the measurement noise in a statistically sound way are derived.</p><p>Separation of overlapping traveling waves is another topic under investigation. This operation also is sensitive to measurement noise. The problem is thoroughly analyzed and Kalman filtering techniques are employed to derive wave estimators with high statistical performance. </p><p>Finally, a nonlinear regression problem with close connections to unbalance estimation of rotating machinery is treated. Different estimation techniques are derived and analyzed with respect to their statistical accuracy. The estimators are evaluated using the example of separator balancing. </p>

The optimal estimation theory of the Wiener-Kalman filter is extended to cover the situation in which the number of memory elements in the estimator is restricted. A method, based on the simultaneous diagonalisation of two symmetric positive definite matrices, is given which allows the weighted least square estimation error to be minimised. A control system design method is developed utilising this estimator, and this allows the dynamic controller in the feedback path to have a low order. A 12-order once-through boiler model is constructed and the performance of controllers of various orders generated by the design method is investigated. Little cost penalty is found even for the one-order controller when compared with the optimal Kalman filter system. Whereas in the Kalman filter all information from past observations is stored, the given method results in an estimate of the state variables which is a weighted sum of the selected information held in the storage elements. For the once-through boiler these weighting coefficients are found to be smooth functions of position, their form illustrating the implicit model reduction properties of the design method. Minimal-order estimators of the Luenberger type also generate low order controllers and the relation between the two design methods is examined. It is concluded that the design method developed in this thesis gives better plant estimates than the Luenberger system and, more fundamentally, allows a lower order control system to be constructed. Finally some possible extensions of the theory are indicated. An immediate application is to multivariable control systems, while the existence of a plant state estimate even in control systems of very low order allows a certain adaptive structure to be considered for systems with time-varying parameters.

by Cheung, Shing Kwong. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-143). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Este trabalho consiste no estudo de métodos de otimização aplicados em um problema de controle para sistemas lineares com saltos markovianos (SLSM). SLSM formam uma importante classe de sistemas que têm sido muito úteis em aplicações envolvendo sistemas sujeitos a falhas e outras alterações abruptas de comportamento. Este estudo enfoca diferentes métodos para resolução deste problema. Comparamos o método variacional com o de Newton, sob o ponto de vista do número de problemas resolvidos e pelo nível de sub-otimalidade obtido (relação entre os custos obtidos por estes métodos). Também propomos um novo método, o qual pode ser inicializado com soluções de equações de Riccati acopladas, e o comparamos com o método variacional. Além disso, para a comparação dos métodos, propomos um algoritmo que gerou dez mil exemplos / This work addresses optimizations methods applied to a control problem for linear systems with markovian jumps, which form an important class of systems that have been very useful in applications involving systems subject to failures and other abrupt changes. This study focuses on different methods for solving this problem. We compare the variational approach with the Newton method, in terms of the number of solved problems and the level of sub-optimality (ratio between the costs obtained by these approaches). We also propose a new method, which can be initialized with solutions of coupled Riccati equations, and we compare it with the variational approach. We have proposed an algorithm for creating ten thousand examples for the comparisons

The scope of the thesis is to estimate the parameters of continuous-time models used within control and communication from sampled data with high accuracy and in a computationally efficient way.In the thesis, continuous-time models of systems controlled in a networked environment, errors-in-variables systems, stochastic closed-loop systems, and wireless channels are considered. The parameters of a transfer function based model for the process in a networked control system are estimated by a covariance function based approach relying upon the second order statistical properties of input and output signals. Some other approaches for estimating the parameters of continuous-time models for processes in networked environments are also considered. The multiple input multiple output errors-in-variables problem is solved by means of a covariance matching algorithm. An analysis of a covariance matching method for single input single output errors-in-variables system identification is also presented. The parameters of continuous-time autoregressive exogenous models are estimated from closed-loop filtered data, where the controllers in the closed-loop are of proportional and proportional integral type, and where the closed-loop also contains a time-delay. A stochastic differential equation is derived for Jakes's wireless channel model, describing the dynamics of a scattered electric field with the moving receiver incorporating a Doppler shift. / <p>The thesis consists of five main parts, where the first part is an introduction- Parts II-IV are based on the following articles:</p><p><strong>Part II</strong> - Networked Control Systems</p><p>1. Y. Irshad, M. Mossberg and T. Söderström. <em>System identification in a networkedenvironment using second order statistical properties</em>.</p><p>A versionwithout all appendices is published as Y. Irshad, M. Mossberg and T. Söderström. <em>System identification in a networked environment using second order statistical properties</em>. Automatica, 49(2), pages 652–659, 2013.</p><p>Some preliminary results are also published as M. Mossberg, Y. Irshad and T. Söderström. <em>A covariance function based approachto networked system identification.</em> In Proc. 2nd IFAC Workshop on Distributed Estimation and Control in Networked Systems, pages 127–132, Annecy,France, September 13–14, 2010</p><p>2. Y. Irshad and M. Mossberg. <em>Some parameters estimation methods applied tonetworked control systems</em>.A journal submission is made. Some preliminary results are published as Y. Irshad and M. Mossberg.<em> A comparison of estimation concepts applied to networked control systems</em>. In Proc. 19th Int. Conf. on Systems, Signals andImage Processing, pages 120–123, Vienna, Austria, April 11–13, 2012.</p><p><strong>Part III</strong> - Errors-in-variables Identification</p><p>3. Y. Irshad and M. Mossberg. <em>Continuous-time covariance matching for MIMOEIV system identification</em>. A journal submission is made.</p><p>4. T. Söderström, Y. Irshad, M. Mossberg and W. X. Zheng. <em>On the accuracy of acovariance matching method for continuous-time EIV identification. </em>Provisionally accepted for publication in Automatica.</p><p>Some preliminary results are published as T. Söderström, Y. Irshad, M. Mossberg, and W. X. Zheng. <em>Accuracy analysis of a covariance matching method for continuous-time errors-in-variables system identification</em>. In Proc. 16th IFAC Symp. System Identification, pages 1383–1388, Brussels, Belgium, July 11–13, 2012.</p><p><strong>Part IV</strong> - Wireless Channel Modeling</p><p>5. Y. Irshad and M. Mossberg.<em> Wireless channel modeling based on stochasticdifferential equations .</em>Some results are published as M. Mossberg and Y. Irshad.<em> A stochastic differential equation forwireless channelsbased on Jakes’s model with time-varying phases,</em> In Proc. 13th IEEEDigitalSignal Processing Workshop, pages 602–605, Marco Island, FL, January4–7, 2009.</p><p><strong>Part V</strong> - Closed-loop Identification</p><p>6. Y. Irshad and M. Mossberg. Closed-loop identification of P- and PI-controlledtime-delayed stochastic systems.Some results are published as M. Mossberg and Y. Irshad. <em>Closed-loop identific ation of stochastic models from filtered data</em>, In Proc. IEEE Multi-conference on Systems and Control,San Antonio, TX, September 3–5, 2008</p>

The scientific domain of this thesis is optimization under uncertainty for discrete event stochastic systems. In particular, this thesis focuses on the practical implementation of the Dynamic Programming (DP) methodology to discrete event stochastic systems. Unfortunately DP in its crude form suffers from three severe computational obstacles that make its imple-mentation to such systems an impossible task. This thesis addresses these obstacles by developing and executing practical Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) techniques. Specifically, for the purposes of this thesis we developed the following ADP techniques. The first one is inspired from the Reinforcement Learning (RL) literature and is termed as Real Time Approximate Dynamic Programming (RTADP). The RTADP algorithm is meant for active learning while operating the stochastic system. The basic idea is that the agent while constantly interacts with the uncertain environment accumulates experience, which enables him to react more optimal in future similar situations. While the second one is an off-line ADP procedure These ADP techniques are demonstrated on a variety of discrete event stochastic systems such as: i) a three stage queuing manufacturing network with recycle, ii) a supply chain of the light aromatics of a typical refinery, iii) several stochastic shortest path instances with a single starting and terminal state and iv) a general project portfolio management problem. Moreover, this work addresses, in a systematic way, the issue of multistage risk within the DP framework by exploring the usage of intra-period and inter-period risk sensitive utility functions. In this thesis we propose a special structure for an intra-period utility and compare the derived policies in several multistage instances.

Advanced process control solutions are oftentimes inadequate in their handling of uncertainty and disturbances. The main contribution of this work is to address this issue by providing solutions of immediate relevance to process control practitioners. To meet increasing performance demands, this work considers a Hidden Markov Model-based framework for describing non-stationary disturbance signals of practical interest such as intermittent drifts and abrupt jumps. The result is a more sophisticated model used by the state estimator for jump systems. At the expense of slightly higher computational costs (due to the state estimator), the proposed HMM disturbance model provides better tracking compared to a state estimator based on the commonly employed (in process control) integrated white noise disturbance model. Better tracking performance translates to superior closed loop performance without any redesign of the controller, through the typical assumption of separation and certainty equivalence. As a result, this provides a tool that can be readily adopted by process control practitioners. In line with this, the second aim is to develop approximate dynamic programming techniques for the rigorous control of nonlinear stochastic jump systems. The contribution is the creation of a framework that treats uncertainty in a systematic manner whilst leveraging existing off-the-shelf optimization solvers commonly employed by control practitioners.

We study two classes of stochastic systems, the limited processor sharing system and the multi-server system. They share the common feature that multiple jobs/customers are being processed simultaneously, which makes the study of them intrinsically difficult. In the limited processor sharing system, a limited number of jobs can equally share a single server, and the excess ones wait in a first-in-first-out buffer. The model is mainly motivated by computer related applications, such as database servers and packet transmission over the Internet. This model is studied in the first part of the thesis. The multi-server queue is mainly motivated by call centers, where each customer is handled by an agent. The number of customers being served at any time is limited by number of agents employed. Customers who can not be served upon arrival wait in a first-in-first-out buffer. This model is studied in the second part of the thesis.