Towards a unified theory of constrained control and estimation. The project will investigate the implications of duality and other connections between constrained control and estimation. We believe that the research will result in a richer understanding of these problems. In particular, we envisage an impact in at least four areas: (i) Computational issues, i.e., development of more efficient algorithms for constrained problems. (ii) Geometry of constrained problems, by extending recent results ....Towards a unified theory of constrained control and estimation. The project will investigate the implications of duality and other connections between constrained control and estimation. We believe that the research will result in a richer understanding of these problems. In particular, we envisage an impact in at least four areas: (i) Computational issues, i.e., development of more efficient algorithms for constrained problems. (ii) Geometry of constrained problems, by extending recent results pertaining to constrained control to estimation problems. (iii) Problems with mixed constraints, for example, interval and finite set constraints. (iv) Fundamental limitations imposed by constraints to filtering and control problems.Read moreRead less
Finite-dimensional Sampled-data Control of Nonlinear Spatially Distributed Parameter Systems. Optical communication networks, smart materials and fluid flows, are all examples of systems whose behaviour can be significantly improved by automatic control. These are identified as some of the key technologies that will shape our future. This project will contribute to the fundamental science and engineering design of such diverse systems. Two postdoctoral fellows and one graduate student will be t ....Finite-dimensional Sampled-data Control of Nonlinear Spatially Distributed Parameter Systems. Optical communication networks, smart materials and fluid flows, are all examples of systems whose behaviour can be significantly improved by automatic control. These are identified as some of the key technologies that will shape our future. This project will contribute to the fundamental science and engineering design of such diverse systems. Two postdoctoral fellows and one graduate student will be trained in this important emerging field.Read moreRead less
New System Identification Techniques Utilising Misspecified Models. National benefits of the proposed research project will result from improvements in control due to a better, more complete understanding of the models obtained by the newly proposed system identification technique. The resulting effect on industrial practice will be an increase in efficiency, by reduced waste, lower pollution levels and increased throughput. Also, the techniques developed will be directly applicable to current r ....New System Identification Techniques Utilising Misspecified Models. National benefits of the proposed research project will result from improvements in control due to a better, more complete understanding of the models obtained by the newly proposed system identification technique. The resulting effect on industrial practice will be an increase in efficiency, by reduced waste, lower pollution levels and increased throughput. Also, the techniques developed will be directly applicable to current research in the areas of complex systems, such as smart structures and biological studies of the dynamic effects of drugs and hormones on genes.Read moreRead less
Analysis and design of control systems with saturation and time-delay. Control engineering is an enabling technology without which most modern engineering systems, such as aircrafts or Internet, can not operate properly. Actuator saturation and time-delays are undesirable phenomena that often arise in control systems leading to poor performance and sometimes instability. For example, both of these phenomena arise in control of modern telecommunication systems, such as Active Queue Management in ....Analysis and design of control systems with saturation and time-delay. Control engineering is an enabling technology without which most modern engineering systems, such as aircrafts or Internet, can not operate properly. Actuator saturation and time-delays are undesirable phenomena that often arise in control systems leading to poor performance and sometimes instability. For example, both of these phenomena arise in control of modern telecommunication systems, such as Active Queue Management in TCP networks. The project aims at tackling these phenomena by using recently developed techniques in antiwindup for saturating actuators and by revisiting some classical methods for Smith predictor design for time-delayed systems.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear systems with disturbances: analysis, controller design and tradeoffs. A range of classical asymptotic methods (averaging, singular perturbations and slowly varying techniques) have been recently generalized to deal with nonlinear systems with disturbances. The goal of this proposal is the activation of these methods in analysis, controller design and understanding the design tradeoffs of nonlinear system with disturbances. Application areas are in adaptive, vibrational and gain schedul ....Nonlinear systems with disturbances: analysis, controller design and tradeoffs. A range of classical asymptotic methods (averaging, singular perturbations and slowly varying techniques) have been recently generalized to deal with nonlinear systems with disturbances. The goal of this proposal is the activation of these methods in analysis, controller design and understanding the design tradeoffs of nonlinear system with disturbances. Application areas are in adaptive, vibrational and gain scheduling control.Read moreRead less
Robust Experiment Design for Dynamical System Identification. Innovative and new robust experiment design methodologies are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. By providing a solid foundation for generating high fidelity models, robust experiment design will, by the use of breakthrough science, facilitate the estimation of models in minimum time. Also, this will entail minimal disruption to the normal operation of the process under study. With the majority of advanced ....Robust Experiment Design for Dynamical System Identification. Innovative and new robust experiment design methodologies are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. By providing a solid foundation for generating high fidelity models, robust experiment design will, by the use of breakthrough science, facilitate the estimation of models in minimum time. Also, this will entail minimal disruption to the normal operation of the process under study. With the majority of advanced industrial process control systems reliant on accurate models significant savings could also be made due to the implicit improvement in process control.Read moreRead less
Parsimonious Quantization in Signal Processing and Control. In today's society there is an abundance of data. Indeed, it could be argued that we suffer from data 'overload'. Thus to turn 'data' into actions, the need for parsimony in signal processing and control arises. For that purpose, the data must be sampled (in time) and quantized (in space). Within this context, the current project is aimed at understanding aspects of sampled parsimonious quantization. The results have widespread practica ....Parsimonious Quantization in Signal Processing and Control. In today's society there is an abundance of data. Indeed, it could be argued that we suffer from data 'overload'. Thus to turn 'data' into actions, the need for parsimony in signal processing and control arises. For that purpose, the data must be sampled (in time) and quantized (in space). Within this context, the current project is aimed at understanding aspects of sampled parsimonious quantization. The results have widespread practical uses including digital cameras, video compression, audio quantization, control over communication networks, switching of electronic devices and many others.Read moreRead less
Tools for analysis and controller design for nonlinear systems with disturbances. Control engineers often need to deal with nonlinear systems with disturbances (NSD). Analysis and controller design for NSD requires the use of a range of different tools including singular perturbations, averaging, slowly varying systems methods and large scale systems methods. However, often these tools are inadequate as they are only applicable to systems without disturbances. We propose to extend these tools to ....Tools for analysis and controller design for nonlinear systems with disturbances. Control engineers often need to deal with nonlinear systems with disturbances (NSD). Analysis and controller design for NSD requires the use of a range of different tools including singular perturbations, averaging, slowly varying systems methods and large scale systems methods. However, often these tools are inadequate as they are only applicable to systems without disturbances. We propose to extend these tools to NSD and apply them to a range of problems arising in analysis and controller design for NSD. These applications include vibrational control, gain scheduling, H-infinity control and adaptive control.Read moreRead less
New research directions in the area of sampled-data systems. Increased application of digital technology in a wide variety of control engineering applications has led to renewed interest in the study of sampled-data systems. With many applications ranging from nano-technology through to aerospace, robotics, bio-medicine and telecommunications, sampled-data systems form an integral part of many frontier technologies arising in engineering. In exploring and furthering these emerging technologies, ....New research directions in the area of sampled-data systems. Increased application of digital technology in a wide variety of control engineering applications has led to renewed interest in the study of sampled-data systems. With many applications ranging from nano-technology through to aerospace, robotics, bio-medicine and telecommunications, sampled-data systems form an integral part of many frontier technologies arising in engineering. In exploring and furthering these emerging technologies, this proposal aims to provide exciting breakthroughs in the theory of time and event driven sampled-data nonlinear systems. Equipped with these powerful new tools, we will address important analysis and design issues in this area, for example, for Networked Control Systems.Read moreRead less
Robust Dynamical System Identification. Innovative robust system identification methods are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. Robust system identification will provide a technology for generating high fidelity models by the use of breakthrough science. With the majority of advanced industrial control systems reliant on accurate models significant savings could be made due to the implicit improvement in process control. Furthermore, system identification is a key enabl ....Robust Dynamical System Identification. Innovative robust system identification methods are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. Robust system identification will provide a technology for generating high fidelity models by the use of breakthrough science. With the majority of advanced industrial control systems reliant on accurate models significant savings could be made due to the implicit improvement in process control. Furthermore, system identification is a key enabling technology in most modern systems (e.g. in aerospace, manufacturing, mining, minerals processing and telecommunications) and is also important in the emerging areas of nanotechnology and systems biology.Read moreRead less