Essays on Control


Book Description

This book contains the text of the plenary lectures and the mini-courses of the European Control Conference (ECC'93) held in Groningen, the Netherlands, June 2S-July 1, 1993. However, the book is not your usu al conference proceedings. Instead, the authors took this occasion to take a broad overview of the field of control and discuss its development both from a theoretical as well as from an engineering perpective. The first essay is by the key-note speaker ofthe conference, A.G.J. Mac Farlane. It consists of a non-technical discussion of information processing and knowledge acquisition as the key features of control engineering tech nology. The next six articles are accounts of the plenary addresses. The contribution by R.W. Brockett concerns a mathematical framework for modelling motion control, a central question in robotics and vision. In the paper by M. Morari the engineering and the economic relevance of chemical process control are considered, in particular statistical quality control and the control of systems with constraints. The article by A.C.P.M. Backx is written from an industrial perspec tive. The author is director of an engineering consulting firm involved in the design of industrial control equipment. Specifically, the possibility of obtaining high performance and reliable controllers by modelling, identifi cation, and optimizing industrial processes is discussed.




Constrained Optimization In The Calculus Of Variations and Optimal Control Theory


Book Description

The major purpose of this book is to present the theoretical ideas and the analytical and numerical methods to enable the reader to understand and efficiently solve these important optimizational problems.The first half of this book should serve as the major component of a classical one or two semester course in the calculus of variations and optimal control theory. The second half of the book will describe the current research of the authors which is directed to solving these problems numerically. In particular, we present new reformulations of constrained problems which leads to unconstrained problems in the calculus of variations and new general, accurate and efficient numerical methods to solve the reformulated problems. We believe that these new methods will allow the reader to solve important problems.










Control of Partial Differential Equations


Book Description

The term “control theory” refers to the body of results - theoretical, numerical and algorithmic - which have been developed to influence the evolution of the state of a given system in order to meet a prescribed performance criterion. Systems of interest to control theory may be of very different natures. This monograph is concerned with models that can be described by partial differential equations of evolution. It contains five major contributions and is connected to the CIME Course on Control of Partial Differential Equations that took place in Cetraro (CS, Italy), July 19 - 23, 2010. Specifically, it covers the stabilization of evolution equations, control of the Liouville equation, control in fluid mechanics, control and numerics for the wave equation, and Carleman estimates for elliptic and parabolic equations with application to control. We are confident this work will provide an authoritative reference work for all scientists who are interested in this field, representing at the same time a friendly introduction to, and an updated account of, some of the most active trends in current research.




Game Theory and Applications, Volume 11


Book Description

This book brings together papers of well-known specialists in game theory and adjacent problems. It presents the basic results in dynamic games, stochastic games, applications of game theoretical methods in ecology and economics and methodological aspects of game theory.




Mathematical Control Theory


Book Description

Geared primarily to an audience consisting of mathematically advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students, this text may additionally be used by engineering students interested in a rigorous, proof-oriented systems course that goes beyond the classical frequency-domain material and more applied courses. The minimal mathematical background required is a working knowledge of linear algebra and differential equations. The book covers what constitutes the common core of control theory and is unique in its emphasis on foundational aspects. While covering a wide range of topics written in a standard theorem/proof style, it also develops the necessary techniques from scratch. In this second edition, new chapters and sections have been added, dealing with time optimal control of linear systems, variational and numerical approaches to nonlinear control, nonlinear controllability via Lie-algebraic methods, and controllability of recurrent nets and of linear systems with bounded controls.




Advances in Dynamic Game Theory


Book Description

This collection of selected contributions gives an account of recent developments in dynamic game theory and its applications, covering both theoretical advances and new applications of dynamic games in such areas as pursuit-evasion games, ecology, and economics. Written by experts in their respective disciplines, the chapters include stochastic and differential games; dynamic games and their applications in various areas, such as ecology and economics; pursuit-evasion games; and evolutionary game theory and applications. The work will serve as a state-of-the art account of recent advances in dynamic game theory and its applications for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in applied mathematics, mathematical finance, and engineering.




Control in an Information Rich World


Book Description

The field of control provides the principles and methods used to design physical and information systems that maintain desirable performance by sensing and automatically adapting to changes in the environment. This report spells out some of the prospects for control in the current and future technological environment, describes the role the field will play in military, commercial, and scientific applications over the next decade, and recommends actions required to enable new breakthroughs in engineering and technology through the application of control research. This brief yet thorough report provides renewed vision, a detailed list of new application areas, and specific recommendations for future research directions in control, dynamics, and systems, compiled by experts in the field.




The Control Handbook (three volume set)


Book Description

At publication, The Control Handbook immediately became the definitive resource that engineers working with modern control systems required. Among its many accolades, that first edition was cited by the AAP as the Best Engineering Handbook of 1996. Now, 15 years later, William Levine has once again compiled the most comprehensive and authoritative resource on control engineering. He has fully reorganized the text to reflect the technical advances achieved since the last edition and has expanded its contents to include the multidisciplinary perspective that is making control engineering a critical component in so many fields. Now expanded from one to three volumes, The Control Handbook, Second Edition brilliantly organizes cutting-edge contributions from more than 200 leading experts representing every corner of the globe. They cover everything from basic closed-loop systems to multi-agent adaptive systems and from the control of electric motors to the control of complex networks. Progressively organized, the three volume set includes: Control System Fundamentals Control System Applications Control System Advanced Methods Any practicing engineer, student, or researcher working in fields as diverse as electronics, aeronautics, or biomedicine will find this handbook to be a time-saving resource filled with invaluable formulas, models, methods, and innovative thinking. In fact, any physicist, biologist, mathematician, or researcher in any number of fields developing or improving products and systems will find the answers and ideas they need. As with the first edition, the new edition not only stands as a record of accomplishment in control engineering but provides researchers with the means to make further advances.