Advanced control and identification techniques for innovative applications

Research project supported by MIUR
(December 2006 – January 2009)

Coordinator: Franco Blanchini

Project purpose

Process automation is one of the major challenges in modern technology. It is beyond any doubt that a fundamental progress in industry is due to the adoption of computer-controlled processes which are deeply preferable from the economical, efficiency and safety standpoints. It is also a common feeling that control theory has reached a mature stage as far as the so called standard problems are concerned. However there are many non-standard applications which, in view of their peculiarity, still deserve an appropriate development of theoretical tools. These applications involve simultaneously several aspects and precisely

• the presence of modeling uncertainties;

• the necessity of control-oriented identification schemes;

• the limits in the actuator exploitation;

• state and input constraints;

• strong plant nonlinearities;

• the presence of disturbances.

These aspects are all relevant and any proper analysis or control design methodology cannot neglect any of them. The main goal of the project is to connect several teams of people who are interested in developing methodologies which are focused and inspired by advanced industrial applications. The main objectives of the project are:

• To contribute in the field of advanced control systems, with particular reference to problems that are not yet sufficiently investigated or understood. This topic encompasses several aspects, such as the development of innovative identification procedures and the development of new tools for robustness analysis and synthesis under constraints.

• To achieve an integration of procedures for robust/optimal control design and system identification.

• To develop techniques which are inspired by practical innovative applications, that allow for a systematic design of efficient control systems. To this aim, the units will consider applications regarding different fields, e.g. automotive, mechatronics, active control of vibrations, constrained control of production/distribution systems, autonomous navigation, mobile robotics.

• To coordinate several Italian researchers active in closely related areas. Considerable attention will be devoted to the training of young researchers, through the organization of scientific events, meeetings and schools.

In order to achieve the outlined objectives, the project will benefit from the expertise of 5 research teams, characterized by deeply related and complementary interests. The overall group ensures the necessary expertise to face the mentioned problems and to investigate their connections. The component teams have been involved in the research on process control for many years, with scientific achievements, as shown by their publications, international collaborations and managerial activities carried out in the Editorial and Technical Boards of international journals and conferences.

Teams

Reports

Parma
Final report.

Roma
Final report.

Siena
Final report.

Torino
Final report.

Udine
Final report.

Participants

Parma
Aurelio Piazzi
Antonio Visioli
Luca Consolini
Mario Tosques

Roma
Osvaldo Maria Grasselli
Luca Zaccarian
Sergio Galeani
Daniele Carnevale

Siena 
Antonio Vicino
Alberto Tesi
Marco Casini
Gianni Bianchini
Simone Paoletti
Chiara Mocenni

Torino
Michele Taragna
Mario Milanese
Vito Cerone
Massimo Canale
Carlo Novara
Diego Regruto
Lorenzo Fagiano

Udine 
Franco Blanchini
Umberto Viaro
Laura Giarrè
Stefano Miani
Carlo Savorgnan