Control of Distributed Systems

Abstract

A distributed systems consists of an interconnection of two or more subsystems. Control of such systems is structured by two or more controllers each receiving an observation stream from a local subsystem and providing an input to the local subsystem. The control objectives mostly refer to the interaction of the subsystems in the global system.

Examples of distributed control systems include: The control of autonomous underwater vehicles with the problem of coordination of the activities of the vehicles. The control of road networks with a hierarchical-distributed system for coordination of different control measures. The control of automated guided vehicles on a container terminal for safety and for efficiency. Control of large complex machines with the problem of control of the parallel operations using several actuators and sensors.

Control synthesis of distributed systems will be described for the following control architectures: Distributed control often leading to a game theoretic approach. Distributed control with communication between controllers in which the emphasis is on what, when, and to whom to communicate. Coordination control with attention for the coordination aspects between subsystems. Hierarchical control of a hierarchically structured system. A research program will be described for control of distributed systems and of hierarchical systems. The lecture is based on the project Control for Coordination of Distributed Systems (C4C; sponsored by the European Commission INFSO-ICT-223844).