Safe hierarchical model predictive control and planning for autonomous systems

Gap selection and dynamic speed profiles of interacting vehicles at on-ramps affect the safety and efficiency of highway merging sections. This paper puts forward a hierarchical control approach for Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) to achieve efficient and safe merging operations. A tactical layer controller employs a second-order car-following model with a cooperative merging mode to represent a cooperative merging process and generates an optimal vehicle merging sequence and time instants when on-ramp CAVs start to adapt their speeds and positions to prepare merging into the target gaps respectively. An operational layer controller is designed based on Model Predictive Control (MPC). It uses a third-order vehicle dynamics model and optimizes desired accelerations for CAVs and the time instants when the on-ramp CAVs initiate the lane-changing executions respectively. Both the tactical layer controller and operational layer controller derive their control commands by minimizing an objective function for different time horizons. The objective function penalizes deviations of CAVs' inter-vehicle gaps to their desired values, relative speeds to their direct predecessors, and actual or desired accelerations, subject to constraints on velocities, actual or desired accelerations, and inter-vehicle gaps. The performance of the proposed hierarchical control framework and a benchmark on-ramp merging method using a first-in-first-out rule to determine the merging sequence is demonstrated under 135 scenarios with different initial conditions, desired time gap settings, and numbers of on-ramp vehicles. The experimental results show the superiority of the hierarchical control approach.

A linear Lagrangian model predictive controller of macro- and micro- variable speed limits to eliminate freeway jam waves

In the last decade, robotic systems have penetrated human life more than human can imagine. In particular, the multi-mobile robotic systems have faced a fast growing due to the fact that by deploying a large collection of mobile robots the overall system has a high redundancy and offers the capability of handling more complex tasks. A group of mobile robots increases robustness against failures and provide flexibility to system changes. In order to achieve a fully autonomous operation, the control algorithm to coordinate the robots becomes more important and decisive. The controller has to meet different requirements that sometimes are conflicting. The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate performance of coordination control algorithms for a group of mobile robots. In the first part of this thesis, a modular framework for simulation and experiments of coordination control of mobile robots is presented. All connections between the modules follow the subscriber/publisher paradigm on the exchanged data, i.e. a component publishes data and other components can subscribe on that data. The data is identified by a named magazine, and actual data packets are called issues of the magazine. By means of simulation and experiments, it is demonstrated how the modularity in the framework allows straightforward modification of system configurations, design parameters, and control algorithms. In the second part, hierarchical coordination control of mobile robots is presented. The hierarchy consists of three layers: a high-level control for motion planning of the robots, a low-level control for motion execution, and a flexible layer to accommodate shifting of responsibilities. One advantage of using a hierarchical approach is the isolation of control design in each layer. Changes in the control strategy of a layer do not necessarily require adaptation of other layers. The proposed control algorithms are used to coordinate a group of unicycle mobile robots that realize the transportation system of an automated warehouse. Using the framework, series of simulations with different design parameters are conducted, as well as real-time experiments. Subsequently, performance analysis of the results is carried out. It is shown that the proposed algorithms are flexible to system changes and scalable to variation in the warehouse demands. The algorithms are robust against failures in the transportation systems. It is found that an algorithm, denoted high-level control, with higher throughputs requires more information sharing between the robots. This algorithm is less robust against failures compared to the algorithm, denoted low-level control, that yields lower throughput. In addition, a cost analysis of the proposed control algorithms is given. It is studied that the cost of realizing the transport using a group of mobile robots, coordinated by the proposed control algorithm, has similar performance-to-cost ratio compared to conveyor systems. This conclusion is very promising having in minds that the proposed control algorithm is not necessarily the optimal one. In the third part, the problem of simultaneous tracking of individual references and formation keeping for a group of mobile robots is investigated. The control algorithm is developed using dynamic feedback linearization. The stability proof is analyzed using the theorem on interconnected systems. Using a root-mean-square-like indicator, the trade off between individual tracking and formation keeping, as well as the influences of communication topologies are analyzed. From the analysis of real-time experiment results, it is found that the best formation keeping is obtained when all robots communicate. As a trade off, this requires a larger communication bandwidth and yields large individual tracking errors. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that to achieve optimal individual tracking and formation keeping simultaneously, there is less need to share information between the robots. In the fourth part, as a complement to the hierarchical control approach, a coordination control algorithm based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) is presented. Focusing on the practical aspects, a sequentially decentralized MPC, i.e. a single MPC computes the control signals of all robots where priority rules are used to determine which robots handled earlier in optimization procedure, is implemented. Using the similar automated warehouse environment, the sequentially decentralized MPC is validated in simulations and real-time experiments. For comparison purposes, a centralized MPC, i.e. a single MPC computes the control signals of all robots, is also implemented. Using completion time as indicators, the influences of the MPC parameters are investigated. It is found that the centralized MPC is better than the sequentially decentralizwed MPC, but with the cost of high computation load and limited number of robots in real-time application. Relevance and performance comparison between the MPC and the hierarchical control approach are presented. It is found that regardless of the control algorithm choices, in terms of completion time, a better performance is obtained when the control algorithm uses information from all robots in computing the control signals.

Model predictive control (MPC) is an efficient and growing approach to power converter control. This paper proposes an improved and simplified model predictive current control (MPCC) technique for a four-level nested neutral point clamped (4L-NNPC) converter. Conventional MPCC exhibits better performances as compared to the conventional linear control system such as fast dynamic response, consideration of the system constraints, and nonlinearities. However, the application of the conventional model predictive current control (MPCC) approach on complex systems provokes a significant number of calculations, which is the main hurdle to its practical implementation. To fix this flaw, this paper proposes an effective algorithm to shorten the execution time of the conventional MPCC. In this proposed technique, 216 current predictions of the conventional MPCC are skipped and converted into one required voltage vector (RVV) prediction. With this equivalent reference voltage transformation, the calculation burden of MPCC is significantly reduced, while the output performance is not influenced. The results of the simplified MPCC for the 4L-NNPC converter are analyzed and compared with the conventional MPCC. The computational time is reduced by 19.56% using the simplified MPCC, while keeping an approximately similar error of output currents. The switching frequency and total harmonic distortion (THD) of the proposed method are reduced by 8.16% and 0.07%, respectively, as compared to the conventional technique. These results demonstrate the fact that that the performance of a conventional MPCC is enhanced with the proposed MPCC. The proposed algorithm can be applied to several inverter topologies.

Multi-vector model predictive control of permanent magnet synchronous motor can effectively overcome the shortcomings of conventional single-vector model predictive control such as large motor current ripples and limited control accuracy, but its control performance is more susceptible to the influence of motor parameter perturbation. To improve the robustness of the multi-vector predictive control algorithm under the motor parameter perturbation, a novel nonparametric three-vector model predictive current control method for permanent magnet synchronous motors is proposed in this paper. Through constructing an ultra-local predictive current model based on the input and output signals of the permanent magnet synchronous motor, the influence of motor parameter perturbation on current prediction is avoided, and a disturbance observer is designed to estimate the non-modeled and perturbed parts of the ultra-local model. In addition, the direct calculation method of vector duty cycles based on current error is introduced to suppress the influence of motor parameter uncertainty on the duty cycle calculation link, which further improves the system robustness. Finally, simulations and experiments of the proposed method are demonstrated to compare with the conventional parametric three-vector model predictive current control, and the results show that the proposed control strategy can effectively suppress the disturbances caused by the motor parameters and ensure the steady-state performance during motor operation.

Model-based network-wide optimizations in real-time emergency control of power systems are largely bottlenecked by the fast computational requirements. Furthermore, the operational aspects of modern power and energy systems are going through transformative changes to tackle global renewable energy expansion-related issues. Decentralized operations in power systems are becoming essential with the influx of distributed energy resources (DERs), dynamic loads, and electric vehicles (EVs). This research considers a well-known model-based strategy, Model Predictive Control (MPC), for real-time operation and controls of power systems and proposes novel methods utilizing machine learning, data-driven methods, and operator theory to solve computational challenges by making those real-time for the first time. Additionally, we develop a distributed MPC framework to address the recent needs of power systems' operation and control. In Part I, we first present a machine learning (ML)-accelerated MPC implementation in emergency voltage control problems. This method computes an optimal control strategy for the nominal system model offline and performs successive online control corrections at each control instant to adapt the offline computed controls for real-time scenarios. In the online phase, the required voltage trajectory prediction and its sensitivity computation to control inputs are achieved by machine learning-based approaches, thereby accelerating the overall control computation multiple times. Next, we present an alternative data-learned linear Koopman embedding approach for model predictive emergency voltage control in a power grid. This approach involves a "basis-dictionary free" method to lift the nonlinear power system dynamics to a higher dimensional linear space where MPC is exercised in a real-time fashion. We propose a novel data-driven encoder-decoder architecture, Koopman-inspired deep neural network (KDNN), which supports end-to-end learning from trajectory data. The MPC optimization in linear space makes the problem scalable and rapid for real-time implementations. Part II of this research focuses on distributed MPC design for quasi-static power flow-based voltage control problems under short-term (15-minute) variations of load and generation profiles. To realize the proposed distributed control, first, a centralized voltage control problem assuming grid observability is formulated and next transferred to the distributed versions based on both bus-wise and area-wise decomposition of the network. Distributed versions are solved via the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), utilizing only neighbor-to-neighbor communications to attain optimal solutions. The implementation, efficacy, performance, and robustness of proposed research approaches are validated with IEEE test system benchmarks.

The artificial pancreas (AP) is an electro-mechanical device to control glucose (G) levels in the blood for people with diabetes using mathematical modeling and control system technology. There are many variables not measured and modeled by these devices that affect G levels. This work evaluates the effectiveness of two control systems for the case where critical inputs are unmeasured. This work compares and evaluates two predictive feedback control (FBC) algorithms in two unmeasured input studies. In the first study, the process is a dynamic transfer function model with one measured input variable and one unmeasured input variable. The process for the second study is a diabetes simulator with insulin feed rate (IFR) measured and carbohydrate consumption (CC) unmeasured. The feedback predictive control (FBPC) approach achieved much better control performance than model predictive control (MPC) in both studies. In the first study, MPC was shown to get worse as the process lag increases but FBPC was unaffected by process lag. In the diabetes simulation study, for five surrogate type 1 diabetes subjects, the standard deviation of G about its mean (standard deviation) (i.e., the set point) was 133% larger for MPC relative to FBPC. For FBPC, its standard deviation was less than 10% larger for unmeasured CC versus measured CC. Thus, FBPC appears to be a more effective AP control algorithm than MPC for unmeasured disturbances and may not perform much worse in practice when CC is measured versus when it is unmeasured since CC can be very inaccurate in real situations.

This paper presents a novel motion control strategy based on model predictive control (MPC) for distributed drive electric vehicles (DDEVs), aiming to simultaneously control the longitudinal and lateral motion while considering efficiency and the driving feeling. Initially, we analyze the vehicle's dynamic model, considering the vehicle body and in-wheel motors, to establish the foundation for model predictive control. Subsequently, we propose a model predictive direct motion control (MPDMC) approach that utilizes a single CPU to directly follow the driver's commands by generating voltage references with a minimum cost function. The cost function of MPDMC is constructed, incorporating factors such as the longitudinal velocity, yaw rate, lateral displacement, and efficiency. We extensively analyze the weighting parameters of the cost function and introduce an optimization algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). This algorithm takes into account the aforementioned factors as well as the driving feeling, which is evaluated using a trained long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network. The LSTM network labels the response under different weighting parameters in various working conditions, i.e., "Nor", "Eco", and "Spt". Finally, we evaluate the performance of the optimized MPDMC through simulations conducted using MATLAB and CarSim software. Four typical scenarios are considered, and the results demonstrate that the optimized MPDMC outperforms the baseline methods, achieving the best performance.

Model predictive control (MPC) as a nonlinear control method, is being studied for a wide variety of power electronics applications targeting various power ranges. The fast dynamic response, robustness under different load conditions, multi-objective control, and simplicity of implementation are the main features of MPC. However, the implementation of finite control set MPC (FCS-MPC) or direct MPC in its basic form for multilevel converters (MLCs) demonstrates the inability to generate the staircase multilevel output voltage waveform in a voltage sourced inverter (VSI) application. Adding a reference evaluation block to the basic FCS-MPC method can significantly improve its multilevel voltage generation capability. In this paper, an enhanced model predictive nearest level control (EMP-NLC) is proposed and implemented on a 5-Level flying capacitor multilevel converter (FCMC). The proposed method is simulated under different load conditions, while a comparison against existing MPC techniques is also presented. Experimental results verified the efficacy of the proposed controller.

Model predictive control (MPC) presents important advantages in the control of the power converter and drives such as, fast dynamic response and capability to include nonlinear constrains. These have positioned MPC as a powerful and realistic control strategy, however, it also has disadvantages such as variable switching frequency and parameter sensitivity. This paper applied a modulated model predictive speed control that guarantees a fix switching frequency and, thanks to disturbance compensation, robustness to parameters variation. The strategy is validated and compared to finite set model predictive speed control through simulation results.

In this paper, we introduced and explored the Laguerre and Kautz functions as an orthonormal functions based of model predictive control approach for automotive applications with particularly focuses on vehicle path following control and motor position control. The first implementation starting with the known trajectory, model predictive control based on linearized vehicle and tire model was used to follow the desired trajectory as close as possible, we performed a vehicle at middle speed maneuver on double lane change scenario. In the second application; predictive control is designed in order to track the desired motor position. We compared the predictive controllers designed based on Delta, Laguerre and Kautz functions for both applications in term of tracking error and position error performances. The result showed that the predictive control based on Kautz function gave a better tracking performance compared to Laguerre function and Delta function (conventional method). However, Laguerre function is easier and simpler in term of algorithm implementation than the other two functions. Moreover, for all functions based on predictive control; the simulation results demonstrated that orthonormal function can be implemented in predictive control approaches particularly to automotive application, thus, it is believe can be extended to other applications.

Fifty-seven per cent of all water supply systems in the Netherlands are controlled by model predictive flow control; the other 43% are controlled by conventional level-based flow control. The differences between conventional level-based flow control and model predictive control were investigated in experiments at five full-scale water supply systems in the first half of 2011. Quality parameters of the drinking water and energy consumption of the treatment and distribution processes were measured and analysed. The experiments showed that the turbidity values are 12–28% lower, and particle volume values 12–42% lower for the systems which are controlled by model predictive flow control. The overall energy consumption of water supply systems controlled by predictive flow control is 1.0–5.3% lower than conventional level-based flow controlled systems, and the overall energy costs are 1.7–7.4% lower.

This chapter introduces the most popular modern control paradigm, namely model predictive control. The introduction includes a historical perspective on predictive control and discusses the implicit and explicit form of the algorithms. The unconstrained solution to the linear system problem is first presented, which is similar to that for most predictive control approaches. The more interesting solution is presented in the second part of the chapter where a nonlinear operator term is included in the plant model. This is the last of the control chapters where polynomial system models are used to represent the linear subsystem. Stability issues are explored after the algorithms have been defined and the use of both hard and soft constraints are also considered. The importance of constraints in applications is illustrated in the ship roll stabilization multivariable control example presented.

Part I of the thesis investigates novel urban traffic state estimation methods utilizing probe vehicle data. Chapter 2 proposes a method to integrate the collective effect of dispersed probe data with traffic kinematic wave theory and data mining techniques to model the spatial and temporal dynamics of queue formation and dissipation in arterials. The queue estimation method captures interdependencies in queue evolutions of successive intersections, and moreover, the method is applicable in oversaturated conditions and includes a queue spillover statistical inference procedure. Chapter 3 develops a travel time reliability model to estimate arterial route travel times distribution (TTD) considering spatial and temporal correlations between traffic states in consecutive links. The model uses link-level travel time data and a heuristic grid clustering method to estimate the state structure and transition probabilities of a Markov chain. By applying the Markov chain procedure, the correlation between states of successive links is integrated and the route-level TTD is estimated. The methods in Part I are tested with various probe vehicle penetration rates on case studies with field measurements and simulated data. The methods are straightforward in implementation and have demonstrated promising performance and accuracy through numerous experiments. Part II studies network-level modeling and control of large-scale urban networks. Chapter 4 is the pioneer that introduces the urban perimeter control for two-region urban cities as an elegant control strategy to decrease delays in urban networks. Perimeter controllers operate on the border between the two regions, and manipulate the percentages of transfer flows between the two regions, such that the number of trips reaching their destinations is maximized. The optimal perimeter control problem is solved by the model predictive control (MPC) scheme, where the prediction model and the plant (reality) are formulated by macroscopic fundamental diagrams (MFD). Chapter 5 extends the perimeter control strategy and MFD modeling to mixed urban-freeway networks to provide a holistic approach for large-scale integrated corridor management (ICM). The network consists of two urban regions, each one with a well-defined MFD, and a freeway, modeled by the asymmetric cell transmission model, that is an alternative commuting route which has one on-ramp and one off-ramp within each urban region. The optimal traffic control problem is solved by the MPC approach to minimize total delay in the entire network considering several control policies with different levels of urban-freeway control coordination. Chapter 6 integrates traffic heterogeneity dynamics in large-scale urban modeling and control to develop a hierarchical control strategy for heterogeneously congested cities. Two aggregated models, region- and subregion-based MFDs, are introduced to study the effect of link density heterogeneity on the scatter and hysteresis of MFD. A hierarchical perimeter flow control problem is proposed to minimize the network delay and to homogenize the distribution of congestion. The first level of the hierarchical control problem is solved by the MPC approach, where the prediction model is the aggregated parsimonious region-based MFD and the plant is the subregion-based MFD, which is a more detailed model. At the lower level, a feedback controller tries to maximize the network outflow, by increasing regional homogeneity.

Nowadays, a model predictive control has gained a lot of attractions for power converter. To overcome the defects of the conventional model predictive control and achieve better performance, this article presents a multivector model predictive power control (MV-MPPC) with low computational burden for the grid-tied quasi-Z-source inverter (qZSI). Compared with the conventional model predictive power control (MPPC) that adopts only one vector in one control period, the proposed MV-MPPC applies several vectors including two active vectors, one null vector, and one shoot-through (ST) vector to fulfill the expected performance for the grid-tied qZSI. By calculating the optimal duty ratios of the ST vector, the inductor current ripple can be greatly reduced. To eliminate the weighting factor, a modified sliding-mode control method for simultaneously controlling the capacitor voltage and the inductor current to their setting points is proposed. Furthermore, a quick and effective optimal sector selection method is given, which chooses the optimal sector through a look-up table instead of a bunch of complex calculations. Hence, the computational burden of the proposed MV-MPPC is decreased with significance. Both simulation and experimental results are shown to validate the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed method.