Identification of Hammerstein models for control using ASYM

Identification of single-input single-output Hammerstein models is studied in this work. The basic idea here is to extend the recently developed asymptotic method (ASYM) of linear model identification to include input non-linearity in the model set. First identification test design will be discussed. In parameter estimation, prediction error criterion is used in order to maintain consistence when the process is operating in closed-loop. A relaxation iteration scheme is proposed by making use of a model structure in which the error is bilinear in the parameters. The order of the linear part and nonlinear part are determined by looking at an output error related criterion which is control-relevant. The frequency domain upper error bound of the linear part will be derived and used for model validation. Simulation study will be used to illustrate the method and comparisons with other methods are also given.     

A self-tuning regulator for distributed parameter systems

The control of distributed parameter systems with constant, but unknown parameters is considered. A weighted average of the distributed output on the spatial domain is defined as a new variable and is used to generate the control. The parameters of the model are estimated using recursive least squares estimation. The control is obtained using a minimum variance strategy based on the estimated parameters. Distributed disturbances and measurement noise are allowed to be present. Measurements at a finite number of points in the spatial domain are used in obtaining a discrete-time model. From the simulation of a one-sided heating diffusion process the self-tuning regulator is shown to have attractive characteristics and hence can be recommended for practical on-line control of distributed parameter systems.     

Model analysis and performance analysis of two industrial MPCs

This paper presents two case studies on the performance evaluation and model validation of two industrial multivariate model predictive control (MPC) based controllers: (1) a 7-output, 3-input MPC with three measured disturbance variables for controlling a part of kerosene hydrotreating unit (KHU) and (2) a 8-output, 4-input MPC with five measured disturbances for controlling a part of naphtha hydrotreating unit (NHU). The first case study focuses on potential limits to control performance due to constraints and limits set at the time of controller commissioning. The root causes of sub-optimal performance of KHU are successfully isolated. Data from the NHU unit with MPC ‘on’ and with MPC ‘off’ are analyzed to obtain and compare several different measures of multivariate controller performance. Model quality assessment for the two MPCs are performed. A new model index is proposed to have a measure of simulation ability and prediction ability of a model. Closed-loop identification of KHU and closed-loop identification of NHU are conducted using the asymptotic method (ASYM) proposed by Zhu (1998).     

Multi-output process identification

In model based control of multivariate processes, it has been common practice to identify a multi-input single-output (MISO) model for each output separately and then combine the individual models into a final MIMO model. If models for all outputs are independently parameterized then this approach is optimal. However, if there are common or correlated parameters among models for different output variables and/or correlated noise, then performing identification on all outputs simultaneously can lead to better and more robust models. In this paper, theoretical justifications for using multi-output identification for a multivariate process are presented and the potential benefits from using them are investigated via simulations on two process examples: a quality control example and an extractive distillation column. The identification of both the parsimonious transfer function models using multivariate prediction error methods, and of non-parsimonious finite impulse response (FIR) models using multivariate statistical regression methods such as partial least squares (PLS2), canonical correlation regression (CCR) and reduced rank regression (RRR) are considered. The multi-output identification results are compared to traditional single-output identification from several points of view: best predictions, closeness of the model to the true process, the precision of the identified models in frequency domain, stability robustness of the resulting model based control system, and multivariate control performance. The multi-output identification methods are shown to be superior to the single-output methods on the basis of almost all the criteria. Improvements in the prediction of individual outputs and in the closeness of the model to the true process are only marginal. The major benefits are in the stability and performance robustness of controllers based on the identified models. In this sense the multi-output identification methods are more ‘control relevant’.     

Implementation of on-line control in chemical process plants

A range of identification, estimation and control algorithms has been implemented and tested on a chemical process plant/process control computer system which is typical of installations in the process industries. The plants studied are a gas-separating unit consisting of a pair of 9 m high absorption/distillation columns and a two-stage fractional crystallization plant. All on-line estimation and control was performed by a Honeywell 516 computer system. The topics studied on the plants included continuous on-line estimation of states and chemical process parameters using Kalman filtering techniques, the use of these estimates in various control algorithms, the application of optimal control theory to a variety of problems (minimum variance control, adaptive control, time optimal control), and the identification of process models for subsequent use in the design and implementation of multivariable control algorithms. In all cases, the implementation of these aspects of modern control theory on a real process plant was successful, but pointed to several non-trivial complications which must be resolved before these algorithms can be adopted for general use in the process industries.     

领域需求差异分析方法与应用研究

领域信息源的发展变化是推动领域需求不断演进的源泉,已有的领域分析方法中却鲜有对领域需求演变过程和如何演变进行分析的说明。因此,提出了一种领域需求差异分析方法,主要用于对特定领域的需求演变进行分析。该方法借助领域原型系统获取并分析领域需求现状与目标之间的差异问题,从而得到领域需求演进过程需要关注的问题域,并以此为依据建立领域需求演进模型。该方法在银行核心业务领域的需求分析过程中进行了实际应用,充分验证了该方法的有效性。     

Frequency domain identification of continuous-time output error models, Part II: Non-uniformly sampled data and B-spline output approximation

This paper treats several aspects relevant to the identification of continuous-time output error (OE) models based on non-uniformly sampled output data. The exact method for doing this is well known in the time domain, where the continuous-time system is discretized, simulated and the result is fitted in a mean square sense to measured data. The material presented here is based on a method proposed in a companion paper (Gillberg & Ljung, 2010) which deals with the same topic but for the case of uniformly sampled data. In this text it will be shown how that method suggests that the output should be reconstructed using a B-spline with uniformly distributed knots. This representation can then be used to directly identify the continuous-time system without proceeding via discretization. Only the relative degree of the model is used to choose the order of the spline.     

Robust estimation of autoregressive processes using a mixture-based filter-bank

A mixture-based framework for robust estimation of ARX-type processes is presented. The ARX process is presumed to suffer from an unknown noise and/or distortion. The approach taken here is to model the overall degraded process via a mixture. Each component of this mixture uses the same ARX model but explores a different noise/distortion process. Estimation of this mixture unifies the preprocessing and process modelling tasks. The quasi-Bayes (QB) procedure for mixture identification is extended to yield a fast recursive update of the estimator statistics. This allows non-stationary noise/distortion effects to be tracked. An application in on-line outlier-robust estimation of an AR process is given.     

A nonparametric approach to design robust controllers for uncertain systems: Application to an air flow heating system

This paper presents an approach to design robust fixed structure controllers for uncertain systems using a finite set of measurements in the frequency domain. In traditional control system design, usually, based on measurements, a model of the plant, which is only an approximation of the physical system, is first built, and then control approaches are used to design a controller based on the identified model. Errors associated with the identification process as well as the inevitable uncertainties associated with plant parameter variations, external disturbances, measurement noise, etc. are expected to all contribute to the degradation of the performance of such a scheme. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric method that uses frequency-domain data to directly design a robust controller, for a class of uncertainties, without the need for model identification. The proposed technique, which is based on interval analysis, allows us to take into account the plant uncertainties during the controller synthesis itself. The technique relies on computing the controller parameters for which the set of all possible frequency responses of the closed-loop system are included in the envelope of a desired frequency response. Such an inclusion problem can be solved using interval techniques. The main advantages of the proposed approach are: (1) the control design does not require any mathematical model, (2) the controller is robust with respect to plant uncertainties, and (3) the controller structure can be chosen a priori, which allows us to select low-order controllers. To illustrate the proposed method and demonstrate its efficacy, an application to an air flow heating system is presented.     

Control of Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems Using Feedback Linearisation

This paper discusses the identification and control of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. SCR after‐treatment systems form an important technology for reducing the nitrogen oxides, NO_x, produced by diesel engines. To be able to control the system, i.e. reducing the output NO_x, good models of the after‐treatment system are essential. In this paper a nonlinear black‐box model is identified using a recursive prediction error method. The nonlinear model is applied for design of a controller using feedback linearization techniques including an adaptive strategy. A linear quadratic Gaussian controller is used for the control of the linearized system. A total of 17 parameters were estimated for the nonlinear model. The results indicate that output NO_x control using feedback linearization based on a second order black‐box nonlinear model is feasible, provided that identification or adaptivity is used for model tuning. The latter requirement is a result of a study of the robustness. In summary, the paper indicates that significant improvements as compared to linear control can be obtained with the proposed strategy.     

A measurement-based approach for designing reduced-order controllers with guaranteed bounded error

The objective of this paper is to present a measurement-based control-design approach for single-input single-output linear systems with guaranteed bounded error. A wide range of control-design approaches available in the literature are based on parametric models. These models can be obtained analytically using physical laws or via system identification using a set of measured data. However, due to the complex properties of real systems, an identified model is only an approximation of the plant based on simplifying assumptions. Thus, the controller designed based on a simplified model can seriously degrade the closed-loop performance of the system. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed to develop fixed-order controllers based on measured data without the need for model identification. The proposed control technique is based on computing a suitable set of fixed-order controller parameters for which the closed-loop frequency response fits a desired frequency response that meets the desired closed-loop performance specifications. The control-design problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem using the concept of bounded error. The main advantages of our proposed approach are: (1) it guarantees that the error between the computed and the desired frequency responses is less than a small value; (2) the difficulty of finding the globally optimal solution in the error minimisation problem is avoided; (3) the controller can be designed without the use of any analytical model to avoid errors associated with the identification process; and (4) low-order controllers can be designed by selecting a fixed low-order controller structure. To experimentally validate and illustrate the efficacy of the proposed approach, proportional-integral measurement-based controllers are designed for a DC (direct current) servomotor.     

基于正交化设计思想的领域特征模型构造过程

特征模型是现阶段领域工程普遍采用的描述领域需求的方法,本文在已有研究的基础上,针对现有特征模型结构上的不足,参考正交软件体系结构的设计思想提出了正交化特征模型的思想,给出了一个正交特征模型的构造过程.实践证明正交特征模型具有结构清晰,易转化为构件模型,可保持分析阶段和设计阶段的追踪性等优点.     

Identification with stochastic sampling time jitter

This work investigates how stochastic sampling jitter noise affects the result of system identification, and proposes a modification of known approaches to mitigate the effects of sampling jitter, when the jitter is unknown and not directly measurable. By just assuming conventional additive measurement noise, the analysis shows that the identified model will get a bias in the transfer function amplitude that increases for higher frequencies. A frequency domain approach with a continuous-time model allows an analysis framework for sampling jitter noise. The bias and covariance in the frequency domain model are derived. These are used in bias compensated (weighted) least squares algorithms, and by asymptotic arguments this leads to a maximum likelihood algorithm. Continuous-time output error models are used for numerical illustrations.     

Errors-in-variables identification of dynamic systems excited by arbitrary non-white input

This work deals with the identification of dynamic systems from noisy input–output observations, where the noise-free input is not parameterized. The basic assumptions made are (1) the dynamic system can be modeled by a (discrete- or continuous-time) rational transfer function model, (2) the temporal input–output disturbances are mutually independent, identically distributed noises, and (3) the input power spectrum is non-white (not necessarily rational) and is modeled nonparametrically. The system identifiability is guaranteed by exploiting the non-white spectrum property of the noise-free input. A frequency domain identification strategy is developed to estimate consistently the plant model parameters and the input–output noise variances. The uncertainty bound of the estimates is calculated and compared to the Cramér–Rao lower bound. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is illustrated on numerical examples.     

Dual-mode predictive control algorithm for constrained Hammerstein systems

In the process industry, there exist many systems which can be approximated by a Hammerstein model. Moreover, these systems are usually subjected to input magnitude constraints. In this paper, a multi-channel identification algorithm (MCIA) is proposed, in which the coefficient parameters are identified by least squares estimation (LSE) together with a singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. Compared with traditional single-channel identification algorithms, the present method can enhance the approximation accuracy remarkably, and provide consistent estimates even in the presence of coloured output noises under relatively weak assumptions on the persistent excitation (PE) condition of the inputs. Then, to facilitate the following controller design, this MCIA is converted into a two stage single-channel identification algorithm (TS-SCIA), which preserves most of the advantages of MCIA. With this TS-SCIA as the inner model, a dual-mode non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithm is developed. In detail, over a finite horizon, an optimal input profile found by solving a open-loop optimal control problem drives the non-linear system state into the terminal invariant set; afterwards a linear output-feedback controller steers the state to the origin asymptotically. In contrast to the traditional algorithms, the present method has a maximal stable region, a better steady-state performance and a lower computational complexity. Finally, simulation results on a heat exchanger are presented to show the efficiency of both the identification and the control algorithms.     

PID Control of Planar Nonlinear Uncertain Systems in the Presence of Actuator Saturation

This paper investigates PID control design for a class of planar nonlinear uncertain systems in the presence of actuator saturation. Based on the bounds on the growth rates of the nonlinear uncertain function in the system model, the system is placed in a linear differential inclusion. Each vertex system of the linear differential inclusion is a linear system subject to actuator saturation. By placing the saturated PID control into a convex hull formed by the PID controller and an auxiliary linear feedback law, we establish conditions under which an ellipsoid is contractively invariant and hence is an estimate of the domain of attraction of the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system. The equilibrium point corresponds to the desired set point for the system output. Thus, the location of the equilibrium point and the size of the domain of attraction determine, respectively, the set point that the output can achieve and the range of initial conditions from which this set point can be reached. Based on these conditions, the feasible set points can be determined and the design of the PID control law that stabilizes the nonlinear uncertain system at a feasible set point with a large domain of attraction can then be formulated and solved as a constrained optimization problem with constraints in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Application of the proposed design to a magnetic suspension system illustrates the design process and the performance of the resulting PID control law.      

Wavelet-Based Identification of Linear Discrete-Time Systems: Robustness Issue

Discrete-time linear time-varying systems are modeled by discrete-time wavelets. The output of the unknown system is corrupted by noise. The system model parameters are estimated by the least-squares method applied to the output error. Conditions are derived that provide vanishing influence of the output noise to the parameter estimates. Due to the time-frequency selectivity of wavelets, parameter estimates can be robust to narrow-band noise and/or impulse noise. This robustness is confirmed by simulations.     

A self-tuning multistep predictor application

A self-tuning multistep predictor is presented. It predicts the output of a stochastic process with unknown, possibly slowly time-varying parameters over a range of several sampling periods in the future. At each sampling instant it is tuned by using a recursive least-squares parameter estimator in real time. By doing this, the combination predictor-estimator converges fast to the optimal predictor for processes with known parameters (self-tuning property). The method seems to have powerful capabilities as an aid in controlling complex industrial processes which are until now only operated under manual control. The predictor can be used by the operator in selecting an appropriate control action (decision making). A typical application, the control of a blast furnace, is extensively dealt with in the paper.The paper opens new perspectives in the domain of self-tuning controllers, and it has practical importance as is indicated by the blast-furnace experiment.     

The Nyquist stability criterion in the Nichols chart

The Nyquist stability criterion is a widely used technique for determining in the complex s‐plane the stability of a dynamical system with feedback. This paper presents a practical and comprehensive method to compute the Nyquist stability criterion directly in the Nichols (magnitude/phase) chart. The proposed method also gives guidelines to design controllers to stabilize unstable plants when dealing with frequency domain techniques like the quantitative feedback theory robust control. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.