Distributed model predictive control with hierarchical architecture for communication: application in automated irrigation channels

This paper is concerned with a distributed model predictive control (DMPC) method that is based on a distributed optimisation method with two-level architecture for communication. Feasibility (constraints satisfaction by the approximated solution), convergence and optimality of this distributed optimisation method are mathematically proved. For an automated irrigation channel, the satisfactory performance of the proposed DMPC method in attenuation of the undesired upstream transient error propagation and amplification phenomenon is illustrated and compared with the performance of another DMPC method that exploits a single-level architecture for communication. It is illustrated that the DMPC that exploits a two-level architecture for communication has a better performance by better managing communication overhead.