Control over Networks
Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Toronto
The vast progress in network technology over the
past decade has certainly
influenced the area of systems control. Nowadays, it is becoming more common to
use networks in systems, especially in those that are large scale and
physically distributed, or that require extensive cabling. In the hierarchy of
networks, at the lowest level is the control network, the so-called fieldbus. This connects sensors and actuators to
control devices with a single network cable, whereas conventionally
point-to-point links have been used. Industrial applications using such
networks include robotic systems, jacking systems for train cars, networks on automobiles,
and so on.
Motivated at least in part by this new
technology, Brockett, Elia, Liberzon, Mitter, and others have formulated
interesting control problems where communication between agents or from sensors
to actuatorsis limited. One
prototypical problem is to stabilize a linear system with minimum data rate in
the digital channel from sensor to actuator. This talk will review recent work on this problem.
Friday, November 22,
2002
3:30 – 4:30
p.m.