CONTROL OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES VIA CONVEX OPTIMIZATION

THE PHASE I TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES ARE: (1) TO FURTHER DEVELOP THE CONVEX OPTIMIZATION APPROACH TO CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR PROCESS CONTROL APPLICATIONS, (2) INVESTIGATE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY OF NEW GRAPHICAL CACE TOOLS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR THE PROCESS CONTROL INDUSTRY, AND A MANUFACTURING SYSTEM OF INTEREST TO DOD WHICH CAN SERVE AS A TARGET APPLICATION. THE BASIC APPROACH TO (1) INVOLVES DIRECTLY DESIGNING A GOOD CLOSED-LOOP RESPONSE, AS OPPOSED TO DESIGNING AN OPEN-LOOP CONTROLLER THAT YIELDS A GOOD CLOSED-LOOP RESPONSE. A WIDE VARIETY OF IMPORTANT CONSTRAINTS ON SYSTEM PERFORMANCE CAN BE FORMULATED AS CONVEX CONSTRAINTS ON THE RESPONSE OF THE CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM, E.G., PEAK RMS, STEP RESPONSE BOUNDS, FREQUENCY DOMAIN (SINGULAR VALUE) BOUNDS, SETTLING TIME, AND PERCENT OVERSHOOT. THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS APPROACH WILL NOT BE REALIZED UNLESS THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE DESIGNER AND THE CONTROLLER ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS PROGRAM (2) IS CONVENIENT AND NATURAL. WE PROPOSE THAT THE INTERFACE SHOULD BE ENTIRELY GRAPHICAL: THE DESIGNER WILL SELECT AND DRAG THE SPECIFICATIONS (E.G., FREQUENCY RESPONSE OR STEP RESPONSE BOUNDS); THE CONTROLLER DESIGN CODE WILL COMPUTE A CONTROLLER THAT SATISFIES THE SPECIFICATIONS (OR RELAX THE SPECIFICATIONS IF THEY ARE INFEASIBLE). ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED APPROACH TO PROCESS CONTROL DESIGN WILL HAVE POTENTIAL USE AT MANY GOVERNMENT MATERIAL PROCESSING LABS. THE POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION IS BOTH IN AIDING PROCESS ENGINEERS WITH CONTROLLER DESIGN AS WELL AS DEVELOPING A NEW CACE TOOL MARKET IN THE PROCESS CONTROL INDUSTRY.