Distributed and Event-Based State Estimation

Abstract:

In this talk, the problem of event-based state estimation is considered for networked control systems where multiple distributed sensor-actuator-agents exchange data with each other over a shared communication bus. The estimation problem is twofold: (1) each agent shall maintain an estimate of the full system state, and (2) sensor data shall be exchanged between the agents only when required to meet a certain estimation performance. Two types of event-based estimation algorithms are discussed: one where the triggering condition is based on the measurement prediction error, and a second one where it is based on the prediction variance. The two triggering rules result in fundamentally different analysis problems, which are discussed in this talk.

The event-based algorithms are demonstrated in experiments on the Balancing Cube, a two-meter-tall dynamic sculpture that can balance autonomously on any one of its corners through the action of six rotating arms. The arms constitute the agents of the networked and distributed control system. When combined with standard state-feedback controllers on each agent, the event-based estimation algorithms allow the stabilization of the cube with a reduced network load. With the event-based algorithms, the individual sensor communication rates adapt to the need for feedback.

Biography:

Sebastian Trimpe is a Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Tuebingen, Germany. Before joining MPI-IS, Sebastian was lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he also completed his Ph.D. (Dr. sc.) with Raffaello DíAndrea in 2013. Before, he received the B.Sc. degree in General Engineering Science in 2005 and the M.Sc. degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in Electrical Engineering two years later, both from Hamburg University of Technology. In 2007, he was a research scholar at University of California at Berkeley. Sebastian is recipient of the General Engineering Award for the best undergraduate degree (2005), a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation (2002 to 2007), and the triennial IFAC World Congress Interactive Paper Prize (2011).