This research aims at developing novel models and methodologies for designing high performance, low cost real-time control systems. Using a networked control system as the target application, the project emphasizes an integrated treatment of control and real-time system development. The main focus of this work is on scheduling approaches for dealing with uncertainty and flexibility presented in many real-time control applications. Research activities for dealing with uncertainty includes the design of adaptive scheduling strategies to enforce a Markov-Chain based constraint and the evaluation of different schedulers. To maximally exploit flexibility existing in real-time control systems, the project investigates the effect of quantization on closed-loop system performance, and devises adaptive scheduling strategies to achieve the desired system performance while reducing resource demands.
The collaborative effort by the team of control and real-time system researchers provides unique opportunities for introducing new concepts and perspectives in tackling many challenges that are inherently interdisciplinary. The goal of the project is to advance understanding of the interplay between control system design and real-time system design.
The broader impacts of this project can be felt in two main aspects. First, as an integrated part of the project, a new course is being developed at the graduate/senior undergraduate level to expose students to both the theory and the practice of designing embedded real-time control systems. The project is expected also to have impact through a collaboration in real-time control and civil engineering, in conjunction with Notre Dame's Center for Environmental Science and Technology (CEST).
