3,581 research outputs found
Uncertainty in Soft Temporal Constraint Problems:A General Framework and Controllability Algorithms forThe Fuzzy Case
In real-life temporal scenarios, uncertainty and preferences are often
essential and coexisting aspects. We present a formalism where quantitative
temporal constraints with both preferences and uncertainty can be defined. We
show how three classical notions of controllability (that is, strong, weak, and
dynamic), which have been developed for uncertain temporal problems, can be
generalized to handle preferences as well. After defining this general
framework, we focus on problems where preferences follow the fuzzy approach,
and with properties that assure tractability. For such problems, we propose
algorithms to check the presence of the controllability properties. In
particular, we show that in such a setting dealing simultaneously with
preferences and uncertainty does not increase the complexity of controllability
testing. We also develop a dynamic execution algorithm, of polynomial
complexity, that produces temporal plans under uncertainty that are optimal
with respect to fuzzy preferences
Optimising Flexibility of Temporal Problems with Uncertainty
Temporal networks have been applied in many autonomous systems.
In real situations, we cannot ignore the uncertain factors when
using those autonomous systems. Achieving robust schedules and
temporal plans by optimising flexibility to tackle the
uncertainty is the motivation of the thesis.
This thesis focuses on the optimisation problems of temporal
networks with uncertainty and controllable options in the field
of Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling. The goal of
this thesis is to construct flexibility and robustness metrics
for temporal networks under the constraints of different levels
of controllability. Furthermore, optimising flexibility for
temporal plans and schedules to achieve robust solutions with
flexible executions.
When solving temporal problems with uncertainty, postponing
decisions according to the observations of uncertain events
enables flexible strategies as the solutions instead of fixed
schedules or plans. Among the three levels of controllability of
the Simple Temporal Problem with Uncertainty (STPU), a problem is
dynamically controllable if there is a successful dynamic
strategy such that every decision in it is made according to the
observations of past events.
In the thesis, we make the following contributions. (1) We
introduce an optimisation model for STPU based on the existing
dynamic controllability checking algorithms. Some flexibility and
robustness measures are introduced based on the model. (2) We
extend the definition and verification algorithm of dynamic
controllability to temporal problems with controllable discrete
variables and uncertainty, which is called Controllable
Conditional Temporal Problems with Uncertainty (CCTPU). An
entirely dynamically controllable strategy of CCTPU consists of
both temporal scheduling and variable assignments being
dynamically decided, which maximize the flexibility of the
execution. (3) We introduce optimisation models of CCTPU under
fully dynamic controllability. The optimisation models aim to
answer the questions how flexible, robust or controllable a
schedule or temporal plan is. The experiments show that making
decisions dynamically can achieve better objective values than
doing statically.
The thesis also contributes to the field of AI planning and
scheduling by introducing robustness metrics of temporal
networks, proposing an envelope-based algorithm that can check
dynamic controllability of temporal networks with uncertainty and
controllable discrete decisions, evaluating improvements from
making decisions strongly controllable to temporally dynamically
controllable and fully dynamically controllable and comparing the
runtime of different implementations to present the scalability
of dynamically controllable strategies
Hybrid SAT-Based Consistency Checking Algorithms for Simple Temporal Networks with Decisions
A Simple Temporal Network (STN) consists of time points modeling temporal events and constraints modeling the minimal and maximal temporal distance between them. A Simple Temporal Network with Decisions (STND) extends an STN by adding decision time points to model temporal plans with decisions. A decision time point is a special kind of time point that once executed allows for deciding a truth value for an associated Boolean proposition. Furthermore, STNDs label time points and constraints by conjunctions of literals saying for which scenarios (i.e., complete truth value assignments to the propositions) they are relevant. Thus, an STND models a family of STNs each obtained as a projection of the initial STND onto a scenario. An STND is consistent if there exists a consistent scenario (i.e., a scenario such that the corresponding STN projection is consistent). Recently, a hybrid SAT-based consistency checking algorithm (HSCC) was proposed to check the consistency of an STND. Unfortunately, that approach lacks experimental evaluation and does not allow for the synthesis of all consistent scenarios. In this paper, we propose an incremental HSCC algorithm for STNDs that (i) is faster than the previous one and (ii) allows for the synthesis of all consistent scenarios and related early execution schedules (offline temporal planning). Then, we carry out an experimental evaluation with KAPPA, a tool that we developed for STNDs. Finally, we prove that STNDs and disjunctive temporal networks (DTNs) are equivalent
Complexity Bounds for the Controllability of Temporal Networks with Conditions, Disjunctions, and Uncertainty
In temporal planning, many different temporal network formalisms are used to
model real world situations. Each of these formalisms has different features
which affect how easy it is to determine whether the underlying network of
temporal constraints is consistent. While many of the simpler models have been
well-studied from a computational complexity perspective, the algorithms
developed for advanced models which combine features have very loose complexity
bounds. In this paper, we provide tight completeness bounds for strong, weak,
and dynamic controllability checking of temporal networks that have conditions,
disjunctions, and temporal uncertainty. Our work exposes some of the subtle
differences between these different structures and, remarkably, establishes a
guarantee that all of these problems are computable in PSPACE
Online Modified Greedy Algorithm for Storage Control under Uncertainty
This paper studies the general problem of operating energy storage under
uncertainty. Two fundamental sources of uncertainty are considered, namely the
uncertainty in the unexpected fluctuation of the net demand process and the
uncertainty in the locational marginal prices. We propose a very simple
algorithm termed Online Modified Greedy (OMG) algorithm for this problem. A
stylized analysis for the algorithm is performed, which shows that comparing to
the optimal cost of the corresponding stochastic control problem, the
sub-optimality of OMG is bounded and approaches zero in various scenarios. This
suggests that, albeit simple, OMG is guaranteed to have good performance in
some cases; and in other cases, OMG together with the sub-optimality bound can
be used to provide a lower bound for the optimal cost. Such a lower bound can
be valuable in evaluating other heuristic algorithms. For the latter cases, a
semidefinite program is derived to minimize the sub-optimality bound of OMG.
Numerical experiments are conducted to verify our theoretical analysis and to
demonstrate the use of the algorithm.Comment: 14 page version of a paper submitted to IEEE trans on Power System
Generalized Dynamic Programming Principle and Sparse Mean-Field Control Problems
In this paper we study optimal control problems in Wasserstein spaces, which
are suitable to describe macroscopic dynamics of multi-particle systems. The
dynamics is described by a parametrized continuity equation, in which the
Eulerian velocity field is affine w.r.t. some variables. Our aim is to minimize
a cost functional which includes a control norm, thus enforcing a \emph{control
sparsity} constraint. More precisely, we consider a nonlocal restriction on the
total amount of control that can be used depending on the overall state of the
evolving mass. We treat in details two main cases: an instantaneous constraint
on the control applied to the evolving mass and a cumulative constraint, which
depends also on the amount of control used in previous times. For both
constraints, we prove the existence of optimal trajectories for general cost
functions and that the value function is viscosity solution of a suitable
Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellmann equation. Finally, we discuss an abstract Dynamic
Programming Principle, providing further applications in the Appendix.Comment: This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Dynamic Consistency of Conditional Simple Temporal Networks via Mean Payoff Games: a Singly-Exponential Time DC-Checking
Conditional Simple Temporal Network (CSTN) is a constraint-based
graph-formalism for conditional temporal planning. It offers a more flexible
formalism than the equivalent CSTP model of Tsamardinos, Vidal and Pollack,
from which it was derived mainly as a sound formalization. Three notions of
consistency arise for CSTNs and CSTPs: weak, strong, and dynamic. Dynamic
consistency is the most interesting notion, but it is also the most challenging
and it was conjectured to be hard to assess. Tsamardinos, Vidal and Pollack
gave a doubly-exponential time algorithm for deciding whether a CSTN is
dynamically-consistent and to produce, in the positive case, a dynamic
execution strategy of exponential size. In the present work we offer a proof
that deciding whether a CSTN is dynamically-consistent is coNP-hard and provide
the first singly-exponential time algorithm for this problem, also producing a
dynamic execution strategy whenever the input CSTN is dynamically-consistent.
The algorithm is based on a novel connection with Mean Payoff Games, a family
of two-player combinatorial games on graphs well known for having applications
in model-checking and formal verification. The presentation of such connection
is mediated by the Hyper Temporal Network model, a tractable generalization of
Simple Temporal Networks whose consistency checking is equivalent to
determining Mean Payoff Games. In order to analyze the algorithm we introduce a
refined notion of dynamic-consistency, named \epsilon-dynamic-consistency, and
present a sharp lower bounding analysis on the critical value of the reaction
time \hat{\varepsilon} where the CSTN transits from being, to not being,
dynamically-consistent. The proof technique introduced in this analysis of
\hat{\varepsilon} is applicable more in general when dealing with linear
difference constraints which include strict inequalities
Checking Dynamic Consistency of Conditional Hyper Temporal Networks via Mean Payoff Games (Hardness and (pseudo) Singly-Exponential Time Algorithm)
In this work we introduce the \emph{Conditional Hyper Temporal Network
(CHyTN)} model, which is a natural extension and generalization of both the
\CSTN and the \HTN model. Our contribution goes as follows. We show that
deciding whether a given \CSTN or CHyTN is dynamically consistent is
\coNP-hard. Then, we offer a proof that deciding whether a given CHyTN is
dynamically consistent is \PSPACE-hard, provided that the input instances are
allowed to include both multi-head and multi-tail hyperarcs. In light of this,
we continue our study by focusing on CHyTNs that allow only multi-head or only
multi-tail hyperarcs, and we offer the first deterministic (pseudo)
singly-exponential time algorithm for the problem of checking the
dynamic-consistency of such CHyTNs, also producing a dynamic execution strategy
whenever the input CHyTN is dynamically consistent. Since \CSTN{s} are a
special case of CHyTNs, this provides as a byproduct the first
sound-and-complete (pseudo) singly-exponential time algorithm for checking
dynamic-consistency in CSTNs. The proposed algorithm is based on a novel
connection between CSTN{s}/CHyTN{s} and Mean Payoff Games. The presentation of
the connection between \CSTN{s}/CHyTNs and \MPG{s} is mediated by the \HTN
model. In order to analyze the algorithm, we introduce a refined notion of
dynamic-consistency, named -dynamic-consistency, and present a sharp
lower bounding analysis on the critical value of the reaction time
where a \CSTN/CHyTN transits from being, to not being,
dynamically consistent. The proof technique introduced in this analysis of
is applicable more generally when dealing with linear
difference constraints which include strict inequalities.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1505.0082
Chance-Constrained AC Optimal Power Flow Integrating HVDC Lines and Controllability
The integration of large-scale renewable generation has major implications on
the operation of power systems, two of which we address in this work. First,
system operators have to deal with higher degrees of uncertainty due to
forecast errors and variability in renewable energy production. Second, with
abundant potential of renewable generation in remote locations, there is an
increasing interest in the use of High Voltage Direct Current lines (HVDC) to
increase transmission capacity. These HVDC transmission lines and the
flexibility and controllability they offer must be incorporated effectively and
safely into the system. In this work, we introduce an optimization tool that
addresses both challenges by incorporating the full AC power flow equations,
chance constraints to address the uncertainty of renewable infeed, modelling of
point-to-point HVDC lines, and optimized corrective control policies to model
the generator and HVDC response to uncertainty. The main contributions are
twofold. First, we introduce a HVDC line model and the corresponding HVDC
participation factors in a chance-constrained AC-OPF framework. Second, we
modify an existing algorithm for solving the chance-constrained AC-OPF to allow
for optimization of the generation and HVDC participation factors. Using
realistic wind forecast data, for 10 and IEEE 39 bus systems with HVDC lines
and wind farms, we show that our proposed OPF formulation achieves good in- and
out-of-sample performance whereas not considering uncertainty leads to high
constraint violation probabilities. In addition, we find that optimizing the
participation factors reduces the cost of uncertainty significantly
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