Deep neural learning based distributed predictive control for offshore wind farm using high fidelity LES data

The paper explores the deep neural learning (DNL) based predictive control approach for offshore wind farm using high fidelity large eddy simulations (LES) data. The DNL architecture is defined by combining the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) units with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for feature extraction and prediction of the offshore wind farm. This hybrid CNN-LSTM model is developed based on the dynamic models of the wind farm and wind turbines as well as higher-fidelity LES data. Then, distributed and decentralized model predictive control (MPC) methods are developed based on the hybrid model for maximizing the wind farm power generation and minimizing the usage of the control commands. Extensive simulations based on a two-turbine and a nine-turbine wind farm cases demonstrate the high prediction accuracy (97% or more) of the trained CNN-LSTM models. They also show that the distributed MPC can achieve up to 38% increase in power generation at farm scale than the decentralized MPC. The computational time of the distributed MPC is around 0.7s at each time step, which is sufficiently fast as a real-time control solution to wind farm operations

Centralized vs. decentralized computing : organizational considerations and management options

The long-standing debate over whether to centralize or decentralize computing is examined in terms of the fundamental organizational and economic factors at stake. The traditional debate is examined and found to focus predominantly on issues of efficiency vs. effectiveness, with solutions based on a rationalistic strategy of optimizing in this tradeoff. A more behavioralistic assessment suggests that the driving issues in the debate are the politics of organization and resources, centering on the issue of control. The economics of computing deployment decisions is presented as an important issue, but one that often serves as a field of argument that is based on more political concerns. The current situation facing managers of computing, given the advent of small and comparatively inexpensive computers, is examined in detail, and a set of management options for dealing with this persistent issue is presented

Federated Neural Architecture Search

To preserve user privacy while enabling mobile intelligence, techniques have been proposed to train deep neural networks on decentralized data. However, training over decentralized data makes the design of neural architecture quite difficult as it already was. Such difficulty is further amplified when designing and deploying different neural architectures for heterogeneous mobile platforms. In this work, we propose an automatic neural architecture search into the decentralized training, as a new DNN training paradigm called Federated Neural Architecture Search, namely federated NAS. To deal with the primary challenge of limited on-client computational and communication resources, we present FedNAS, a highly optimized framework for efficient federated NAS. FedNAS fully exploits the key opportunity of insufficient model candidate re-training during the architecture search process, and incorporates three key optimizations: parallel candidates training on partial clients, early dropping candidates with inferior performance, and dynamic round numbers. Tested on large-scale datasets and typical CNN architectures, FedNAS achieves comparable model accuracy as state-of-the-art NAS algorithm that trains models with centralized data, and also reduces the client cost by up to two orders of magnitude compared to a straightforward design of federated NAS

A Renewable Energy Plan for Mozambique

Mozambique has among the lowest uses of electricity in the world. Yet virtually all of the electricity it does produce from Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi is shipped to its wealthy neighbor, South Africa. As the government prepares to build another costly large dam on the Zambezi that will also power South Africa rather than homes and businesses in Mozambique, a new report lays out a saner plan for developing renewable energy sources across the nation that would share the energy wealth more equitably; diversify the national electricity grid to help the nation adapt to climate change (which is expected to significantly affect large hydro), and build a clean energy sector that would also spare the Zambezi