Advanced Modeling, Control, and Optimization Methods in Power Hybrid Systems - 2021

The climate changes that are becoming visible today are a challenge for the global research community. In this context, renewable energy sources, fuel cell systems and other energy generating sources must be optimally combined and connected to the grid system using advanced energy transaction methods. As this reprint presents the latest solutions in the implementation of fuel cell and renewable energy in mobile and stationary applications such as hybrid and microgrid power systems based on the Energy Internet, blockchain technology and smart contracts, we hope that they will be of interest to readers working in the related fields mentioned above

Contributions to distributed MPC: coalitional and learning approaches

A growing number of works and applications are consolidating the research area of distributed control with partial and varying communication topologies. In this context, many of the works included in this thesis focus on the so-called coalitional MPC. This approach is characterized by the dynamic formation of groups of cooperative MPC agents (referred to as coalitions) and seeks to provide a performance close to the centralized one with lighter computations and communication demands. The thesis includes a literature review of existing distributed control methods that boost scalability and flexibility by exploiting the degree of interaction between local controllers. Likewise, we present a hierarchical coalitional MPC for traffic freeways and new methods to address the agents' clustering problem, which, given its combinatoria! nature, becomes a key issue for the real-time implementation of this type of controller. Additionally, new theoretical results to provide this clustering strategy with robust and stability guarantees to track changing targets are included. Further works of this thesis focus on the application of learning techniques in distributed and decentralized MPC schemes, thus paving the way for a future extension to the coalitional framework. In this regard, we have focused on the use of neural networks to aid distributed negotiations, and on the development of a multi­ agent learning MPC based on a collaborative data collection

Model-Based Engineering of Collaborative Embedded Systems

This Open Access book presents the results of the "Collaborative Embedded Systems" (CrESt) project, aimed at adapting and complementing the methodology underlying modeling techniques developed to cope with the challenges of the dynamic structures of collaborative embedded systems (CESs) based on the SPES development methodology. In order to manage the high complexity of the individual systems and the dynamically formed interaction structures at runtime, advanced and powerful development methods are required that extend the current state of the art in the development of embedded systems and cyber-physical systems. The methodological contributions of the project support the effective and efficient development of CESs in dynamic and uncertain contexts, with special emphasis on the reliability and variability of individual systems and the creation of networks of such systems at runtime. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the case studies are therefore selected from areas that are highly relevant for Germany’s economy (automotive, industrial production, power generation, and robotics). It also supports the digitalization of complex and transformable industrial plants in the context of the German government's "Industry 4.0" initiative, and the project results provide a solid foundation for implementing the German government's high-tech strategy "Innovations for Germany" in the coming years

Security of Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-physical system (CPS) innovations, in conjunction with their sibling computational and technological advancements, have positively impacted our society, leading to the establishment of new horizons of service excellence in a variety of applicational fields. With the rapid increase in the application of CPSs in safety-critical infrastructures, their safety and security are the top priorities of next-generation designs. The extent of potential consequences of CPS insecurity is large enough to ensure that CPS security is one of the core elements of the CPS research agenda. Faults, failures, and cyber-physical attacks lead to variations in the dynamics of CPSs and cause the instability and malfunction of normal operations. This reprint discusses the existing vulnerabilities and focuses on detection, prevention, and compensation techniques to improve the security of safety-critical systems