Emerging Control Technologies: What Does the Future Hold?

Abstract

There is increasing emphasis today on higher autonomy and intelligence in control systems that is driven by ever more demanding control requirements and fueled primarily by recent significant advances in sensor, actuator, computer and computer network technologies. Distributed control methodologies and coordination of interacting intelligent systems over networks will bring sophisticated control and decision methodologies where the needs are. We are at the dawn of a new era in control and decision systems which has the potential to significantly benefit agriculture. Highly demanding control requirements in production and processing of agricultural products coupled with the complexity and uncertainty of the models require the use of sophisticated control methods. Areas that stand to benefit from the use of advanced methods include the control and management of greenhouses, water resources, energy etc as well as all areas of processing and distributing agriCUltural products.