Control Automata Research Articles

Design and self-diagnostics of cyberphysical control devices on SOC platform

The subject of research in this article is models, methods, and procedures for designing and self-diagnosing automated models of logic control devices implemented in SoCs. The object of work is the procedures for automated design and diagnosis of digital devices on the SoC technology platform. The aim of the study is to develop models and procedures for designing and self-testing in the cycle of automated design of automatic logic control systems on the SoC technology platform, which will significantly increase the reliability of their operation. The article solves the following tasks: consideration of the procedures for interacting the processor core with programmable logic as part of the SoC; improvement of the procedures for designing and testing software and hardware systems based on SoC; further development of procedures for automated design, verification, and diagnosis of cyber-physical logic control systems using programming languages and hardware description languages; implementation of the procedure for hardware self-testing of control automata on the SoC technology platform. The following methods are implemented: synthesis of control automata based on graph models, implementation of control automata models in the C programming language using an automata template, diagnostic experiment by traversing the automata transition graph. Results achieved. Based on the analysis of the procedures for the interaction of the processor core and programmable logic on the selected SoC platform, a model of a cyber-physical logic control system was designed. The practical implementation was carried out on the basis of the Vivado/Vitis/Vitis HLS CAD toolkit. The method of hardware self-testing of control automata on the technological platform of SoC ZYNQ-7000 was implemented. Conclusions. The article analyzes the principles of designing embedded cyber-physical systems implemented in system-on-chip. The principles of building verification systems and embedded self-diagnostics of system-on-chip systems containing software and hardware are considered. The developed methods are tested on a model of a traffic light logic control device on the SoC FPGA platform of the ZYNQ-7000 family by Xilinx. The Moore's control automaton is implemented in the PL block in the C programming language, and the operational automaton is implemented in the PS block. During the organization of the self-diagnosis process, a non-destructive diagnostic experiment was performed by traversing all arcs of the transition graph, starting from the initial vertex. In this case, the tester was an operational automaton, the reference logic and time values of which were stored in the memory of the PS unit. Visual observation of the diagnostic experiment was carried out using the LED panel of the ZedBoard board.

Towards a model of human-cyber–physical automata and a synthesis framework for control policies

Advances in research and increasing applications of Cyber–Physical Systems (CPSs) show the need to consider factors of humans in the loop. This has led to the growing research focus on Human-Cyber–Physical Systems (HCPSs). In general, humans in an HCPS interact with both the cyber and physical systems, as well as among the humans themselves. For a better understanding, correct design, development, operation, and maintenance of HCPSs, a computational theory based on a computational model is required. This paper presents our initial work towards a model of human-cyber–physical automata (HCPA). We consider an HCPS as a combination of a human-physical system (HPS) and a CPS in which the control switches between the humans and the machines. We define an HCPA by connecting the automaton of the HPS and the automaton of the CPS through a switch control automaton. The switch control automaton makes switching decision in some critical states shared by the HPS and the CPS. Our theorem shows that the control switching between the HPS and the CPS increases the probability of satisfying a given property. We model the behaviour of a human in specified applications or even in carry out specific tasks, instead of general human intelligence. Therefore, a human can make mistakes to decision making and thus it is a probabilistic automaton with learning ability. The switching between the human and the machine is modelled by an oracle. The oracle learns about the human behaviour, the machine behaviour, as well as the environment to make the control decisions. To generate the control policies of the human and the oracle, we propose a synthesis framework to maximize the probability of the satisfaction of a property specified in Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) by the HCPA. We present a prototype implementation of the framework by extending the model-free reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm and model-free deep-RL algorithm, and our experiment shows that our synthesis framework is effective in obtaining switch policies.

Targeting of Joint Control in the "Man-Machine" System: Modeling and Structuring

The category of target designation is considered as the upper level of joint control of an object in the ergatic system "man-machine". Target designation refers to the initial need that precedes the planning and execution of the controlled movement of some object of the ergatic system. Such management is presented as a variant of situational management, defined by D. S. Pospelov on the basis of a model of actions and responses of a human operator and a machine adopted in engineering psychology. The control automaton of the system is given the properties inherent in the human operator. The anthropomorphism of control actions is used in the construction of the designation of the control automaton on a set of incomplete representations of elementary movements of the depicting point along the trajectory in the space of states of the "man-machine" system. It is shown that the angular points of the trajectory mark complete situations in the state space, the change of which is caused by signals of discrete anthropomorphic control. The change of situations and elementary movements are matched with the elementary goals and intermediate goals in a structured hierarchy of a complete system of target designation goals, arranged in time. Quantitative estimates of the complete system of goals were obtained. The principal possibility of structuring target designation at the entire stage of operation of the vital cycle of the "man-machine" system is shown. The description of the adopted approach to the design of target designation is accompanied by an example of the application of methods of the theory of optimal control and expert opinions and assessments of boatmasters for the organization of anthropomorphic control of the vessel’s movement in conditions of increased danger. The results of the analysis of experimental data are presented, according to which quantitative estimates of the complete systems of goals implemented in the executed movements of ships are given when the main goal is achieved — the entry of the vessel into the lock chamber. The analogous estimates for comparison are made according to the patterns of anthropomorphic management developed for the same main purpose. The results of the discussion of the results of the study are presented. The possibilities of taking into account the parametric, signal and coordinate uncertainties of mathematical models for the coordination of target designation with the planning of anthropomorphic ship movement control are shown.

BEHAVIOR CLASSIFICATION OF CONTROL UNIT OF SYSTEMS

Context. The behavior of the system is included in the basic concepts that characterize its functioning. In an event-driven system, behavior is modeled using a state machine. Known classifications of behavior take into account the genus and type of automaton. At the same time, in modern systems, control automata are integrated into hierarchies and have a number of new properties that are not reflected in their classifications.
 Objective. The purpose of the work is to systematize the forms of specifying the behavior of integrated systems and methods for changing the behavior in the process of their use. The novelty of the proposed classification lies in taking into account the behavior of new types of non-binary, semantic, controlled and changeable individual automata and the structures of these automata.
 Method. The essence of behavior is presented as the ambiguity of reactions to the input signals of the control automaton, which manifests itself in a certain pattern of changing its states and outputs. When classifying behaviors, the expediency of exploratory behavior is determined. Such ways of achieving the goal as adaptation, change or absorption of the environment, change in the goals of behavior are noted. According to the level of complexity of behavior, systems with predetermined, regulated, organizing, predictable and autonomous behavior are distinguished. Along with the automaton model of behavior, the importance of modeling behavior in the form of a combination of statements is noted. The importance of describing the possible and emergency behavior of the system is noted. A classification of the system’s behavior in terms of constancy and variability is proposed. The structure and principles of the implementation of changeable behavior within the framework of the processes of external control of the automaton and its selfgovernment are described. Based on the concept of arity of behavior, the functional and technological behavior of a finite automaton are singled out. As part of the classification of behavior by the level of formation, the switching, combinational and automatic behavior of states, as well as the behavior of the automaton in the contours of activity and the typical behavior of the automaton in the hierarchy, are described.
 Experiments. With the use of the proposed classification features, the behavior of control devices of monitoring systems for power transformer parameters, object temperature control and integrated hierarchical systems is analyzed.
 Results. The proposed classification describes the directions for specifying behavior in complex integrated systems according to 13 main and 84 detailing features, which facilitates the process of designing behavior and highlights new system capabilities.
 Conclusions. The actual problem of systematization of the behavior of control devices of systems has been solved. Classification features give directions for the use of standard solutions for describing the behavior of the system, which simplifies the process and reduces the complexity of designing its functional structure.

EXPANSION OF THE ZONE OF PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PLC WITH PARALLEL ARCHITECTURE

The analysis of architecture is carried out and offers concerning expansion of a zone of practical application of PLC of parallel action are offered. The proposed methodology for constructing a logical control automaton of parallel action, the developed models, algorithm and structures represent a theoretical platform for the practical implementation of information technology for parallel logical control of railway automation objects.

Forced motion control of a mobile robot

Objectives. The increase of the efficiency of a separate transport mobile robot in a warehouse due to optimal regulation of the speed of its movement. It is required to control the position, speed, acceleration and direction of movement of the mobile robot at each moment of time along a known route. A method for forced control of the movement of a transport mobile robot was proposed. A control block for various motion maneuvers was developed in Simulink environment, which calculates the distance to the nearest turning point or stop and then by constructed cyclogram the corresponding speed at each moment of time is determined. The proposed control unit can be used in practice for the tasks of optimal movement of transport robots in predetermined area.Methods. The method of the theory of optimal control according to the criterion of maximum speed, the wave algorithm for finding the shortest path, the method of finite automata for relay control of the acceleration of movement are used.Results. Based on the proposed method of forced control of the movement of a transport mobile robot in the Simulink environment, a maneuver control system was developed that provides the minimum travel time for each segment of the path. Maneuvers mean the rectilinear movement of the robot, as well as its turn on the spot, in two modes: with and without reaching maximum speed. The technique is based on the assumption that the movement of the transport robot is uniformly accelerated. A side result of the developed control system is that when it is scaled to a group of robots, it becomes possible to predict the time and place of their potential collisions, in order to subsequently take into account a group of robots for effective control.Conclusion. The developed control system can be used to control a real transport mobile robot equipped with a servo drive in solving the problems of transporting goods around the warehouse.

Development of a device for multiplying numbers by means of FPGA

The authors propose the description of the development of a device for multiplying numbers. The device for multiplying numbers on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) includes two input and one output registers, fifty-six single-digit adders, sixty four logic elements AND, one exclusive OR gate. The main scientific and technical task in developing a device for multiplying numbers is to reduce hardware complexity using single-bit adders and logic elements. Introduction includes description of works of scientists and researchers whose publications are devoted to design and development of multiplier construction methods, multiplier FIR performance improvement by right-shift and addition method on FPGA (field-programmable gate array) basis. The implementation of MAC-block, hardware implementation of binary multiplier on the basis of multi operand adder, multiplier design by right-sliding and addition with control automaton in the FPGA basis is the actual research tasks presented in a number of papers. The description of features of multiplier implementation, high-speed multipliers with variable bit rate, studies of approaches for designing modular multipliers, FPGA image processing using Brown multiplier for performing convolution operation find application in problems of performance and speed. Also, a number of authors describe implementation of conveyorization method, design of dual multiplier, construction method of 8-bit multiplier with reduced delay, 8-bit high-density systolic multiplier arrays on FPGA and development of high-performance 8-bit multiplier using McCMOS technology. A fragment of a developed device for multiplying numbers is presented in the work by the authors. The principle of operation of a device for multiplication is described. The description of connected elements of the device is given. The timing diagrams of operation of a device for multiplication of numbers are presented.

Analytical Approach to the Design of Joint Motion Control of the Egratic System " Skipper-Ship"

The article deals with the problem of designing a joint control of the movement of a water transport object — the ergatic system " ship-to-ship" . Joint motion control is presented in mathematical form on the basis of the model of actions and responses of the human operator and the machine, adopted in engineering psychology for the " human-machine" systems. The model is formalized by composing mathematical models of the plane motion of the ship and the movements of the controls of the propellers (propellers) and rudders of the ship. For the ship’s human-machine interface, it is proposed to use a new type of apparatus, with the help of which the control actions on the control body from the boatmaster and the control automaton of the ergatic system are combined.For the mathematical description of virtual signals of discrete control in solving problems of target designation and planning, a method for constructing a set of incomplete representations of elementary movements in the state space of the " skipper-ship" system is proposed. The numerical estimates of pairwise different representations of elementary movements and discrete control signals that implement transitions from one elementary movement to another by influencing the propellers and rudders of the ship using the ship’s human-machine interface controls are obtained.In order to unify the anthropomorphic control of ship movement at the target designation and planning levels, it is proposed to use templates from several discrete control signals, based on the experience of navigation and solving mathematical programming problems. The solution of the practical problem of optimal anthropomorphic control of the vessel movement from the mooring wall to the lock chamber is obtained, which provides for the implementation of a sequence of ten discrete control signals and two control templates. A method is proposed for estimating the influence of signal, parametric, and coordinate uncertainties on the position of the image point in the state space of the " su-driver-ship" system relative to the nominal trajectory of the program motion. The regions of interval representations of uncertainties in the subspace of the ship’s " time-position-speed" states are obtained. The procedure for correcting the a priori description of nominal anthropomorphic control is considered on the basis of control patterns and analysis of rectangles of uncertainty in the subspace of states of the " skipper-ship" system.

Scheduling of Traffic Entities Under Reduced Traffic Flow by Means of Fuzzy Logic Control

This paper presents the design of a fuzzy logic-based traffic scheduling algorithm aimed at reducing traffic congestion for the case of partial obstruction of a bidirectional traffic lane. Such a problem is typically encountered in rail traffic and personal rapid transportation systems with predefined and fixed traffic corridors. The proposed proportional-derivative (PD) fuzzy control algorithm, serving as a traffic control automaton, alternately assigns adaptive green light periods to traffic coming from each direction. The proposed fuzzy logic-based traffic controller has been compared with the conventional traffic control automaton featuring fixed-durations of green light intervals. The comparison has been carried out within a simulation environment for four different probability distributions of stochastic traffic flows at each end of the considered traffic corridor. Results have shown that the proposed fuzzy logic-based traffic controller performance is far superior to that of the conventional traffic control law in terms of achieving shorter vehicle queue lengths and less disparity in queue lengths for all considered simulation scenarios.

KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN STATE MACHINES OF CONTROL SYSTEMS

The questions of knowledge representation in control automata of control systems are considered. It is proposed to describe the interaction of the system object and the control automaton using the functions of actions and reactions; to consider the states of the control machine as elements that form the contour of activity and control in the system; describe causal relationships in circuits based on the principles of circular causality; the structure of the state controlled by all interface elements is proposed. Examples of Prologue programs with a knowledge base on the contour of activity and queries about the serviceability of contour elements are given.

System management technology for technical maintenance of transport and technological machines

The paper considers the generalized structure of maintenance system, including, in the general case, the protection subsystem, the functional diagnostics subsystem, the test diagnostics subsystem, the maintenance and repair subsystem. The technical implementation of the listed subsystems is possible in the form of tools built into the object and in the form of tools external to the object. For the generalized structure of the transport and technological machines maintenance system, the possible ratios of the volumetric characteristics of built-in and external subsystems are analyzed (using the simplest analytical expression). The possibility of formalizing the control process of a generalized system of technical maintenance of autonomous objects within the framework of a finite-automaton model is discussed. In accordance with this model, it is proposed, first, to consider the on-board maintenance system as an operational automaton; second, each of its subsystems should be considered as a separate internal automaton that implements its own technological algorithm; third, the interaction of the four automata should be organized within the control automaton for the above-mentioned operating automaton. The algorithm for the functioning of this control automaton has been synthesized.

The Contour of Causality in Control Automata of Systems

The Contour of Causality in Control Automata of Systems

Программная реализация сложных управляющих автоматов

Программная реализация сложных управляющих автоматов

Комплекс математических моделей функциональных элементов и структур интегрированных и когнитивных систем

Рассмотрен комплекс математических моделей операционных и управляющих автоматов и их применение в функциональных структурах интегрированных и когнитивных систем. Модели управляющих автоматов представлены бинарными, не бинарными, недетерминированными, нечеткими конечными автоматами, что позволило расширить информационную базу для выбора воздействий на объект познания или управления. Семантика комплекса названий элементов конечных автоматов также использована в качестве дополнительных знаний для улучшения управления объектом. Модель интегрированной системы представлена в виде иерархии «управлений управлением», что позволило унифицировать структуру и элементный состав системы. Предложенная типовая модель когнитивной системы разбивает ее по вертикали на базу знаний, подсистемы познания, когнитивности и деятельности, а по горизонтали на подсистемы с уровнями управления – от непосредственного до целевого.

Fault Isolation in Network of State Automates

Introduction. In the paper a fault isolation problem in the devices combining digital unit by functional diagnostics methods is considered. Networks of state automates are accepted as mathematical models of the devices. Assumed, that functional diagnostics devices for each network component are preliminarily constructed in an optimal way and they consist of a control automata and of a fault discriminator of unit dimension.Aim. To develop functional diagnostics method based on theoretical analysis allowing to decide fault isolation problem in networks of state automation and to reduce computational complexity and hardware redundancy.Materials and methods. An analysis of mathematical description of a network of state automation and functional diagnostics devices for each network component was presented in terms of algebraic theory of functional diagnosis of dynamic systems. A possibility to transform the set of known functional diagnostics devices of the network was demonstrated. The possibility provided a localization of the network component with an error, if the component was unique.Results. A searching procedure of the analytical equations determining supervision automata and fault discriminator for the whole network was proposed. The case when initial functional diagnostics devices for each network component were defined by scalar functions was considered. The obtained result was generalized to the case, when mentioned devices were defined by vector functions. The application of the described method was demonstrated in the example of construction functional diagnostics devices for simplified fragment of the device for forming priorities of mutual aircraft navigation system.Conclusion. Estimation of results by an order criterion was obtained. It was established that with an increase in the number of network components, the reduction of intentioned redundancy by functional diagnostics devices compared with the original version increased significantly.

Special Issue “Intelligent Control in Energy Systems”

The editor of this special issue on “Intelligent Control in Energy Systems” have made an attempt to publish a book containing original technical articles addressing various elements of intelligent control in energy systems. The response to our call had 60 submissions, of which 27 were published submissions and 33 were rejections. This book contains 27 technical articles and one editorial. All have been written by authors from 15 countries (China, Netherlands, Spain, Tunisia, United States of America, Korea, Brazil, Egypt, Denmark, Indonesia, Oman, Canada, Algeria, Mexico, and Czech Republic), which elaborated several aspects of intelligent control in energy systems. It covers a broad range of topics including fuzzy PID in automotive fuel cell and MPPT tracking, neural network for fuel cell control and dynamic optimization of energy management, adaptive control on power systems, hierarchical Petri Nets in microgrid management, model predictive control for electric vehicle battery and frequency regulation in HVAC systems, deep learning for power consumption forecasting, decision tree for wind systems, risk analysis for demand side management, finite state automata for HVAC control, robust μ-synthesis for microgrid, and neuro-fuzzy systems in energy storage.

Структурная организация управляющих автоматов с изменяемым принципом формирования команд

Структурная организация управляющих автоматов с изменяемым принципом формирования команд

Joint control actions on electromechanical devices in ergatic systems

The problem of implementing joint control actions on electromechanical devices (EMD) in human-machine systems through the control body of a human-machine interface is considered. Based on the theory of optimal control, control functions between the human operator, the program control automaton, and the corrective control automaton are synthesized. Peculiarities of the technical implementation of the control actions on the EMD of the ergatic system using the new type of joint control devices have been identified, through the control body of which information interaction between the human operator and the system automa-ton is carried out. Based on the model of actions and responses of the human operator and machine, which is adopted in engineering psychology, mathematical models of their joint control of the object have been developed. Mathematical models of machine responses are constructed using the hypothesis of complete certainty in the form of a normal system of ordinary differen-tial equations. As a result of combining action and response models for the human-machine system, a finite set of incomplete representations of the elementary motions of the image point in the state space is obtained, on which the programmed motion of the object is built in the form of a sequence of elementary motions. Virtual discrete control signals Corresponding to specific positions of the control bodies of the joint control apparatuses of the human-machine interface of the system are determined, through which consecutive transitions from one elementary movement to another are carried out. The conclusions on the effectiveness of the use of joint control in transport ergatic human-machine systems are formulated. It is shown that in this case, the advantages of control partners are used and combined to the greatest extent.

Контроль управляющих автоматов сложных технических систем реального времени

Контроль управляющих автоматов сложных технических систем реального времени

Application of Fuzzy Automata Decision-Making System in Target Control

In order to perform better in target control, this paper proposed a decision-making system method based on fuzzy automata. The decision-making system first preprocessed the signal and then performed a two-level decision on the target to achieve optimal control. The system consisted of four parts: signal preprocessing, contrast decision-making, comprehensive judgment of decision-making and decision-making result. These decision algorithms in target control were given. A concrete application of this decision-making system in target control was described. Being compared with other existing methods, this paper used both global features and local features of target, and used the decision-making system of fuzzy automata for the target control. Simulation results showed that the control effect based on the decision-making system was better than that of the other existing methods. Not only it was faster, but also its correct control rate was higher to be 95.18% for the target control. This research on the control system not only developed the FA theory, but also strengthened its application scope in the field of control engineering.