Reconfigurable Distributed Control

Distributed control systems offer the advantages of local control, while retaining the ease of control at a single centralized location. Typically, this involves a great deal of hard-wiring, which limits flexibility. Distributed control systems are now applied more often in process, autonomous, and safety-critical systems where control needs to change to cope with fault appearance or other process disturbance. This monograph helps meet the challenge of applying distributed control to dynamical systems. It presents a holistic view based on the use of stochastic, formal and robust control. The use of smart peripheral elements reduces the degree of effort required for the reconfiguration of a networked control system. While of most interest to researchers and graduate students grappling with the problem of making distributed control systems more responsive to changes in process and plant, Reconfigurable Distributed Control will also be informative for readers with a background in general distributed computing.