ORGANIZATION OF SYSTEM CONTROL

In the report a general method of designing control laws for very complex systems is described. A particular multipoint scheduling problem which has potential application in the operation of a high-speed ground transportation system is given to illustrate the approach. The basic assumption made is that the system to be controlled is so complex that mathematical optimization, even with the aid of a high-speed computer, is either impossible or too expensive--an assumption that holds even for relatively simple scheduling problems. Of course this assumption implies that the optimization problem must be divided into smaller parts and a sub-optimal solution sought. By the development of precise lower bounds on the performance of the system it is possible, however, to obtain an estimate of how close to optimal the system is. This leads to the definition of a performance ratio which characterizes the efficiency of the control system and provides what should be a very useful design parameter. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Electronics Systems Laboratory
  Cambridge, MA  United States 
• Authors:
  • Brockett, R W
  • Canales, R J
• Publication Date: 1966-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 25 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Control systems; High speed rail; Intelligent transportation systems; Scheduling
• Old TRIS Terms: Advanced systems
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00039009
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Contract Numbers: C-85-65t
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 24 1973 12:00AM