Systems Theory and Automatic Control

M.Sc.-Eng. Paolo Varutti


  Ph.D. Student and Research Assistant
  Institute for Automation Engineering (IFAT)
  Laboratory for Systems Theory and Automatic Control
  Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
  Universitätsplatz 2
  39106 Magdeburg - Germany



Improvements in communication networks, and the massive diffusion of Internet have allowed the development of a new idea of control systems, where distributed controllers, actuators, sensors, and plants are connected together through shared communication channels. This has the major advantage of reducing deployment and maintenance costs, but it introduces new challanges on the control side. In fact, non-deterministic communication networks suffer from delays and packet drop-outs, which might cause degradation in performance, or even instability of the closed-loop system.

My research is focused on how it is possible to deal with these two problems. In particular, whereas a lot has been done for linear systems, much attention has not been paid yet on nonlinear ones. Moreover, it would be interesting to analyze how the communication between plant and controller can be minimized in order to satisfy specific constraints, e.g. energy constraints, bandwidth limitations.

I am also working with Nonlinear Model Predictive Control and Optimization Problems. Furthermore, I am interested in Robotics and Soft-Computing.

Current Projects

  • Coordinator of the project Efficient Predictive Control of Uncertain Systems with Guaranteed Stability and Feasibility by Simultaneous Optimization over Time Stages (DFG Project on Optimization-based Control of Uncertain Systems)

  • Predictive Control for Gust Load Alleviation, in collaboration with Airbus

  • DEZYPRED - Development of Decentralized Asynchronous Predictive Methods for Networked Control Systems, together with the University of Stuttgart and the University of Bayreuth

Former Projects

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Conference Papers


H.-G. Giesseler, M. Kopf, T. Faulwasser, P. Varutti, and R. Findeisen. Gust Load Alleviation Based on Model Predictive Control. In Proc. of Int. Forum on Aeroelasticity & Structural Dynamics, IFASD'13, Bristol, 2013

P. Varutti, B. Kern and R. Findeisen. Dissipativity-based Distributed Nonlinear Predictive Control for Cascaded Nonlinear Systems. In Proc. of Int. Symposium on Adv. Contr. of Chemical Proc., ADCHEM'12, Singapore, 2012

R. Findeisen, L. Grüne, J. Pannek and P. Varutti. Robustness of Prediction Based Delay Compensation for Nonlinear Systems. In Proc. of the IFAC, Milano, Italy, 2011

P. Varutti and R. Findeisen. Event-based NMPC for Networked Control Systems over UPD-like Communication Channels. In Proc. of the Amer. Contr. Conf., ACC'11, San Francisco, USA, 2011

P. Varutti, T. Faulwasser, B. Kern, M. Kögel, and R. Findeisen. Event-based reduced-attention predictive control for nonlinear uncertain systems. In Proc. of Multi-conference on Systems and Contr., MSC'10, pages 1085-1090, Yokohama, Japan, 2010.

P. Varutti and R. Findeisen. Compensating network delays and information loss by predictive control methods. In Proc. of Europ. Contr. Conf., ECC'09, pages 1722 - 1727, Budapest, Hungary, 2009.

P. Varutti and R. Findeisen. On the synchronization problem for the stabilization of networked control systems over nondeterministic networks. In Proc. Amer. Contr. Conf. ACC'09, pages 2216 - 2221, St. Louis, USA, 2009.

P. Varutti and R. Findeisen. Predictive control of nonlinear chemical processes under asynchronous measurements and controls. In Proc. of Int. Symposium on Adv. Contr. of Chemical Proc., ADCHEM'09, pages 156 - 161, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009.

P. Varutti, B. Kern, T. Faulwasser, and R. Findeisen. Event-based model predictive control for networked control systems. In Proc. 48th IEEE Conf. on Dec. and Cont., CDC'09, pages 567-572, Shanghai, China, 2009.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters


L. Grüne, F. Allgöwer, R. Findeisen, J. Fischer, D. Groß, U.D. Hanebeck, M. Müller, J. Pannek, M. Reble, O. Stursberg, P. Varutti, K. Worthmann, B. Kern. Distributed and Networked Model Predictive Control in Control Theory of Digitally Networked Systems, Springer, in press

H.-G. Giesseler, M. Kopf, P. Varutti, T. Faulwasser, R. Findeisen. Model Predictive Control for Gust Load Alleviation. Assessment and Future Directions of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control, Springer, in press

P. Varutti, B. Kern, and R. Findeisen. Event-based control for networked control systems: An active compensation approach. In Proc. Entwurf komplexer Automatisierungssysteme, EKA'10, pages 29-38, Magdeburg, Germany, 2010.

R.Findeisen and P.Varutti, Stabilizing Nonlinear Predictive Control over Nondeterministic Communication Networks, Assessment and Future Directions of Nonlinear Model Prediction Control, p. 167-179, Springer, May 2009

T.Faulwasser, B.Kern, P.Varutti and R.Findeisen, Prädiktive Regelung nichtlinearer Systeme unter asynchronen Mess- und Stellsignalen (Nonlinear Predictive Control under Asynchronous Measurement and Control Signals), at - Automatisierungstechnik, p. 279-286, June 2009
(Best Paper Award AT-2009)

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Summer Semester 2013

Winter Semester 2012/2013

Former Teaching Activities

  • Assistant and Lecturer for Optimal Control

  • Assistant for Control Theory (Regelungstechnik)

  • Assistant and Lecturer for Introduction to Systems Theory (Einführung in die Systemtheorie)

  • Assistant for Systems Theory (Regelungstechnik II)

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Education

  • November 2008 - present: Member of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS), Max Planck Institute - Magdeburg, Germany

  • December 2007 - present: Ph.D. student and scientific collaborator at the Institute for Automation Engineering, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg - Germany

  • July 2007-December 2007 Scientific collaborator at the IST, University of Stuttgart - Germany

  • April 2007: M.Sc. in Computer Science Engineering at the "Politecnico di Milano" - final grade: 110/110

  • March 2007 - June 2007: Student at the International House London

  • September 2006 - March 2007: Erasmus Student at the IST, University of Stuttgart - Germany

  • August 2006: Student at the English Language Institute of San Francisco

  • October 2004: B.Sc. in Computer Science Engineering at the "Politecnico di Milano" - final grade: 102/110

  • July 2001: High School degree in Scientific Subjects and Foreing Languages (English - German) at the "Liceo Scientifico di San Vito al Tagliamento" - final grade: 100/100

Languages

  • Italian: native speaker

  • English: proficient (C1/C2 in the European reference system)

    • June 2007, CAE, grade A

    • August 2006, ELI, grade 9/9

    • October 2003, TOEFL, grade 241/300

    • October 2001, FCE, grade B

    • August 2000, KSE, grade A+

  • German: intermediate level (B2 in the European reference system)

    • February 2007, course for the University of Stuttgart - level B2, grade 2,3

    • October 2006, course for the University of Stuttgart - level B1, grade 1,3

    • June 2006, course for Bosch (Milan) - level B1, grade "sehr gut"

Awards

  • Best Paper Award, March 2010, for the paper
    T. Faulwasser, B. Kern, P. Varutti and R. Findeisen, Prädiktive Regelung nichtlinearer Systeme unter asynchronen Mess- und Stellsignalen (Nonlinear Predictive Control under Asynchronous Measurement and Control Signals), at - Automatisierungstechnik, pages 279-286, June 2009

  • English Test, national scholarship for a three-month English course in London

  • Homo Sapiens-Sapiens grant for academic years 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005

  • Progetto Prisma scholarship, an Intermediate-German course for Bosch (Milan)

  • Super-Media grant for high school students, 1996-2001

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Exploring the s-Plane - Java applet to play with poles and zeros of LTIs.

Sense and Sensitivities  - A Java applet that illustrates the utility of the sensitivity and complementary sensitivity functions for linear control system design.

Applet on population growths - A Java applet to show how exponential and logistic growths work.

Dfield and Pplane - Simulation of second order time-continous systems. Available both as Matlab toolbox and Java Applet.

MATCONT - Matlab toolbox for bifurcation analysis.

TSTOOL - Software for nonlinear temporal series analysis.

List of software for dynamical systems theory.

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