Project Description

Automated systems are vulnerable to faults due to defects in sensors, actuators and components. Faults in automated processes will often cause undesired behaviours and even completely shut-down. Fault-tolerant control systems in industrial processes are becoming more necessary due to their increasing complexity and the demand of quality, efficiency, disposability, reliability and security in their operation.

In this project the main goal will be the development of fault-tolerant control techniques easily integrable in supervision systems and applicable to real complex systems. To reach this goal the main tasks will be

- the development of active techniques of fault-tolerant control that allow to assess the situation, the degree of recoverability and the corrective actions against faults acting on the system,
- the design and evaluation of fault tolerant controllers using passive strategies,
- and the integration of the develop fault-tolerant control techniques in a supervisor.

The fault-tolerant techniques developed and integrated in this project will be tested first on multivariable laboratory processes, and then will be applied on industrial servoactuators and on a urban sewer network in order to evaluate their performance and to establish criteria for final redesign.