Complex Systems

This
book gives a wide-ranging description of the many facets of complex dynamic
networks and systems within an infrastructure provided by integrated control
and supervision: envisioning, design, experimental exploration, and
implementation. The theoretical contributions and the case studies presented
can reach control goals beyond those of stabilization and output regulation or
even of adaptive control.

Reporting
on work of the Control of Complex Systems (COSY) research program, Complex Systems follows from and expands
upon an earlier collection: Control of Complex Systems by introducing novel
theoretical techniques for hard-to-control networks and systems.

The
major common feature of all the superficially diverse contributions encompassed
by this book is that of spotting and exploiting possible areas of mutual
reinforcement between control, computing and communications. These help readers
to achieve not only robust stable plant system operation but also properties
such as collective adaptivity, integrity and survivability at the same time
retaining desired performance quality.

Applications
in the individual chapters are drawn from:

·        
the general implementation of model-based diagnosis and systems
engineering in medical technology, in communication, and in  power and
airport networks;

·        
the creation of biologically inspired control brains and safety-critical
human–machine systems;

·        
process-industrial uses;
·        
biped robots;
·        
large space structures and unmanned aerial vehicles; and

·        
precision servomechanisms and other advanced technologies.

Complex Systems provides
researchers from engineering, applied mathematics and computer science
backgrounds with innovative theoretical and practical insights into the
state-of-the-art of complex networks and systems research. It employs physical
implementations and extensive computer simulations. Graduate students
specializing in complex-systems research will also learn much from this collection.