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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: Control Theory for Optimisation [seminar co-spon
 sored by the IEEE-CSS]
DTSTART:20240917T120000
DTEND:20240917T130000
DTSTAMP:20260526T102522Z
UID:831c3e092e596cd796c3ec0bae7ec5fdf9cf9f0a0597bd0d4aa5df19
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Thomas Parisini\, Imperial College London\, Aalborg Univ
 ersity & University of Trieste\nThis seminar is co-sponsored by the IEEE-C
 SS.\n\nAbstract: In this tutorial lecture we present some key use-cases of
  challenging optimisation problems - centralised and distributed - in whic
 h it is shown that a control theoretic approach can have a considerable im
 pact\, especially when robustness is considered. Methodologies and tools s
 uch as Lyapunov analysis\, ISS stability\, small-gain theory\, time-scales
  separation\, and passivity are all instrumental to unveil fundamental pro
 perties of optimisation methods with a significant potential impact on key
  application areas such as multi-agent systems and large-scale critical in
 frastructures.\n\nIn the first use-case\, we consider the discrete-time Ar
 row-Hurwicz-Uzawa primal-dual algorithm\, also known as the first-order La
 grangian method\, for constrained optimisation problems involving a smooth
  strongly convex cost and smooth convex constraints. We deal with the long
 -standing open problem of nonlocal asymptotic stability of such an algorit
 hm. In particular\, it is proved that an optimal equilibrium exists\, it i
 s unique\, and it is semi-globally exponentially stable. We also show that
 \, in the presence of constraints\, global asymptotic stability cannot be 
 established for the considered algorithm\; hence\, semi-global guarantees 
 are the best achievable in general.\n\nIn the second use-case\, we revisit
  the distributed version of the unconstrained Arrow-Hurwicz-Uzawa primal-d
 ual algorithm\, which was introduced in 2010 by J. Wang and N. Elia. Here\
 , by means of a Lyapunov-based analysis\, we prove global ISS of the algor
 ithm relative to a closed invariant set composed of optimal equilibria and
  with respect to perturbations affecting the algorithm’s dynamics. In th
 e absence of perturbations\, this result implies linear convergence of the
  local estimates and Lyapunov stability of the optimal steady state. Moreo
 ver\, we unveil fundamental connections with the well-known Gradient Track
 ing algorithm and with distributed integral control.\n\nIn the third use-c
 ase\, as an extension of the Wang-Elia algorithm\, we present a control ap
 proach to the problem of distributed optimisation for both continuous-time
  and discrete-time\, linear uncertain multi-agent systems. Since all the a
 gent dynamics is subject to parametric uncertainties and the gradient of t
 he local objective function can only be measured through each agent’s ou
 tput\, the output agreement of multi-agents cannot be achieved by traditio
 nal distributed optimisation algorithms. Instead\, we propose a simple int
 ernal-model-based tracking controller as a new module\, integrated into th
 e Wang-Elia algorithm to accomplish the output agreement with guaranteed e
 xponential convergence.\n\nFinally\, early preliminary attempts to address
  the distributed version of the constrained discrete-time Arrow-Hurwicz-Uz
 awa primal-dual algorithm by a control theoretic approach are briefly sket
 ched showing that passivity tools are instrumental in this challenging con
 text.\n\nBiography: I received the "Laurea" degree (Cum Laude and printing
  honours) in Electronic Engineering from the University of Genoa in 1988 a
 nd the Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science in 1993
 . I was with Politecnico di Milano\, and I hold the Chair of Industrial Co
 ntrol at Imperial College London. I'm serving as the Head of the Control a
 nd Power Research Group and I served as Director of Research at the Dept. 
 of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. I'm also Professor and Danieli E
 ndowed Chair of Automation Engineering with University of Trieste. In 2009
 -2012\, I have been appointed Deputy Rector of University of Trieste. In 2
 018\, I received an Honorary Doctorate from University of Aalborg\, Denmar
 k. I authored or co-authored a research monograph in the most prestigious 
 series of Springer Nature and over 400 research papers in archival journal
 s\, book chapters\, and international conference proceedings. My research 
 interests include monitoring\, diagnosis\, control and security of large-s
 cale critical infrastructure systems with applications in smart grids\, tr
 ansportation networks\, power electronics and industrial process control. 
 Among several awards\, I was a co-recipient of the 2011-2013 IFAC Best App
 lication Paper Prize of the Journal of Process Control\, Elsevier\, and of
  the 2004 Outstanding Paper Award of the IEEE Trans. on Neural Networks. I
  was also awarded the 2007 IEEE Distinguished Member Award. Among the majo
 r research grants\, I was awarded as PI at Imperial the H2020 Flagship Tea
 ming Project KIOS (total budget for the two partners over 40 MEuros). More
 over\, I was awarded a prestigious ABB Research Grant and I was involved a
 s Project Leader in several projects funded by the European Union and by t
 he Italian Ministry for Research. Moreover\, I secured several major grant
 s from process control industries especially in the steel-making sector. I
  served as the 2021-2022 President of the IEEE Control Systems Society and
  during 2009-2016 I served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Trans. on Co
 ntrol Systems Technology. Since 2018 I am the Editor in Chief of the Europ
 ean Journal of Control. Since 2017\, I'm also serving as Editor for Contro
 l Applications of Automatica. I served as the Chair of the IFAC Technical 
 Committee on Fault Detection\, Supervision & Safety of Technical Processes
  - SAFEPROCESS. I was the Chair of the IEEE Control Systems Society Confer
 ence Editorial Board and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Control Syst
 ems Society. I was an elected member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE
  Control Systems Society and of the European Control Association (EUCA) an
 d a member of the board of evaluators of the 7th Framework and of the Hori
 zon 2020 framework Research Program of the European Union. I'm also curren
 tly serving as an Associate Editor of the Int. J. of Control and I served 
 as Associate Editor of the IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control\, of the IEEE 
 Trans. on Neural Networks. Among other activities\, I was the Program Chai
 r of the 2008 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control\, the Program Chair 
 of the 2018 European Control Conference\, and General Co-Chair of the 2013
  IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and of the 2018 IEEE Conference o
 n Control Technology and Applications. I'm General Co-Chair of the 2022 Eu
 ropean Control Conference. I am a Fellow of the IEEE and of IFAC.
LOCATION:BM 5202 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BM%205202 https://epfl.zoom.u
 s/j/64267570786
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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