Control structures using Spies to detect common failure modes of control
systems
Dr J.M.Edmunds (UMIST)
Abstract
Observers are often used to keep track of the dynamic states of a system.
However they require a fairly good dynamic model of the system. This seminar
looks at some of the possibilities of using software modules which just
attempt to discover one failure mode of a system. For instance it is
possible to have a module which detects oscillations. It is proposed
that the modules for detecting these common failure modes should be
separate from the manager which acts on this information, since the actions
are problem dependent. Fuzzy logic is used for communicating the
information, as the degree of certainty varies, and the response of the
manager may well vary depending on the degree of certainty. For example small
oscillations may almost disappear in the noise.