1,721,045 research outputs found
Symbolic control design of incrementally stable nonlinear systems with dynamic regular language specifications
No full textIn this paper we consider a control problem where the plant is a continuous-time incrementally stable nonlinear system, the controller is modeled as a finite state machine and the specification is modeled as a regular language. In some applications of interest it can be the case that the system does not know the whole specification to be enforced, but only a first part of it; then, at some time the system will obtain a second specification for which the controller needs to reconfigure. We propose results for the efficient synthesis of controllers in this setting. An analysis of computational complexity of the proposed approach is included which is also compared to traditional ones. An illustrative example is also presented
On symbolic control design of nonlinear systems with dynamic regular language specifications
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Decentralized control of finite state systems: A game theoretic approach
Full text linkIn this paper we consider a pair of interconnected, nondeterministic and metric finite state systems and address a control problem where controllers are designed for enforcing local specifications expressed in terms of regular languages, up to a desired accuracy. The control architecture considered is decentralized, that is each controller can only communicate with the corresponding plant. Since plant systems are interconnected, the part of the specification that can be enforced on one system depends on the part that can be applied on the other one. We show how this dependency can be formalized in terms of equilibria, by extending game theory to the present framework. We introduce notions of equilibria, Nash equilibria and dominant equilibria. When controlled plants are at an equilibrium, they satisfy a part of their specification; when they are at a Nash equilibrium, deviation of each plant from its control strategy may correspond to a loss in terms of the part of specification enforced; when they are at a dominant equilibrium, there is no other equilibrium where plants can achieve larger parts of the corresponding specifications. A characterization of these notions is derived and checkable conditions are discussed. An example in the context of multi-agent systems with shared resources is also included. (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Financial Incentives for Municipal Partnerships
No full textThe internalization of externalities, economy of scale and scope, low taxation capacity of small municipalities can explain the gains that can accrue from local government partnership. In spite of this, small local governments do not actually join any partnership.
For this reason, higher tiers of governments provide incentives to small municipality in order to encourage partnerships. This chapter investigates on the efficiency of the different schemes of incentives
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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