Model predictive control: ideas for the next generation

Summary form only given. We point out several clearly discernible trends which point toward an extended need for new techniques to design process control and supervisory schemes. We show how this need can be met by a new generation of model predictive controllers. Rapid advances in computer and information technology are enabling the closer integration of the various decision and control tasks which were traditionally distributed among a broad set of decision-makers ranging from PLC at the lowest level to planning and scheduling departments at the highest level. This integration should eventually lead to a smoother, more responsive and more competitive functioning of the entire organization. It requires the development of new modelling tools for such large complex systems involving continuous and discrete states whose behavior is governed by dynamics, logical statements and constraints. The models should facilitate the analysis of such systems and the efficient determination of optimal operating strategies.