Optimal mobile actuator/sensor network motion strategy for parameter estimation in a class of cyber physical systems

This paper introduces a framework to solve the problem of determining optimal sensors and actuators trajectories so as to estimate a set of unknown parameters in what constitutes a cyber-physical system (CPS). Given a distributed system's set of partial differential equation describing its dynamic behavior, the optimal steering of a team of sensors and actuators is obtained by minimizing the D-optimality criteria associated with the expected accuracy of the obtained parameter values. The problem is then reformulated into an optimal control one, whose solution can be computed by readily available commercial softwares. A numerical example is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.