Distributed Model Predictive Control: An Overview and Roadmap of Future Research Opportunities

Model-predictive control (MPC) is an optimization-based control technique that uses 1) a mathematical model of a system to predict the system's behavior over a given horizon, 2) an objective function that represents what system behavior is desirable, 3) a mathematical formalization of operational constraints that have to be satisfied, 4) measurements of the state of the system at each time step, and 5) any information regarding upcoming disturbances that may be available. This article surveyed and categorized 35 distributed MPC approaches. Subsequently, several of the insights gained from the survey were presented. This study provides a picture of what features have received more or less attention over the last years, bringing about potential research niches for new approaches.