Papers by Mariagrazia Dotoli
IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems
Power distribution grids are commonly controlled through centralized approaches, such as the opti... more Power distribution grids are commonly controlled through centralized approaches, such as the optimal power flow. However, the current pervasive deployment of distributed renewable energy sources and the increasing growth of active players, providing ancillary services to the grid, have made these centralized frameworks no longer appropriate. In this context, we propose a novel noncooperative control mechanism for optimally regulating the operation of power distribution networks equipped with traditional loads, distributed generation, and active users. The latter, also known as prosumers, contribute to the grid optimization process by leveraging their flexible demand, dispatchable generation capability, and/or energy storage potential. Active users participate in a noncooperative liberalized market designed to increase the penetration of renewable generation and improve the predictability of power injection from the high-voltage grid. The novelty of our game-theoretical approach consists in incorporating economic factors as well as physical constraints and grid stability aspects. Finally, by integrating the proposed framework into a rolling-horizon approach, we show its effectiveness and resiliency through numerical experiments. Index Terms-AC power flow, distributed control, electric power networks, game theory.
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2020
2015 European Control Conference (ECC), 2015
The paper focuses on the optimization of containers pre- and end-haulage by road in intermodal te... more The paper focuses on the optimization of containers pre- and end-haulage by road in intermodal terminals, which is one of the most critical factors in door to door transport effectiveness and profit. We present an optimization model that allows solving in an exact and optimal way the vehicle routing and fleet management problems. The model comprises two steps: first it optimizes the distance traveled by road, enabling to match a delivery with a pick up; the second step is devoted to minimizing the number of vehicles required for the deliveries, while satisfying the routes obtained from the previous step. The proposed optimization model is applied to a real case study to test its effectiveness.
2015 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), 2015
The paper presents a multi-objective optimization algorithm to improve in an integrated and holis... more The paper presents a multi-objective optimization algorithm to improve in an integrated and holistic way the building stock energy efficiency, sustainability, and comfort, while efficiently allocating the available budget to the buildings. The developed algorithm determines a set of optimal energy retrofit plans for a portfolio of public buildings in a smart city. An existing stock of public buildings located in the municipality of Bari, Italy is used as case study. The application results demonstrate that the developed algorithm is an effective support tool for the smart city governance in enhancing the energy efficiency performance of a stock of public buildings.
EFTA 2003. 2003 IEEE Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation. Proceedings (Cat. No.03TH8696)
The industrial manufacturing environment is nowadays characterized by fierce global competition, ... more The industrial manufacturing environment is nowadays characterized by fierce global competition, rapid market changes and short product life cycles. Such a complex scenario originated a vast demand for sophisticated techniques guaranteeing adequate planning and control of warehouses. A widely used solution is to adopt Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RSs). A typical AS/RS comprises a number of parallel aisles with storage racks, serviced by automated stacker cranes and rail guided vehicles. This paper compares several management strategies addressing the system operational control, i.e., dealing with the AS/RS real time behaviour. A common coloured timed Petri net models the system and the controlled AS/RS operation is highlighted by way of several discrete event simulations carried out in the Matlab-Stateflow software environment. The proposed control policies are compared and discussed on the basis of appropriate performance indices.
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2015
The real-time traffic management allows to solve unexpected disturbances that occur along a railw... more The real-time traffic management allows to solve unexpected disturbances that occur along a railway line during the normal development of the traffic. After a disturbance, the original timetable is restored through the rescheduling process. Despite the improvements of off-line decision support tools for trains dispatchers that enable a better use of rail infrastructure, real-time traffic management received a limited scientific attention. In this paper, we deal with the real time traffic management for regional railway networks, mainly single tracked, in which a centralized traffic control system is installed. The rescheduling problem is presented as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model which resolution allows to carry out the rescheduling process in a very short computational time.
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews), 2007
This paper focuses on real time control of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RSs) servi... more This paper focuses on real time control of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RSs) serviced by a Rail Guided Vehicle System (RGVS), a widely used solution for material handling in warehouses. The generic multi-product AS/RS is modeled as a timed discrete event dynamical system, whose state provides the information on the current interactions between users and resources. Moreover, we address the real time controller that governs resource allocations and scheduling choices by enabling and inhibiting the system events in order to avoid collisions and deadlocks. To this aim, we characterize deadlock in AS/RSs and we define two deadlock resolution strategies: a deadlock avoidance and a deadlock detection/recovery policy. The proposed deadlock formulation and characterization have a general validity and can be applied to single unit resource allocation systems where a subset of users may be regarded as resources of other users. We compare the proposed control policies for a large scale AS/RS presented in the related literature by several discrete event simulation tests.
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans, 2006
An agile and environmentally conscious manufacturing paradigm refers to the ability to reconfigur... more An agile and environmentally conscious manufacturing paradigm refers to the ability to reconfigure a flexible system quickly, economically, and environmentally responsibly. In modern manufacturing enterprises, e-supply chains integrate Internet and web-based electronic market and are promising systems to achieve agility. A key issue in the strategic logistic planning of integrated e-supply chains (IESCs) is the configuration of the partner network. This paper proposes a single-and multiobjective optimization model to configure the network of IESCs. Considering an Internet-based distributed manufacturing system composed of different stages connected by material and information links, a procedure is presented to select the appropriate links. A set of performance indices is associated with the network links. Single-criterion and multicriteria optimization models are presented under structural constraint definitions. The integer linear programming (ILP) problem solution provides different network structures that allow to improve supply chain (SC) flexibility, agility, and environmental performance in the design process. The proposed optimization strategy is applied to two case studies describing two networks for desktop computer production. Index Terms-Agile manufacturing, computer integrated manufacturing, integer linear programming, optimization method, supply chain, system analysis and design.
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2009
A Supply Chain (SC) is a network of independent manufacturing and logistics companies that perfor... more A Supply Chain (SC) is a network of independent manufacturing and logistics companies that perform the critical functions in the order fulfillment process. This paper proposes an effective and modular model to describe material, financial and information flow of SCs at the operational level based on first order hybrid Petri Nets (PNs), i.e., PNs that make use of first order fluid approximation. The proposed formalism enables the SC designer to choose suitable production rates of facilities in order to optimize the chosen objective function. The optimal mode of operation is performed based on the state knowledge of the obtained linear discrete-time, timevarying state variable model in order to react to unpredictable events such as the blocking of a supply or an accident in a transportation facility. A case study is modeled in the proposed framework and is simulated under three different closed loop control strategies that allow us to optimize appropriate performance indices. Note to Practitioners-The motivation of the present work is to provide a generic, simple and accurate model able to integrate material, financial and information flow description for use by decision makers in SC management at the operational level. To this aim, the paper proposes a model based on the first order hybrid PN formalism that provides the SC designers with important key features. First, the model exhibits good computational efficiency and easy implementation in engineering software packages. Second, some SC design parameters, such as the supplier and manufacturer production rates, are real continuous variables and can be determined by polynomial complexity optimization of suitable performance indices. Third, based on the knowledge of the system state and the information about the occurrence of typical operational 2 unpredictable events (e.g. facility blockings and goods demands), the model enables the decision makers to update some operational design parameters in a closed loop strategy. Future research aims to investigate on the decisional structure of the model in order to specify a decision support system based on the presented modeling framework and devoted to the management of the SC at the operational level.
REGULAR PAPERS A Metamodeling Approach to the Management of Intermodal Transportation Networks . ... more REGULAR PAPERS A Metamodeling Approach to the Management of Intermodal Transportation Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Boschian, M. Dotoli, MP Fanti, G. Iacobellis, and W. Ukovich ... Capacity Reservation and Cancellation of Critical Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................... N. Geng, X. Xie, and Z. Jiang ... Building Association Link Network for Semantic Link on Web Resources . . . . . . . . . . . ............. X. Luo, Z. Xu, J. Yu, and X. Chen
The paper addresses the problem of the on-line identification of Petri nets (PNs) modeling discre... more The paper addresses the problem of the on-line identification of Petri nets (PNs) modeling discrete event systems (DESs) that exhibit unobservable events. The identifier monitors the DES events and the corresponding available place markings. Assuming that the observable transition set, the place set and the corresponding PN structure are known, at each event occurrence an identification algorithm defines and solves some integer linear programming problems.
Department: Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Coordinator: Prof. Ma... more Department: Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Coordinator: Prof. Mariagrazia Dotoli ([email protected]) Places available: “Innovation” macro-area: 3 places “Sustainability” macro-area: 1 places Candidates are advised that there are separate application calls for each macro-area. Candidates who intend to apply for both programmes must submit two different applications for each macro-area, The current document includes attachments regarding specific details for research topic fields for each macro-area. Admission Requirements Applicants to the PhD programme in Industry 4.0 must hold a second level (specialized) degree as follows: Degree diploma awarded by an Italian university prior to Ministerial Decree 509/99; Specialist Degree (as per Ministerial Decree 509/99); Master’s Degree (as per Ministerial Decree 270/04); Degree qualifications awarded by foreign universities officially recognised as equivalent to the above. The Selection Board wi...
Sustainability
In recent years, the continuous increase of greenhouse gas emissions has led many companies to in... more In recent years, the continuous increase of greenhouse gas emissions has led many companies to investigate the activities that have the greatest impact on the environment. Recent studies estimate that around 10% of worldwide CO2 emissions derive from logistical supply chains. The considerable amount of energy required for heating, cooling, and lighting as well as material handling equipment (MHE) in warehouses represents about 20% of the overall logistical costs. The reduction of warehouses’ energy consumption would thus lead to a significant benefit from an environmental point of view. In this context, sustainable strategies allowing the minimization of the cost of energy consumption due to MHE represent a new challenge in warehouse management. Consistent with this purpose, a two-step optimization model based on integer programming is developed in this paper to automatically identify an optimal schedule of the material handling activities of electric mobile MHEs (MMHEs) (i.e., fork...
IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 2003
The design of a supply chain network provides the main structure for supply chain operations, sin... more The design of a supply chain network provides the main structure for supply chain operations, since the network is a key element in the competitiveness and investments of an extended production system. The configuration of the network is essential for business to pursue a competitive advantage. We adopt a methodology based on three layers. In the first layer, the performance
Supply chains are distributed manufacturing systems composed of various resources belonging to di... more Supply chains are distributed manufacturing systems composed of various resources belonging to different companies. Efficient design of the supply chain network is essential for business to pursue a competitive advantage. In this paper a hierarchical methodology previously outlined by the authors is considered for supply chain network design. In the first level, the performance of the entities candidate to join the network is evaluated and efficient elements are singled out. The second level is aimed at developing a model to configure the network. Finally, the third level is devoted to validating the solution proposed in the first two levels. The paper focuses on the first level and proposes a four-step procedure to select the candidates in the supply chain stages. Some optimization multi-criteria techniques are considered and the proposed decision level is illustrated by way of a case study describing a network for desktop computer production.
IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control, 2004, 2004
IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 2002
2004 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 2004
In this paper we introduce a novel decoupled fuzzy sliding mode (DFSM) controller for swinging-up... more In this paper we introduce a novel decoupled fuzzy sliding mode (DFSM) controller for swinging-up an inverted pendulum. In the proposed technique the control objective is decomposed into two sub-tasks: swing-up and stabilization. Accordingly, first a DFSM controller stabilizing the poles is synthesized. Next, a rule-based regulator dealing with the task of entering a stabilization zone is synthesized. Two different structures are proposed for the swing-up controller. In the first strategy the control action is obtained by a crisp approach, while in the second one the controller is based on fuzzy rules. Experimental tests show the effectiveness of the proposed strategy for swinging-up an inverted pendulum with restricted cart travel and limited control action.
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Papers by Mariagrazia Dotoli