Nonlinear MPC for Tracking Piecewise-Constant Reference Signals: the Positive Semidefinite Stage Cost Case

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a successful control strategy, with solid theoretical and practical backgrounds. Currently, several stabilizing MPC formulations are available to deal with tracking of piecewise constant references. In particular, it is well understood that, in many cases, the use of artificial reference variables in the optimisation problem allows to sensibly extend the region of attraction of the controller. This work proposes a modified MPC for tracking formulation which i...

Numerical study of uplift induced levee failure for the design of a centrifuge test

In geotechnical engineering, physical and numerical models seek to shed light on multiphase phenomena that threaten earth structure stability. This is the case of river levees: when subjected to non-ordinary hydraulic loads, local and global failures with consequent floods could occur. If, on one hand, centrifuge models can replicate the real phenomena, exploiting the enhanced gravity, while scaling geometrical features and time, on the other, numerical models extend the possible case studies...

Appunti sulla Commedia nella polifonia fiorentina del Trecento

Matrix Completion for the Prediction of Yearly Country and Industry-Level CO2 Emissions

In the recent past, yearly CO2 emissions at the international level were studied from different points of view, due to their importance with respect to concerns about climate change. Nevertheless, related data (available at country-industry level and referred to the last two decades) often suffer from missingness and unreliability. To the best of our knowledge, the problem of solving the potential inaccuracy/missingness of such data related to certain countries has been overlooked. Thereby,...