It is true that you do not need to know how the system works to stabilize it, although that would be helpful. All of the earlier tests, at least until the October 28, 2011 demonstration, were most likely run in open loop and that is why I suspect that Rossi used the self sustaining mode which amounts to give it a kick in the rump and let it coast from there without control. He recognized that he was in trouble with regard to control and now has brought in the experts at NI to make the system workable.
Bringing in NI is a good move for Rossi and I hope that the two of them can work together for long enough. If Rossi plays his cards correctly, he will make more than enough money to live happily ever after. His contributions to the field have been crucial. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Alain Sepeda <[email protected]> To: vortex-l <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, Dec 24, 2011 7:45 am Subject: Re: [Vo]:Rossi comments on National Instruments just a correction. to stabilize a system you don't necessarily need to know how it work. Good engineer (in france we call that domain "Automatique". It is the guys who can stabilize a building heating, a rocket, a servo, an hybrid car engine... an old branch of cybernetic) know how to extract key data from the behavior of the system.... after observing the behavior of the system after some changes and perturbation, and if possible some modelization typically the first things is to guess the number of captors and actioners needed to control the system. you should also guess/measure the incompressible delay that you cannot absorb... then you can modelize (phenomenologically) the system, decide a target of control (should it be, stable, fast, economic, simple, robust or fine...). then you can compute the optimal controller... you can also make an adaptive version of that controller that guess the key parameter all along, and keep nearly optimal despite changes, and non linearity or slow changes. 2011/12/24 Terry Blanton <[email protected]> You have to understand the reaction to understand what makes it unstable.
