This book incorporates data rate issues that arise in control design for systems involving communication networks. The general setup is that, given a plant, a communication channel with limited data rate and control objectives, one must find a controller that uses the channel in the feedback loop to achieve the control objectives. The theoretical question of interest is to find the minimum data rate necessary for the channel. This book is motivated by the recent developments in communication technology and aims at engineers and scientists in this field. The use of networks has become common practice in many control applications connecting sensors/actuators to controllers. The book therefore provides the fundamentals of the networks used in control systems, based on hybrid systems theory. The book focuses on the use of networks in distributed systems and on quantization in messages sent over networks.

This book nds its origin in the WIDE PhD School on Networked Control Systems, which we organized in July 2009 in Siena, Italy. Having gathered experts on all the aspects of networked control systems, it was a small step to go from the summer school to the book, certainly given the enthusiasm of the lecturers at the school. We felt that a book collecting overviewson the important developmentsand open pr- lems in the eld of networked control systems could stimulate and support future research in this appealing area. Given the tremendouscurrentinterests in distributed control exploiting wired and wireless communication networks, the time seemed to be right for the book that lies now in front of you. The goal of the book is to set out the core techniques and tools that are ava- able for the modeling, analysis and design of networked control systems. Roughly speaking, the book consists of three parts. The rst part presents architectures for distributed control systems and models of wired and wireless communication n- works. In particular, in the rst chapter important technological and architectural aspects on distributed control systems are discussed. The second chapter provides insight in the behavior of communication channels in terms of delays, packet loss and information constraints leading to suitable modeling paradigms for commu- cation networks.

The 2010 International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation (LSMS 2010) and the 2010 International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment (ICSEE 2010) were formed to bring together researchers and practitioners in the fields of life system modeling/simulation and intelligent computing applied to worldwide sustainable energy and environmental applications. A life system is a broad concept, covering both micro and macro components ra- ing from cells, tissues and organs across to organisms and ecological niches. To c- prehend and predict the complex behavior of even a simple life system can be - tremely difficult using conventional approaches. To meet this challenge, a variety of new theories and methodologies have emerged in recent years on life system modeling and simulation. Along with improved understanding of the behavior of biological systems, novel intelligent computing paradigms and techniques have emerged to h- dle complicated real-world problems and applications. In particular, intelligent c- puting approaches have been valuable in the design and development of systems and facilities for achieving sustainable energy and a sustainable environment, the two most challenging issues currently facing humanity. The two LSMS 2010 and ICSEE 2010 conferences served as an important platform for synergizing these two research streams.

The papers in this edited volume aim to provide a better understanding of the dynamics and control of a large class of hybrid dynamical systems that are described by different models in different state space domains. They not only cover important aspects and tools for hybrid systems analysis and control, but also a number of experimental realizations. Special attention is given to synchronization — a universal phenomenon in nonlinear science that gained tremendous significance since its discovery by Huygens in the 17th century. Possible applications of the results introduced in the book include control of mobile robots, control of CD/DVD players, flexible manufacturing lines, and complex networks of interacting agents.The book is based on the material presented at a similarly entitled minisymposium at the 6th European Nonlinear Dynamics Conference held in St Petersburg in 2008. It is unique in that it contains results of several international and interdisciplinary collaborations in the field, and reflects state-of-the-art technological development in the area of hybrid mechanical systems at the forefront of the 21st century.

This volume, in conjunction with the two volumes CICS 0002 and LNAI 4682, constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Intelligent Computing held in Qingdao, China, in August 2007. The 139 full papers published here were carefully reviewed and selected from among 2,875 submissions. Collectively, these papers represent some of the most important findings and insights into the field of intelligent computing.

This book describes an effective approach to the cooperative and coordinated control of multivehicle systems. This rigorous analytic approach guarantees the stability of coordinated and cooperating vehicles using distributed protocols and uses low-energy, event-triggered mechanisms for networked vehicle control. The text covers: design of a cooperative protocol to achieve consensus for multivehicle systems, allowing cooperation that is resistant to the effects of packet loss and/or adversarial attack; analysis and synthesis of an event-triggering mechanism for cooperative multivehicle systems over uncertain networks; and the problem of distributed leader-following consensus and methods for compelling multivehicle systems to reach consensus. Throughout the book, cooperation problems are transformed into stability problems. Lyapunov theory is used to guarantee cooperation among agents. The distributed approach is applied to triggering mechanisms, the cooperation process, and the impact of cyber-attacks. Discrete-time analysis shows how the event-based structure can be designed to match the performance of continuous-time counterparts. The book details applications and computer simulation with several practical examples. This book is of interest to a wide audience from the graduate student, through the academic researcher to the industrial practitioner, all of them sharing a common interest in the stability and security of multiagent systems.