YANG SHI (University of Victoria) Advanced Robust Model Predictive Control (MPC) Framework for Autonomous Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Networked and distributed control for mechatronic systems have received great attention in the control community due to its wide application areas. Network-induced limitations may be caused by the presence of a communication channel, or because of the efficient assignment of power and other limited resources. Intelligent mechatronic systems represent a large class of smart systems that encompass computational (i.e., hardware and software) and physical components, seamlessly integrated and closely interacting to autonomously sense and manipulate the changing state of the physical system. These systems involve a high degree of complexity at numerous spatial and temporal scales and highly networked communications integrating computational and physical components. Model predictive control (MPC) is a promising paradigm for high-performance and cost-effective control of networked and distributed mechatronic systems. This talk will firstly summarize the major application requirements and challenges to innovate in designing, implementing, deploying and operating intelligent mechatronic systems. Further, the robust MPC and distributed MPC design methods will be presented. Finally, the application of MPC algorithms to a variety of autonomous intelligent mechatronic systems will be illustrated.

MACIEJ FLORYAN (University of Western Ontario) ON THE STRUCTURED CONVECTION Natural convection driven by heating patterns is known as structured convection. Its understanding is required for a reliable prediction of the local contaminant transport in urban environments where the form of the convection is dictated by the surface topography (building pattern) and thermally-relevant features of this topography like color variations (color patterns of roofs, streets, and parks). Similar conditions are encountered in rural environments where local circulation can be driven by different heating rates of forests and lakes and can be modified by terrain topography. Heating patterns can induce flow structures that improve mixing and provide a methodology for designing efficient heat exchangers. Other examples include patterns of local fires, patterns of computer chips, thermal patterning in microfluidic devices, and so on. The existence of spatial patterns is the unifying feature of all these problems. Structured convection occurs in systems heated from below and from above. It happens regardless of the heating intensity and thus is of interest in systems with slight temperature differences. It induces various transitions driven by spatial parametric resonance, which is little understood. A review of the recent results includes the super-thermo-hydrophobic effect, thermal drift, nonlinear thermal streaming, and pattern interaction effect.