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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Salah Merad
In this paper, we consider the decision problem that an automated control system faces when its plant has to dapt to a changing environment which can be in a finite number of states. The law of transition between states is unknown, and we hence adopt the worst case scenario. The controller gathers data at regular intervals and, periodically, it has to select the best control for the next period. The optimality criterion used in the selection process is the minimum expected loss in utility from not applying the best control. We construct a model and propose solution procedures for both stable and unstable environments. It is shown that when the environment is stable, the decision problem is equivalent to a classification problem. When it is unstable, we formulate the problem as a two-person zero-sum game. In both cases, the minimax principle plays a major role.
Author(s): Merad S
Publication type: Report
Publication status: Published
Series Title: Department of Computing Science Technical Report Series
Year: 2000
Pages: 16
Print publication date: 01/01/2000
Source Publication Date: 2000
Report Number: 685
Institution: Department of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Place Published: Newcastle upon Tyne
URL: http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/publications/trs/papers/685.pdf
