| Abstract: | This paper deals with the optimization of the output matrix for a discrete time linear stochastic system. The output matrix varies as a periodic function of time, and its values are constrained to belong to a finite prescribed set. The aim is to minimize the average variance of the Kalman filter estimation error in the periodic steady state. The application regards the optimization both of the measurement points and of the scanning sequence for a distributed parameter system (DPS) of parabolic type. A modal approximation is used to reduce the DPS to finite dimension. The proposed solution algorithm makes use of heuristic rules that enable to overcome the difficulties arising from the cardinality of the admissible set, the possible slow convergence of the relevant Riccati equation and the high dimensionality of the lumped approximate model of the DPS. The numerical applications show that the periodic scanning policies, found by the optimization algorithm, cause a great improvement of the filter performance, with respect to the case where a single fixed sensor is used. |
