Provably-Stable Stochastic MPC for a Class of Nonlinear Contractive Systems

We present a model predictive control framework for a class of nonlinear systems affected by additive stochastic disturbances with (possibly) unbounded support. We consider hard input constraints and chance state constraints and we employ the unscented transform method to propagate the disturbances over the nonlinear dynamics in a...

Boundless Collaboration: A post-pandemic vision for distributed teams

This thesis describes the design journey that resulted in a post-pandemic vision for distributed teams and the development of a concept to fulfil the lack of spontaneous encounters in hybrid working environments. The research follows two different approaches, the double-diamond and the Dive method and includes extensive literature review, remote...

Assessing Energy Storage Requirements Based on Accepted Risks

This paper presents a framework for deriving the storage capacity that an electricity system requires in order to satisfy a chosen risk appetite. The framework takes as inputs user-defined event categories, parameterised by peak power-not-served, acceptable number of events per year and permitted probability of exceeding these constraints, and...

Equilibrating dualities: The coalescence of man, machine and territory

Infrastructure, industry and extraction have greatly reshaped the North Sea over the last five decades. These specific elements played and still play a vital role in the growth and evolution of the North Sea and its adjacent countries. Among all the fishing and oil industry have become highly governmentally influenced machines and are imposing...

A Playground for Skopje: A Tension Between Freedom and Constraints

The graduation project is a playground in and around the former Post Office of Skopje which is composed of three main elements. Firstly, the terrain of the complex is divided into four main fields, which vary from their immediate surroundings towards the city. Furthermore, the element of the bridge, which grows with its tentacles into these...

A Global Intermodal Shipment Matching Problem Under Travel Time Uncertainty

Global intermodal transportation involves the movement of shipments between inland terminals located in different continents by using ships, barges, trains, trucks, or any combination among them through integrated planning at a network level. One of the challenges faced by global operators is the matching of shipment requests with transport...

Chance-Constrained Ancillary Service Specification for Heterogeneous Storage Devices

We present a method to find the maximum magnitude of any supply-shortfall service that an aggregator of energy storage devices is able to sell to a grid operator. This is first demonstrated in deterministic settings, then applied to scenarios in which device availabilities are stochastic. In this case we implement chance constraints on the...

Integrated condition-based track maintenance planning and crew scheduling of railway networks

We develop a multi-level decision making approach for optimal condition-based maintenance planning of a railway network divided into a large number of sections with independent stochastic deterioration dynamics. At higher level, a chance-constrained Model Predictive Control (MPC) controller determines the long-term section-wise maintenance...

On serendipity in science: discovery at the intersection of chance and wisdom

‘Serendipity’ is a category used to describe discoveries in science that occur at the intersection of chance and wisdom. In this paper, I argue for understanding serendipity in science as an emergent property of scientific discovery, describing an oblique relationship between the outcome of a discovery process and the intentions that drove it...

Repetition, variation, chance: An experimental theater in Yerevan

The phenomena of repetition, variation and indeterminacy identified in the Soviet neighborhood of Norashen in Yerevan are synthesized into an experimental theater. The stages of the theater are materialized based on the researched themes so that they create the material affordances for unique plays.

Probabilistic energy management for building climate comfort in smart thermal grids with seasonal storage systems

This paper presents an energy management framework for building climate comfort (BCC) systems interconnected in a grid via aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) systems in the presence of two types of uncertainty (private and common). ATES can be used either as a heat source (hot well) or sink (cold well) depending on the season. We consider...

Energy management for building climate comfort in uncertain smart thermal grids with aquifer thermal energy storage

In this paper, we present an energy management framework for building climate comfort systems that are interconnected in a grid via aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) systems in the presence of two types of uncertainty namely private and common uncertainty sources. The ATES system is considered as a large-scale storage system that can be a...

Filtering techniques for orbital debris conjunction analysis

The steadily growing amount of orbital debris increases the probability and amount of collisions between two objects in orbit about the Earth. These collisions in turn create even more debris, and it is therefore important to keep track of future conjunctions. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN) uses ground- and space-based sensors to...

Conversion of office buildings

Building conversion is a way of activating and reusing vacant office buildings. Former research (Barlow and Gann, 1993, Brand, 1994, Douglas, 2006, Geraedts and Van der Voordt, 2003, 2007) has shown possibilities for conversion through theory and practise, and has delivered instruments for determining the conversion possibility of vacant...