Parallel Control: A Method for Data-Driven and Computational Control

This paper introduces the concept, architecture, process and application of a new data-driven and compu- tational control approach, called parallel control. The emphasis here is to illustrate the difierence between the proposed system expansion scheme for parallel control through cyber-physical-social interaction and the traditional divide-and- conquer method for parallel computing through concurrent task execution. The theory of parallel control comes directly from the ACP approach, where artiflcial systems are used for modeling and representation, computational experiments are utilized for analysis and evaluation, and parallel execution are conducted for control and management of complex systems. Parallel control can be considered as the extension of feedback control, especially adaptive control, for dealing with prob- lems involved with both engineering and social complexities. Case studies of this new control approach in transportation, production, and social management are presented and discussed.