Local and Central Control Mechanisms in the Barorecptor Vagal Reflex with Neuromorphic Engineering Applications to Chemical Process Control

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9712820 Doyle The aim of this research is to perform reverse engineering of the baroreceptor control mechanism to develop practical process control algorithms. The primary role of the baroreceptor reflex mechanism is the modulation of blood pressure by regulating heart rate on a short time frame. From a systems perspective, the heart is a massively instrumented actuator with multiple hierarchical effector signals from the central nervous system, complex local circuitry, and has as a primary objective the regulation of blood pressure. In particular, the investigators plan to study local control loops in the baroreceptor reflex. They propose that these local loops, which function independently of the central nervous system, can be emulated and applied to real-world process control problems. The investigators will map out motor cardiac fibers associated with the baroreceptor reflex by using fluorescent labeling and confocal microscopy. The local control loops in the reflex would be carefully analyzed in order to develop a theoretical formulation for locally intelligent control algorithms. These algorithms would be applied to a difficult polymerization reactor control problem and to local control valve actuation to overcome performance degradation due to wear or mechanical failure. The reactor control problem concerns a difficult polymerization grade transition problem, where the temperature is periodically changed to alter the free radical polymerization of ethylene in a reactor. This system is subject to an extinction phenomena if the reactor temperature exceeds a lower limit. The intelligent controller of this research would be used to obtain tight control while avoiding extinction. ***