Vertical stabilization of ITER plasma using explicit model predictive control

In this work we explore advanced control algorithms for the vertical stabilization of plasma in the ITER tokamak for the case where a combination of ohmic in-vessel and superconducting poloidal actuators is used for effective response to disturbances subject to thermal constraints. We apply constrained linear-quadratic optimal control, which is a hybrid between conventional linear quadratic optimal control and model predictive control (MPC). We discuss the issues of practical implementation in the form of explicit MPC, which allows application to fast processes by avoiding the use of on-line optimization. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.