MODEL-PREDICTIVE CONTROL - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Model predictive control was emerging into the process industries duri ng the 1980's. Today it is commonplace and, in some sense, mature. Com mercial packages are available on a variety of platforms and ''do it y ourself'' implementations are also readily found. This paper takes a l ook at where this technology has been and where it is, and tries to pr edict important future developments. Some trends are clear but the ran ge of possibilities is wide. There are many buzzwords that could descr ibe aspects of future model predictive controllers: adaptive, non-line ar, embedded, object oriented, open systems and many more. How these m ight fit into future model predictive controllers is explored in this paper.