PROCESS FOR DESIGNING A VIRTUAL SENSOR, CORRESPONDING VIRTUAL SENSOR, SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER-PROGRAM PRODUCTS

摘要

Described herein is a process for designing a virtual sensor that is able to estimate a variable of interest v as a function of a set of available variables ui. The process comprises the steps of: —acquiring (1002) a design data-set Dd comprising a number N of measured values v(ti) of the variable of interest v and corresponding measured values ũi(ti) of the available variables ui; —determining a limit δ on the disturbances of the available variables ui and a limit η on the errors of the method of measurement of the variable of interest v; —selecting (1004) a Lipschitz function ƒ* with a respective Lipschitz constant γ, which is able to estimate the variable of interest v(t) as a function of a number n of past values of each available variable ui, by executing the following steps one or more times for different numbers n: a) determining a value for the Lipschitz constant y; b) defining (1006) a maximum limit ƒ(r(t)) and a minimum limit ƒ(r(t)) for the estimate of the variable of interest v as a function of the design data-set Dd, and moreover the number n, the value for the Lipschitz constant y, the limit δ on the disturbances of the available variables ui, and the limit η on the errors of the method of measurement of the variable of interest v, and choosing a Lipschitz function ƒ* comprised between the maximum limit ƒ(r(t)) and the minimum limit ƒ(r(t)); c) determining (1008) an estimation error ε*(ƒ*) for the Lipschitz function ƒ* and selecting the Lipschitz function ƒ*, associated to which is a respective Lipschitz constant y* and a respective number n*, that presents the minimum estimation error ε*(ƒ*(y*, n*)); and —implementing (1012) the selected Lipschitz function ƒ* in an electronic circuit.