Adaptive Mode Switching Nonlinear Predictive Control Based on Continuous Learning Framework With Industrial Application

Industrial processes often exhibit multiple operational modes, driven by variations in production conditions, raw material properties, or operational settings. A single predictive model struggles to accommodate multimodal dynamics, leading to suboptimal performance in model predictive control (MPC). In addition, most multimode MPC approaches necessitate the development of separate predictive models for each operational mode, making the effectiveness of MPC heavily reliant on the mode switching strategy. In this paper, a novel adaptive mode-switching nonlinear predictive control (AMSNPC) method is proposed to improve both modeling robustness and control accuracy in dynamic industrial scenarios. First, a multimode modeling method based on continual learning framework is investigated to eliminate the need for explicit mode switching logic. Then, an adaptive error-triggered correction mechanism is designed to automatically detects mode switching based on output prediction errors and accelerate the response speed to the target values during operational mode switching. Finally, a heuristic optimization algorithm named state transition algorithm (STA) is adopted to find the global optimal control solution for nonlinear MPC problem. A numerical simulation experiment and an industrial case study are conducted to demonstrate that the AMSNPC method achieves high control accuracy and minimizes overshoot in multimode processes control.