Engee documentation

Statespace model estimation

This page documents the facilities available for estimating linear statespace models with inputs on the form

This package estimates models in discrete time, but they may be converted to continuous-time models using the function d2c from ControlSystemsBase.jl.

There exist several methods for identification of statespace models, subspaceid, n4sid, newpem and era. subspaceid is the most comprehensive algorithm for subspace-based identification whereas n4sid is an older implementation. newpem solves the prediction-error problem using an iterative optimization method (from Optim.jl) and ins generally slightly more accurate but also more computationally expensive. If unsure which method to use, try subspaceid first (unless the data comes from closed-loop operation, use newpem in this case).

Subspace-based identification using n4sid and subspaceid

In this example we will estimate a statespace model using the subspaceid method. This function returns an object of type N4SIDStateSpace where the model is accessed as sys.sys.

using ControlSystemIdentification, ControlSystemsBase, Plots
Ts = 0.1
G  = c2d(DemoSystems.resonant(), Ts)
u  = randn(1,1000)
y  = lsim(G,u).y
y .+= 0.01 .* randn.() # add measurement noise
d  = iddata(y,u,Ts)
sys = subspaceid(d, :auto; verbose=false, zeroD=true)

# or use a robust version of svd if y has outliers or missing values
# using TotalLeastSquares
# sys = n4sid(d, :auto; verbose=false, svd=x->rpca(x)[3])
bodeplot([G, sys.sys], lab=["True" "" "subspace" ""])
z67H5NAIDhw4MAjo9XW1sbHx7NbOIlEIqPR2NjYaDab2avYyAmeLP8DgFVpg9pLu18AAAAASUVORK5CYII=

N4SIDStateSpace is a subtype of AbstractPredictionStateSpace, a statespace object that contains an observer gain matrix sys.K (Kalman filter) as well as estimated covariance matrices etc.

Using the function n4sid instead, we have

sys2 = n4sid(d, :auto; verbose=false, zeroD=true)
bodeplot!(sys2.sys, lab=["n4sid" ""])
v3r0b34+JRCKlp6eP662kpCQoKAjfwolCoYyNjd2+fVuj0eBXYSMn8Gb5L78msJeyUiXNAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

subspaceid allows you to choose the weighting between :MOESP, :CVA, :N4SID, :IVM and is generally preferred over n4sid.

Both functions allow you to choose which functions are used for least-squares estimates and computing the SVD, allowing e.g., robust estimators for resistance against outliers etc.

Tuning the model fit

The subspace-based estimation algorithms have a number of parameters that can be tuned if the initial model fit is not satisfactory.

  • focus determines the focus of the model fit. The default is :prediction which minimizes the prediction error. If this choice produces an unstable model for a stable system, or the simmulation performance is poor, focus = :simulation may be a better choice.

  • There are several horizon parameters that can be tuned. The keyword argument r selects the prediction horizon, this has to be greater than the model order, with the default being nx + 10. s1 and s2 control the past horizons for the output and input, respectively. The default is s1 = s2 = r. Past horizons can only be tuned for subspaceid.

  • (Advanced) The method used to compute the svd as well as performing least-squares fitting can be changed using the keywords svd, Aestimator, Bestimator.

  • zeroD allows you to force the estimated matrix to be zero (a strictly proper model).

  • It is possible to select the weight type W, choose between :MOESP, :CVA, :N4SID, :IVM. The default is :MOESP.

See the docstrings of subspaceid and n4sid for additional arguments and more details.

ERA and OKID

The "Eigenvalue realization algorithm" and "Observer Kalman identification" algorithms are available as era and okid. If era is called with a data object, okid is automatically used internally to produce the Markov parameters to the ERA algorithm.

sys3 = era(d, 2) # era has a lot of parameters that may require tuning
bodeplot!(sys3, lab=["ERA" ""])
wGd27KNypY4RgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==

Using multiple datasets

ERA/OKID supports the use of multiple datasets to improve the estimation accuracy. Below, we show how to perform this manually

using ControlSystemIdentification, ControlSystemsBase, Plots, Statistics
Ts = 0.1
G = c2d(tf(1, [1,1,1]), Ts) # True system

# Create several "experiments"
ds = map(1:5) do i
    u = randn(1, 1000)
    y, t, x = lsim(G, u)
    yn = y + 0.2randn(size(y))
    iddata(yn, u, Ts)
end

Ys = okid.(ds, 2, round(Int, 10/Ts), smooth=true, λ=1)    # Estimate impulse response for each experiment
Y = mean(Ys)                            # Average all impulse responses

imp = impulse(G, 10)
f1 = plot(imp, lab="True", l=5)
plot!(imp.t, vec.(Ys), lab="Individual estimates", title="Impulse-response estimates")
plot!(imp.t, vec(Y), l=(3, :black), lab="Mean")

models = era.(Ys, Ts, 2, 50, 50)    # estimate models based on individual experiments
meanmodel = era(Y, Ts, 2, 50, 50)   # estimate model based on mean impulse response

f2 = bodeplot([G, meanmodel], lab=["True" "" "Combined estimate" ""], l=2)
bodeplot!(models, lab="Individual estimates", c=:black, alpha=0.5, legend=:bottomleft)

plot(f1, f2)
53OL2YQCDs27dvyN3S09M9PDxgH4eqqqpEIrl37x7ewzJ8XvLk9v8JeKM3ZzjzHwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==

The procedure shown above is equivalent to calling era directly with a vector of data sets, in which case the averaging of the impulse responses is done internally.

era(ds, 2, 50, 50, round(Int, 10/Ts), p=1, λ=1, smooth=true) # Should be identical to meanmodel above
StateSpace{Discrete{Float64}, Float64}
A =
 0.971427503767209   -0.08556668857687881
 0.0855666885768784   0.9234713852927754
B =
 -0.06557188813946951
  0.06269691994965391
C =
 -0.6557188813946951  -0.6269691994965387
D =
 0.011478353122140341

Sample Time: 0.1 (seconds)
Discrete-time state-space model

Prediction-error method (PEM)

The old function pem is "soft deprecated" in favor of newpem which is more general and much more performant.

The prediction-error method is a simple but powerful algorithm for identification of discrete-time LTI systems on state-space form:

The user can choose to minimize either prediction errors or simulation errors, with arbitrary metrics, i.e., not limited to squared errors.

The result of the identification with newpem is a custom type with extra fields for the identified Kalman gain and noise covariance matrices.

Gray-box identification

For estimation of linear or nonlinear models with fixed structure, see ControlSystemIdentification.nonlinear_pem.

Usage example

Below, we generate a system and simulate it forward in time. We then try to estimate a model based on the input and output sequences using the function newpem.

using ControlSystemIdentification, ControlSystemsBase, Random, LinearAlgebra
using ControlSystemIdentification: newpem
sys = c2d(tf(1, [1, 0.5, 1]) * tf(1, [1, 1]), 0.1)

Random.seed!(1)
T   = 1000                      # Number of time steps
nx  = 3                         # Number of poles in the true system
nu  = 1                         # Number of inputs
x0  = randn(nx)                 # Initial state
sim(sys,u,x0=x0) = lsim(ss(sys), u, x0=x0).y # Helper function
u   = randn(nu,T)               # Generate random input
y   = sim(sys, u, x0)           # Simulate system
y .+= 0.01 .* randn.()          # Add some measurement noise
d   = iddata(y,u,0.1)

sysh,opt = newpem(d, nx, focus=:prediction) # Estimate model

yh = predict(sysh, d) # Predict using estimated model
predplot(sysh, d)     # Plot prediction and true output
B6KOwkvNtmyRAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

See the example notebooks for more plots as well as several examples in the example section of this documentation.

Arguments

The algorithm has several options:

  • The optimization is by default started with an initial guess provided by subspaceid, but this can be overridden by providing an initial guess to newpem using the keyword argument sys0.

  • focus determines the focus of the model fit. The default is :prediction which minimizes the prediction error. If this choice produces an unstable model for a stable system, or the simmulation performance is poor, focus = :simulation may be a better choice.

  • A regularizer may be provided using the keyword argument regularizer.

  • A stable model may be enforced using stable = true.

  • The matrix may be forced to be zero using zeroD = true.

  • A trade-off between prediction and simulation performance can be achieved by optimizing the -step prediction error. The default is which corresponds to the standard prediction error. This can be changed using the keyword argument h. A large value of h will make the optimization problem computationally expensive to solve.

See the docstring of newpem for additional arguments and more details.

Internals

Internally, Optim.jl is used to optimize the system parameters, using automatic differentiation to calculate gradients (and Hessians where applicable). Optim solver options can be controlled by passing keyword arguments to newpem, and by passing a manually constructed solver object. The default solver is BFGS()

Filtering, prediction and simulation

When you estimate models, you can sometimes select the "focus" of the estimation, to either focus on :prediciton performance or :simulation performance. Simulation tends to require accurate low-frequency properties, especially for integrating systems, whereas prediction favors an accurate model for higher frequencies. If there are significant input disturbances affecting the system, or if the system is unstable, prediction focus is generally preferred.

When you validate the estimated models, you can simulate them using lsim from ControlSystemsBase.jl or using simulate. You may also convert the model to a KalmanFilter from LowLevelParticleFilters.jl by calling KalmanFilter(sys), after which you can perform filtering and smoothing etc. with the utilities provided for a KalmanFilter.

Furthermore, we have the utility functions below

Code generation

To generate C-code for, e.g., simulating a system, see SymbolicControlSystems.jl.

Statespace API

sys, x0, res = newpem(
    d,
    nx;
    zeroD  = true,
    focus  = :prediction,
    stable = true,
    sys0   = subspaceid(d, nx; zeroD, focus, stable),
    metric = abs2,
    regularizer = (p, P) -> 0,
    output_nonlinearity = nothing,
    input_nonlinearity = nothing,
    nlp = nothing,
    optimizer = BFGS(
        linesearch = LineSearches.BackTracking(),
    ),
    store_trace = true,
    show_trace  = true,
    show_every  = 50,
    iterations  = 10000,
    time_limit  = 100,
    x_tol       = 0,
    f_abstol    = 0,
    g_tol       = 1e-12,
    f_calls_limit = 0,
    g_calls_limit = 0,
    allow_f_increases = false,
)

A new implementation of the prediction-error method (PEM). Note that this is an experimental implementation and subject to breaking changes not respecting semver.

The prediction-error method is an iterative, gradient-based optimization problem, as such, it can be extra sensitive to signal scaling, and it’s recommended to perform scaling to d before estimation, e.g., by pre and post-multiplying with diagonal matrices d̃ = Dy*d*Du, and apply the inverse scaling to the resulting system. In this case, we have

hence G = Dy \ G̃ * Du where is the plant estimated for the scaled iddata. Example:

Dy = Diagonal(1 ./ vec(std(d.y, dims=2))) # Normalize variance
Du = Diagonal(1 ./ vec(std(d.u, dims=2))) # Normalize variance
d̃ = Dy * d * Du

If a manually provided initial guess sys0, this must also be scaled appropriately.

Arguments:

  • d: iddata

  • nx: Model order

  • zeroD: Force zero D matrix

  • stable if true, stability of the estimated system will be enforced by eigenvalue reflection using schur_stab with ϵ=1/100 (default). If stable is a real value, the value is used instead of the default ϵ.

  • sys0: Initial guess, if non provided, subspaceid is used as initial guess.

  • focus: prediction or :simulation. If :simulation, the K matrix will be zero.

  • optimizer: One of Optim’s optimizers

  • metric: The metric used to measure residuals. Try, e.g., abs for better resistance to outliers.

The rest of the arguments are related to Optim.Options.

  • regularizer: A function of the parameter vector and the corresponding PredictionStateSpace/StateSpace system that can be used to regularize the estimate.

  • output_nonlinearity: A function of (y::Vector, p) that operates on the output signal at a single time point, yₜ, and modifies it in-place. See below for details. p is a vector of estimated parameters that can be optimized.

  • input_nonlinearity: A function of (u::Matrix, p) that operates on the entire input signal u at once and modifies it in-place. See below for details. p is a vector of estimated parameters that is shared with output_nonlinearity.

  • nlp: Initial guess vector for nonlinear parameters. If output_nonlinearity is provided, this can optionally be provided.

Nonlinear estimation

Nonlinear systems on Hammerstein-Wiener form, i.e., systems with a static input nonlinearity and a static output nonlinearity with a linear system inbetween, can be estimated as long as the nonlinearities are known. The procedure is

  1. If there is a known input nonlinearity, manually apply the input nonlinearity to the input signal u before estimation, i.e., use the nonlinearly transformed input in the iddata object d. If the input nonlinearity has unknown parameters, provide the input nonlinearity as a function using the keyword argument input_nonlinearity to newpem. This function is expected to operate on the entire (matrix) input signal u and modify it in-place.

  2. If the output nonlinearity is invertible, apply the inverse to the output signal y before estimation similar to above.

  3. If the output nonlinearity is not invertible, provide the nonlinear output transformation as a function using the keyword argument output_nonlinearity to newpem. This function is expected to operate on the (vector) output signal y and modify it in-place. Example:

function output_nonlinearity(y, p)
    y[1] = y[1] + p[1]*y[1]^2       # Note how the incoming vector is modified in-place
    y[2] = abs(y[2])
end

Please note, y = f(y) does not change y in-place, but creates a new vector y and assigns it to the variable y. This is not what we want here.

The second argument to input_nonlinearity and output_nonlinearity is an (optional) vector of parameters that can be optimized. To use this option, pass the keyword argument nlp to newpem with a vector of initial guesses for the nonlinear parameters. The nonlinear parameters are shared between output and input nonlinearities, i.e., these two functions will receive the same vector of parameters.

The result of this estimation is the linear system without the nonlinearities.

Example

The following simulates data from a linear system and estimates a model. For an example of nonlinear identification, see the documentation.

using ControlSystemIdentification, ControlSystemsBase Plots
G = DemoSystems.doylesat()
T = 1000  # Number of time steps
Ts = 0.01 # Sample time
sys = c2d(G, Ts)
nx = sys.nx
nu = sys.nu
ny = sys.ny
x0 = zeros(nx) # actual initial state
sim(sys, u, x0 = x0) = lsim(sys, u; x0)[1]

σy = 1e-1 # Noise covariance

u  = randn(nu, T)
y  = sim(sys, u, x0)
yn = y .+ σy .* randn.() # Add measurement noise
d  = iddata(yn, u, Ts)

sysh, x0h, opt = ControlSystemIdentification.newpem(d, nx, show_every=10)

plot(
    bodeplot([sys, sysh]),
    predplot(sysh, d, x0h), # Include the estimated initial state in the prediction
)

The returned model is of type PredictionStateSpace and contains the field sys with the system model, as well as covariance matrices and estimated Kalman gain for a Kalman filter.

See also nonlinear_pem.

Extended help

This implementation uses a tridiagonal parametrization of the A-matrix that has been shown to be favourable from an optimization perspective.¹ The initial guess sys0 is automatically transformed to a special tridiagonal modal form. [1]: Mckelvey, Tomas & Helmersson, Anders. (1997). State-space parametrizations of multivariable linear systems using tridiagonal matrix forms.

The parameter vector used in the optimization takes the following form

p = [trivec(A); vec(B); vec(C); vec(D); vec(K); vec(x0)]

Where ControlSystemIdentification.trivec vectorizes the -1,0,1 diagonals of A. If focus = :simulation, K is omitted, and if zeroD = true, D is omitted.

subspaceid(
    data::InputOutputData,
    nx = :auto;
    verbose = false,
    r = nx === :auto ? min(length(data) ÷ 20, 50) : nx + 10, # the maximal prediction horizon used
    s1 = r, # number of past outputs
    s2 = r, # number of past inputs
    W = :MOESP,
    zeroD = false,
    stable = true,
    focus = :prediction,
    svd::F1 = svd!,
    scaleU = true,
    Aestimator::F2 = \,
    Bestimator::F3 = \,
    weights = nothing,
)

Estimate a state-space model using subspace-based identification. Several different subspace-based algorithms are available, and can be chosen using the W keyword. Options are :MOESP, :CVA, :N4SID, :IVM.

Ref: Ljung, Theory for the user.

Resistance against outliers can be improved by supplying a custom factorization algorithm and replacing the internal least-squares estimators. See the documentation for the keyword arguments svd, Aestimator, and Bestimator below.

The returned model is of type N4SIDStateSpace and contains the field sys with the system model, as well as covariance matrices for a Kalman filter.

Arguments:

  • data: Identification data iddata

  • nx: Rank of the model (model order)

  • verbose: Print stuff?

  • r: Prediction horizon. The model may perform better on simulation if this is made longer, at the expense of more computation time.

  • s1: past horizon of outputs

  • s2: past horizon of inputs

  • W: Weight type, choose between :MOESP, :CVA, :N4SID, :IVM

  • zeroD: Force the D matrix to be zero.

  • stable: Stabilize unstable system using eigenvalue reflection.

  • focus: :prediction or simulation

  • svd: The function to use for svd. For resistance against outliers, consider using TotalLeastSquares.rpca to preprocess the data matrix before applying svd, like svd = A->svd!(rpca(A)[1]).

  • scaleU: Rescale the input channels to have the same energy.

  • Aestimator: Estimator function used to estimate A,C. The default is , i.e., least squares, but robust estimators, such asirls, flts, rtls`` from TotalLeastSquares.jl, can be used to gain resistance against outliers.

  • Bestimator: Estimator function used to estimate B,D. Weighted estimation can be eachieved by passing wls from TotalLeastSquares.jl together with the weights keyword argument.

  • weights: A vector of weights can be provided if the Bestimator is wls.

Extended help

A more accurate prediciton model can sometimes be obtained using newpem, which is also unbiased for closed-loop data (subspaceid is biased for closed-loop data, see example in the docs). The prediction-error method is iterative and generally more expensive than subspaceid, and uses this function (by default) to form the initial guess for the optimization.

model, x0 = subspaceid(frd::FRD, Ts, args...; estimate_x0 = false, bilinear_transform = false, kwargs...)

If a frequency-reponse data object is supplied

  • The FRD will be automatically converted to an InputOutputFreqData

  • estimate_x0 is by default set to 0.

  • bilinear_transform transform the frequency vector to discrete time, see note below.

if the frequency-response data comes from a frequency-response analysis, a bilinear transform of the data is required before estimation. This transform will be applied if bilinear_transform = true. 
model, x0 = subspaceid(data::InputOutputFreqData,
    Ts = data.Ts,
    nx = :auto;
    cont = false,
    verbose = false,
    r = nx === :auto ? min(length(data) ÷ 20, 20) : 2nx, # Internal model order
    zeroD = false,
    estimate_x0 = true,
    stable = true,
    svd = svd!,
    Aestimator = \,
    Bestimator = \,
    weights = nothing
)

Estimate a state-space model using subspace-based identification in the frequency domain.

If results are poor, try modifying r, in particular if the amount of data is low.

See the docs for an example.

Arguments:

  • data: A frequency-domain identification data object.

  • Ts: Sample time at which the data was collected

  • nx: Desired model order, an interer or :auto.

  • cont: Return a continuous-time model? A bilinear transformation is used to convert the estimated discrete-time model, see function d2c.

  • verbose: Print stuff?

  • r: Internal model order, must be ≥ nx.

  • zeroD: Force the D matrix to be zero.

  • estimate_x0: Esimation of extra parameters to account for initial conditions. This may be required if the data comes from the fft of time-domain data, but may not be required if the data is collected using frequency-response analysis with exactly periodic input and proper handling of transients.

  • stable: For the model to be stable (uses schur_stab).

  • svd: The svd function to use.

  • Aestimator: The estimator of the A matrix (and initial C-matrix).

  • Bestimator: The estimator of B/D and C/D matrices.

  • weights: An optional vector of frequency weights of the same length as the number of frequencies in `data.

res = n4sid(data, r=:auto; verbose=false)

Estimate a statespace model using the n4sid method. Returns an object of type N4SIDStateSpace where the model is accessed as res.sys.

Implements the simplified algorithm (alg 2) from "N4SID: Subspace Algorithms for the Identification of Combined Deterministic Stochastic Systems" PETER VAN OVERSCHEE and BART DE MOOR

The frequency weighting is borrowing ideas from "Frequency Weighted Subspace Based System Identification in the Frequency Domain", Tomas McKelvey 1996. In particular, we apply the output frequency weight matrix (Fy) as it appears in eqs. (16)-(18).

Arguments:

  • data: Identification data data = iddata(y,u)

  • r: Rank of the model (model order)

  • verbose: Print stuff?

  • Wf: A frequency-domain model of measurement disturbances. To focus the attention of the model on a narrow frequency band, try something like Wf = Bandstop(lower, upper, fs=1/Ts) to indicate that there are disturbances outside this band.

  • i: Algorithm parameter, generally no need to tune this

  • γ: Set this to a value between (0,1) to stabilize unstable models such that the largest eigenvalue has magnitude γ.

  • zeroD: defaults to false

See also the newer implementation subspaceid which allows you to choose between different weightings (n4sid being one of them). A more accurate prediciton model can sometimes be obtained using newpem, which is also unbiased for closed-loop data.

era(YY::AbstractArray{<:Any, 3}, Ts, nx::Int, m::Int = 2nx, n::Int = 2nx)

Eigenvalue realization algorithm. The algorithm returns a statespace model.

Arguments:

  • YY: Markov parameters (impulse response) size ny × nu × n_time

  • Ts: Sample time

  • nx: Model order

  • m: Number of rows in Hankel matrix

  • n: Number of columns in Hankel matrix

era(d::AbstractIdData, nx; m = 2nx, n = 2nx, l = 5nx, p = l, λ=0, smooth=false)
era(ds::Vector{IdData}, nx; m = 2nx, n = 2nx, l = 5nx, p = l, λ=0, smooth=false)

Eigenvalue realization algorithm. Uses okid to find the Markov parameters as an initial step.

The parameter l is likely to require tuning, a reasonable starting point to choose l large enough for the impulse response to have mostly dissipated.

If a vector of datasets is provided, the Markov parameters estimated from each experiment are averaged before calling era. This allows use of data from multiple experiments to improve the model estimate.

Arguments:

  • nx: Model order

  • l: Number of Markov parameters to estimate.

  • λ: Regularization parameter (don’t overuse this, prefer to make more experiments instead)

  • smooth: If true, the regularization given by λ penalizes curvature in the estimated impulse response.

  • p: Optionally, delete the first p columns in the internal Hankel matrices to account for initial conditions != 0. If x0 != 0, for era, p defaults to l, while when calling okid directly, p defaults to 0.

H = okid(d::AbstractIdData, nx, l = 5nx; p = 1, λ=0, estimator = /)

Observer Kalman filter identification. Returns the Markov parameters (impulse response) H size ny × nu × (l+1).

The parameter l is likely to require tuning, a reasonable starting point to choose l large enough for the impulse response to have mostly dissipated.

Arguments:

  • nx: Model order

  • l: Number of Markov parameters to estimate (length of impulse response).

  • λ: Regularization parameter

  • smooth: If true, the regularization given by λ penalizes curvature in the estimated impulse response. If era is to be used after okid, favor a small λ with smooth=true, but if the impulse response is to be inspected by eye, a larger smoothing can yield a visually more accurate estimate of the impulse response.

  • p: Optionally, delete the first p columns in the internal Hankel matrices to account for initial conditions != 0. If x0 != 0, try setting p around the same value as l.

  • estimator: Function to use for estimating the Markov parameters. Defaults to / (least squares), but can also be a robust option such as TotalLeastSquares.irls / flts or TotalLeastSquares.tls for a total least-squares solutoins (errors in variables).

observer_predictor(sys::N4SIDStateSpace; h=1)

Return the predictor system

with the input equation [B-KD K] * [u; y]

h ≥ 1 is the prediction horizon.

See also noise_model and prediction_error_filter.

observer_controller(sys::AbstractPredictionStateSpace, L)

Returns the measurement-feedback controller that takes in y and forms the control signal u = -Lx̂. See also ff_controller.

e = prediction_error(sys::AbstractStateSpace, d::AbstractIdData, args...; kwargs...)

Return the prediction errors `d.y - predict(sys, d, …​)

prediction_error_filter(sys::AbstractPredictionStateSpace; h=1)
prediction_error_filter(sys::AbstractStateSpace, R1, R2; h=1)

Return a filter that takes [u; y] as input and outputs the prediction error e = y - ŷ. See also innovation_form and noise_model. h ≥ 1 is the prediction horizon. See function predictiondata to generate an iddata that has [u; y] as inputs.

noise_model(sys::AbstractPredictionStateSpace)

Return a model of the noise driving the system, v, in

The model neglects u and is given by

Also called the "innovation form". This function calls ControlSystemsBase.innovation_form.

Video tutorials

Video tutorials performing statespace estimation are available here: