Autonomous Hyperloop Control Architecture Design using MAPE-K

In the very recent past, there has been a trend for passenger transport towards electrification of the vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to the low energy density of battery technology, electrification of airplanes is not possible with current technologies. Here, Hyperloop systems can offer a climate-friendly alternative to short-haul flights but face some technical challenges to be resolved. In contrast to conventional rail systems, the Hyperloop concept uses magnetic propulsion and levitation to operate and has no physical contact with the environment. Consequently, mechanical backup solutions do not suffice to avoid catastrophic events in case of failure. Software solutions must, therefore, ensure fail-operational behavior, which requires autonomous adaptability to uncertain states. The MAPE-K approach offers a solution to achieve such adaptability. In this paper, we present a hierarchical architecture that combines the MAPE-K concept with the Simplex concept to achieve self-adaptive behavior. We impose our autonomous architecture on the controller design for the levitation system of a Hyperloop pod and show that this controller, designed using our methodology, outperforms a conventional PID controller by up to 76%.