Kiss 2008.05245.pdf (2.57 MB)
Covid-19 and flattening the curve: a feedback control perspective
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 23:03 authored by Francesco Di Lauro, Istvan Kiss, Daniela Rus, Cosimo Della SantinaMany of the policies that were put into place during the Covid-19 pandemic had a common goal: to flatten the curve of the number of infected people so that its peak remains under a critical threshold. This letter considers the challenge of engineering a strategy that enforces such a goal using control theory. We introduce a simple formulation of the optimal flattening problem, and provide a closed form solution. This is augmented through nonlinear closed loop tracking of the nominal solution, with the aim of ensuring close-to-optimal performance under uncertain conditions. A key contribution of this letter is to provide validation of the method with extensive and realistic simulations in a Covid-19 scenario, with particular focus on the case of Codogno - a small city in Northern Italy that has been among the most harshly hit by the pandemic.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
IEEE Control Systems LettersISSN
2475-1456Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
5Page range
1435-1440Department affiliated with
- Mathematics Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-02-15First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-06-25First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2021-06-25Usage metrics
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