Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2509.01300

Design, Modelling and Analysis of a Bio-inspired Spiking Temperature Regulator

Abstract

In biology, homeostasis is the process of maintaining a stable internal environment, which is crucial for optimal functioning of organisms. One of the key homeostatic mechanisms is thermoregulation that allows the organism to maintain its core temperature within tight bounds despite being exposed to a wide range of varying external temperatures. Instrumental in thermoregulation is the presence of thermosensitive neurons at multiple places throughout the body, including muscles, the spinal cord, and the brain, which provide spiking sensory signals for the core temperature. In response to these signals, thermoeffectors are activated, creating a negative spiking feedback loop. Additionally, a feedforward signal is provided by warmth and cold-sensitive neurons in the skin, offering a measure for the external temperature. This paper presents an electronic circuit-based architecture design to replicate the biological process of thermoregulation, combined with a formal mathematical analysis. The considered architecture consists of four temperature sensitive neurons and a single actuator, configured in a negative feedback loop with feedforward control. To model the overall system mathematically, hybrid dynamical system descriptions are proposed that are used to analyze and simulate the performance of the design. The analysis and numerical case study illustrate the crucial role of feedforward control in reducing the dependency on the external temperature.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

J. M. Rosito, E. Petri, E. Steur, W. P. M. H. Heemels. 2025-09-01. Design, Modelling and Analysis of a Bio-inspired Spiking Temperature Regulator. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.01300

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Ensuring Stability of Non-Minimal Modes in Input-Output Data-Driven Representation

Many recent data-driven control approaches for linear time-invariant systems are based on output trajectory prediction using input-output data matrices. The system dynamics described by this predictor, which we refer to as the input-output data-driven representation, yields non-unique autoregressive with exogenous inputs (ARX) models having possibly unstable non-minimal modes. In this note, we show that the stability of these non-minimal modes is ensured by a certain choice of ARX model, which coincides with the minimum-norm least-squares predictor using the Moore-Penrose inverse of the data matrix. This stability guarantee holds regardless of the underlying system's stability. Moreover, the stability persists under sufficiently small noise in data when a suitably truncated Moore-Penrose inverse is used. Consequently, the ARX model need not be reduced to the true system order in order to avoid unstable additional modes.

eess.SY

Optimization-Based Formation Flight on Libration Point Orbits

A model predictive control (MPC) framework is developed for station-keeping in spacecraft formation flight along libration point orbits. At each control period, the MPC policy solves a multi-vehicle optimal control problem (MVOCP) that tracks a reference trajectory, while enforcing path constraints on the relative motion of the formation. The control policy makes use of a limited set of control nodes consistent with operational constraints that allow only a small number of maneuver opportunities per revolution. To promote recursive feasibility, path constraints are progressively tightened across the prediction horizon. An isoperimetric reformulation of the constraints is used to prevent inter-sample violations. The resulting MVOCP is a nonconvex program, which is solved via sequential convex programming. The proposed approach is evaluated in a high-fidelity ephemeris model under uncertainties for a formation along the near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), and subject to path constraints on inter-spacecraft separation and relative Sun phase angle. The results demonstrate maintenance of a spacecraft formation that satisfies the path constraints with realistic cumulative propellant consumption.

eess.SY

Certificates Synthesis for A Class of Observational Properties in Stochastic Systems: A Unified Approach

In this paper, we investigate the probabilistic formal verification of stochastic dynamical systems over continuous state spaces. Motivated by problems in state estimation and information-flow security, we introduce the notion of observational properties, which characterize the inferences an external observer can draw from system outputs. These properties are formulated as probabilistic hyperproperties based on HyperLTL over finite traces, yielding a unified framework that subsumes several existing notions studied separately in the literature. We reduce the verification problem to reachability analysis over an augmented structure that integrates the system dynamics with an automaton representation of the specification. Building on this construction, we develop stochastic barrier certificates that provide probabilistic guarantees for property satisfaction while avoiding explicit state-space discretization. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated through a case study.

eess.SY