Currently numerous approaches with various applicability have been generated in order to detect damage in pipe networks. Pipeline faults such as leaks and partial or complete blockages usually create serious problems for engineers. The model-based leak, as well as block detection methods for the pipeline systems gets more and more attention. Among these model-based methods, the state observer and state feedback based methods are usually used. While the observability, as well as controllability, are taken to be the prerequisites for utilizing these techniques. In this work, a new technique based on the extended Kalman filter observer is proposed in order to detect and locate the blockage in the pipeline. Furthermore, the analysis of observability and controllability in the pipe networks is investigated. Important theorems are given for testing the observability as well as controllability of the pipeline system.

This work describes the parameter identification of servo systems using the least squares of orthogonal distances method. The parameter identification problem was reconsidered as data fitting to a plane, which in turn corresponds to a nonlinear minimization problem. Three models of a servo system, having one, two, and three parameters, were experimentally identified using both the classic least squares and the least squares of orthogonal distances. The models with two and three parameters were identified through numerical routines. The servo system model with a single parameter only considered the input gain. In this particular case, the analytical conditions for finding the critical points and for determining the existence of a minimum were presented, and the estimate of the input gain was obtained by solving a simple quadratic equation whose coefficients depended on measured data. The results showed that as opposed to the least squares method, the least squares of orthogonal distances method experimentally produced consistent estimates without regard for the classic persistency-of-excitation condition. Moreover, the parameter estimates of the least squares of orthogonal distances method produced the best tracking performance when they were used to compute a trajectory-tracking controller.