Research Interests
Control systems theory and applications. Particular interest in the following topics:- Nonlinear control theory
- Switched and hybrid systems
- Performance limitations
- Nonlinear observers
- Visual servo control
- Networked control systems
- Modeling, control, navigation and guidance of autonomous vehicles
- Underactuated and nonholonomic systems, autonomous underwater vehicles, surface crafts, mobile robots, unmanned autonomous vehicles
Research Projects
- CONAV: Cooperative Navigation and Control of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles
Summary:
The key focus of this proposed research work is to do
fundamental
research in the general area of decision and control systems
with
special emphasis on nonlinear control and estimation theory,
optimization and optimal control on special manifolds (e.g.
Lie
Groups), the computation of feasible trajectories for motion
control of
single and multiple autonomous robotic vehicles (with
special focus on
surface crafts, gliders, AUVs, and UAVs) subject to input
and state
constraints, and the challenge of coupled control/logic
communication
design. The main themes addressed are strongly motivated by
...
- ATLAS: Advances in Terrain-based Localization of Autonomous Submersibles
Summary: The main objective of the current
project consists in the development of geophysical
navigation (GN) methods with application to the navigation
of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This approach to
navigation relies essentially on matching the geophysical
data acquired by a vehicle in real time with pre-existent
maps of the area to be surveyed. It is an alternative,
economical approach to dead-reckoning methods based on the
integration of Inertial Navigation Sensor information and
Doppler Velocity Logger data. One of the main advantages of
GN is the possibility of eliminating the drifts that are
inherent to the dead-reckoning methods. Geophysical
Navigation is particularly well suited for the navigation of
autonomous vehicles in areas that need to be surveyed
repeatedly since the cost of acquiring the prior maps is
diluted along time. As such, GN reveals high potential
of application to oceanography in general and to marine
geophysics in particular.
- HIVCONTROL: Control based on dynamic modeling of HIV-1 infection for therapy design
Summary:
The aim of this project consists of designing personalized
therapy
strategies to control HIV-1 infection using model based
nonlinear
control and estimation techniques.
- Nonlinear dynamic models - relate healthy CD4+T-cells, infected CD4+T-cells and virions
- Nonlinear control methods - compute therapeutic rules - comply with clinical constraints, minimize drug administration
- Application of nonlinear estimation techniques for non-measurable state variables
- High variability system - distinct virus phylogenies and inter and intra-patients different responses.
- Experimental clinical validation - models used as a basis and the resulting drug therapy profiles....
- Co3-AUVs: Cooperative Cognitive Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Summary:
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) represent one of the
most
challenging frontiers for robotics research. AUVs work in an
unstructured environment and face unique perception,
decision, control
and communications difficulties. Currently, the state of the
art is
dominated by single AUVs limited to open-sea preplanned
trajectories
with offline postprocessing of the data gathered during the
mission.
The use of multiple AUVs as propagated in this project is
still in a
very early research phase. Some of the research issues
addressed...
- FREESUBNET: Marie Curie Research Training Networks
Summary:
The purpose of FREESUBNET is to provide a European-wide
excellence in
quality training to young and experienced researchers in the
emerging
field of Cooperative Autonomous Intervention Underwater
Vehicles (AUVs)
which are steadily becoming the tool of choice to carry out
missions at
sea without tight human supervision.
- DENO: DEvelopment of Nonlinear Observers
Summary:
During the last few decades there has been an extensive
study on the
design of observers for nonlinear systems. An observer or
estimator can
be defined as a process that provides in real time the
estimate of the
state (or some function of it) of the plant from partial and
possibly
noisy measurements of the inputs and outputs and inexact
knowledge of
the initial condition...
- NAV-Control: Development and Application of Advanced Nonlinear Control Techniques for the Coordination and Motion Control of a Network of Autonomous Vehicles
Summary:
Recently, spawned by the advent of small embedded processors
and
sensors, advanced communication systems, and the
miniaturization of
electro-mechanical devices, considerably effort is being
placed on the
deployment of groups of networked autonomous robotic
vehicles operating
in a number of challenging environments. Some of the
potential
applications include searching and...
- GREX: Coordination and Control of Cooperating Heterogeneous Unmanned Systems in Uncertain Environments
Summary:
The main goal of the project is to achieve a first level of
distributed
"intelligence" through dependable embedded systems that are
interconnected and cooperate towards the coordinated
execution of
tasks. Thus the project will witness the development of
theoretical
methods and practical tools for multiple vehicle
cooperation, bridging
the gap between concept and practice.
Links
- Control Systems Engineering: Worldwide
- WWW Virtual Library - Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- International Conference Calendar
- International
Universities