The control systems group contains a broad expertise in control theory and its applications:
Discrete event systems
Research in this area focuses on the control of discrete event systems, including:
- Formal synthesis and verification
- Applications to software development
Faculty members in this area: John Thistle
Linear control
Faculty members focus on theoretical aspects of linear control systems such as time-varying linear systems, performance limitations in control, and multivariable linear control. Application areas of this research:
- Multi-agent systems
- Social phenomena
- Control of radiotherapy
Faculty members in this area: Daniel Davison, Daniel Miller
Networked and distributed control
Research in networked and distributed control addresses the control and communication issues that arise when individual systems are networked together. Key issues include fault-tolerant and secure control, distributed optimization, and distributed computation. Applications of this research include:
- Smart power grids
- Coordinated autonomous vehicles
- Transportation networks
Faculty members in this area:
Stephen L. Smith, John W. Simpson-Porco
Nonlinear control
Faculty member's research in nonlinear control focus on fundamental issues in areas such as geometric control, set stablization, filtering and estimation, and stochastic systems. Application areas of this research include:
- Tracking/path following
- Quantitative finance and financial engineering
Faculty members in this area:
Andrew Heunis, Christopher Nielsen, David Wang
Robotics and autonomy
Our research in robotics and autonomous systems considers a variety of theoretical and applied issues in areas such as imitation learning, path following, motion planning and coordination, and environmental estimation. Key application areas of this research include:
- Humanoid robots
- Unmanned aerial vehicles
- The coordination of groups of vehicles for environmental monitoring
- Transportation networks
Faculty members in this area:
Dana Kulic, Christopher Nielsen, Stephen L. Smith, David Wang
Robust and adaptive control
Our research in robust and adaptive control considers control theoretic issues in periodic control for robustness and adaptation, as well as incremental learning and adaptation in dynamic environments. Applications include:
- Computer aided manufacturing
- Humanoid robotics
- Human-robot interaction
Faculty members in this area:
Dana Kulic, Daniel Miller