Murray Wiki - User contributions [en]

Research meetings, Jan/Feb 2016

2016-01-19T21:26:03Z

Cmcghan: /* 3 Feb 2016 (Wed) */

Please sign up for a slot below. __NOTOC__

{| border=1 width=100%
|- valign = top
|
=== 25 Jan 2016 (Mon) ===
* Richard in SF
|
=== 26 Jan 2016 (Tue) ===
* 1-2 pm: Andrey Shur
* 2-3 pm: Anders Knight
* 3-4 pm: Reed McCardell
* 5:30-6:30 pm: Ania Baetica
|

=== 27 Jan 2016 (Wed) ===
* 8:30-9:30 am: Vipul Singhal
* 9:30-10:30 am: Anandh Swaminathan
* 4-5 pm: Shaobin
* 5-6 pm: Ivan (flexible)
|

=== 28 Jan 2016 (Thu) ===
* 5:30-6:30 pm: Hold: Michele Colledanchise
* 6:30-7:30 pm: Yutaka
|

=== 29 Jan 2016 (Fri) ===
* 2-3 pm: Victoria Hsiao
* 3-4 pm: Clare
* 4:30-5:30 pm: Ioannis Filippidis
* 5:30-6:30 pm: George Artavanis
|- valign = top
|

=== 25 Jan 2016 (Mon) ===
* Richard in Hartford
|
=== 2 Feb 2016 (Tue) ===
* 9-10 am: Yong W.
* 2-3 pm: Tony Fragoso
* 3-4 pm: Sean Sanchez
* 4-5 pm: James Parkin
* 5:30-6:30 pm: Daniel Naftalovich
* 6:30-7:30 pm: Anu Thubagere
|

=== 3 Feb 2016 (Wed) ===
* 8:30-9:30 am: Cat McGhan
* 9:30-10:30 am: Sam Clamons
|

=== 4 Feb 2016 (Thu) ===
* Richard in SF
|
=== 5 Feb 2016 (Fri) ===
* BE visiting day
|}

Group Schedule, Summer 2015

2015-06-24T20:54:40Z

Cmcghan: /* Week 3: 29 Jun - 3 Jul */

This page contains information about various upcoming events that are of interest to the group. __NOTOC__
{| width=60%
|- valign=top
| width=50% |
* [[Schedule|Richard's calendar (travel)]]
| width=50% |
* [[Group Schedule, Spring 2015]]
|}

The schedule for group and subgroup meetings is given below. Contact Richard if you need to change the schedule. Unless otherwise noted, here are the locations of the meetings:

:{| width=100%
|- valign=top
| width=30% |
* Group meetings - 213 ANB
| width=30% |
* Biocircuits subgroup - 111 Keck
| width=30% |
* NCS subgroup - 243 ANB
|}

{| width=100% border=1

|- valign=top
| width=25% |
=== Week 1: 15 Jun - 19 Jun ===
'''Biocircuits: 15 Jun (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* Yutaka Hori (long)
* Abel Chiao (short)
'''NCS: 17 Jun (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Vasu Raman (main)
* Open (short)
<hr>
* TX-TL workshop, Tue-Fri
| width=25% |

=== Week 2: 22 Jun - 26 Jun ===
'''Biocircuits: 23 Jun (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Ania Baetica (long)
* Anandh Swaminathan (short)
'''NCS: 24 Jun (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Cat McGhan (main)
* Sumanth Dathathri (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 3: 29 Jun - 3 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 29 Jun (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* Victoria Hsiao (long)
* Anu Thubagere (short)
'''NCS: 29 Jun (Mon), 1:30p-3p'''
* Tony Fragoso (main)
* Cat McGhan (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Tue-Fri (ACC)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 4: 6 Jul - 12 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 10 Jul (Fri), 10a-12p'''
* Shaunak Sen (long)
* Emzo de los Santos (short)
'''NCS: 10 Jul (Fri), 1:30p-3p'''
* Scott Livingston
* Open (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Mon-Thu
* Biocircuits lab cleanup, Tue @ 10 am

| width=25% |

=== Week 5: 13 Jul - 17 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 16 Jul (Thu), 10a-12p 114 Steele'''
* Vipul Singhal (long)
* Zach Sun (short)
'''NCS: 17 Jul (Fri), 10:30a-12p'''
* Jiangang Li (main)
* Open (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 6: 20 Jul - 24 Jul ===
* Richard out of town Mon-Fri (China)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 7: 27 Jul - 31 Jul ===
* Richard out of town Mon-Fri (China)

| width=25% |

=== Week 8: 3 Aug - 7 Aug ===
'''Biocircuits: 4 Aug (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Enoch Yeung (long)
* Seung Lee (short)
'''NCS: 5 Aug (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Ivan Papusha (main)
* Anthony Gong (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 9: 10 Aug - 14 Aug ===
'''Biocircuits: 11 Aug (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Yong Wu (long)
* Ron Pereira (short)
'''NCS: 12 Aug (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Ioannis Filippidis
* Open (short)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 10: 17 Aug - 21 Aug ===
* RMM out of town Mon-Fri (ISAT)
* Biocircuits lab cleanup, Tue @ 10 am
| width=25% |

=== Week 11: 24 Aug - 28 Aug ===
* RMM out of town Mon-Fri (Sweden)
| width=25% |

=== Week 12: 31 Aug - 4 Sep ===
'''Biocircuits: 1 Sep (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* May move to 31 Aug, 10a-12p
* Open (long)
* Shaobin Guo (short)
'''NCS: 2 Sep (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Samira Farahani
* Open (short)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 13: 7 Sep - 11 Sep ===
'''NCS: 7 Sep (Mon), 1:30p-3p'''
* Daniel Naftalovich (main)
* Open (short)
'''Biocircuits: 8 Sep (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Open (long)
* Clare Hayes (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 14: 14 Sep - 18 Sep ===
* RMM out of town, Mon-Fri (vacation)

| width=25% |

=== Week 15: 21 Sep - 25 Sep ===
'''Biocircuits: 21 Sep (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* (long)
* Sean Sanchez (short)
'''NCS: 24 Sep (Thu), 10:30a-12p'''
* Benson Christalin
* Open (short)
|}

Group Schedule, Summer 2015

2015-06-24T20:54:22Z

Cmcghan: /* Week 2: 22 Jun - 26 Jun */

This page contains information about various upcoming events that are of interest to the group. __NOTOC__
{| width=60%
|- valign=top
| width=50% |
* [[Schedule|Richard's calendar (travel)]]
| width=50% |
* [[Group Schedule, Spring 2015]]
|}

The schedule for group and subgroup meetings is given below. Contact Richard if you need to change the schedule. Unless otherwise noted, here are the locations of the meetings:

:{| width=100%
|- valign=top
| width=30% |
* Group meetings - 213 ANB
| width=30% |
* Biocircuits subgroup - 111 Keck
| width=30% |
* NCS subgroup - 243 ANB
|}

{| width=100% border=1

|- valign=top
| width=25% |
=== Week 1: 15 Jun - 19 Jun ===
'''Biocircuits: 15 Jun (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* Yutaka Hori (long)
* Abel Chiao (short)
'''NCS: 17 Jun (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Vasu Raman (main)
* Open (short)
<hr>
* TX-TL workshop, Tue-Fri
| width=25% |

=== Week 2: 22 Jun - 26 Jun ===
'''Biocircuits: 23 Jun (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Ania Baetica (long)
* Anandh Swaminathan (short)
'''NCS: 24 Jun (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Cat McGhan (main)
* Sumanth Dathathri (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 3: 29 Jun - 3 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 29 Jun (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* Victoria Hsiao (long)
* Anu Thubagere (short)
'''NCS: 29 Jun (Mon), 1:30p-3p'''
* Cat McGhan
* Open (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Tue-Fri (ACC)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 4: 6 Jul - 12 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 10 Jul (Fri), 10a-12p'''
* Shaunak Sen (long)
* Emzo de los Santos (short)
'''NCS: 10 Jul (Fri), 1:30p-3p'''
* Scott Livingston
* Open (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Mon-Thu
* Biocircuits lab cleanup, Tue @ 10 am

| width=25% |

=== Week 5: 13 Jul - 17 Jul ===
'''Biocircuits: 16 Jul (Thu), 10a-12p 114 Steele'''
* Vipul Singhal (long)
* Zach Sun (short)
'''NCS: 17 Jul (Fri), 10:30a-12p'''
* Jiangang Li (main)
* Open (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 6: 20 Jul - 24 Jul ===
* Richard out of town Mon-Fri (China)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 7: 27 Jul - 31 Jul ===
* Richard out of town Mon-Fri (China)

| width=25% |

=== Week 8: 3 Aug - 7 Aug ===
'''Biocircuits: 4 Aug (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Enoch Yeung (long)
* Seung Lee (short)
'''NCS: 5 Aug (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Ivan Papusha (main)
* Anthony Gong (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 9: 10 Aug - 14 Aug ===
'''Biocircuits: 11 Aug (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Yong Wu (long)
* Ron Pereira (short)
'''NCS: 12 Aug (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Ioannis Filippidis
* Open (short)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 10: 17 Aug - 21 Aug ===
* RMM out of town Mon-Fri (ISAT)
* Biocircuits lab cleanup, Tue @ 10 am
| width=25% |

=== Week 11: 24 Aug - 28 Aug ===
* RMM out of town Mon-Fri (Sweden)
| width=25% |

=== Week 12: 31 Aug - 4 Sep ===
'''Biocircuits: 1 Sep (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* May move to 31 Aug, 10a-12p
* Open (long)
* Shaobin Guo (short)
'''NCS: 2 Sep (Wed), 10:30a-12p'''
* Samira Farahani
* Open (short)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 13: 7 Sep - 11 Sep ===
'''NCS: 7 Sep (Mon), 1:30p-3p'''
* Daniel Naftalovich (main)
* Open (short)
'''Biocircuits: 8 Sep (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Open (long)
* Clare Hayes (short)

| width=25% |

=== Week 14: 14 Sep - 18 Sep ===
* RMM out of town, Mon-Fri (vacation)

| width=25% |

=== Week 15: 21 Sep - 25 Sep ===
'''Biocircuits: 21 Sep (Mon), 10a-12p'''
* (long)
* Sean Sanchez (short)
'''NCS: 24 Sep (Thu), 10:30a-12p'''
* Benson Christalin
* Open (short)
|}

Mark Muller, 20 Feb 2015

2015-02-19T00:43:20Z

Cmcghan: /* Schedule */

Mark Müller, a PhD student at ETH in Zurich working with Raff D'Andrea, will visit Caltech on 19-20 Feb 2015 and give a group seminar.

=== Schedule ===

Thursday
* 4:30p: Richard Murray, 109 Steele Lab

Friday
* 10:00a: Open
* 10:45a: Open
* 11:30a: Set up for seminar and grab lunch
* 12:00p: Lunchtime seminar, 107 ANB
* 1:15p: Hold - Larry Matthies (meet in 107 after seminar)
* 2:00p: Open
* 2:45p: Vasu Raman (ANB Treehouse Lounge, 3rd floor)
* 3:30p: Cat McGhan (218 ANB)
* 4:15p: Open
* 5:00p: Done for the day
* 6:00p: Dinner - if anyone is interested in taking Mark to dinner, sign up here (CDS will cover)

=== Seminar info ===

Speaker: Mark Mueller 
Date & Time: Friday, February 20th (12pm) 
Location: 107 Annenberg 
Affiliation: ETH Zurich 

Multicopters are predicted to increasingly become part of our everyday lives, with applications including delivery services, entertainment, and aerial sensing. These systems are expected to be safe and to have a high degree of autonomy. An important aspect of autonomy is the ability to plan motions that fulfill high-level goals, which will be the topic of the first part of the talk. A quadrocopter trajectory generation scheme will be described that can evaluate and compare on the order of one million motion primitives per second. These motion primitives are designed to be fast to compute and verify (at the expense of optimality), while being flexible with respect to initial and final states. This allows to encode highly dynamic tasks with complicated end goals.

The second part of the talk will cover some results on quadrocopter safety, specifically an algorithm that allows a quadrocopter to maintain flight despite the complete loss of some propellers. In particular, it is shown that such a vehicle remains controllable about hover even if only a single propeller remains operable. In addition to the failsafe aspect for quadrocopters, this allows for the design of novel vehicles, having fewer than four propellers.

'''Bio'''

Mark W. Mueller is currently a doctoral candidate with Prof. Raffaello D'Andrea at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at the ETH Zurich. He received the B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pretoria in 2009, and the M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the ETH Zurich in 2011. He received awards for the best mechanical engineering thesis, and the best aeronautical thesis, for his bachelors thesis in 2008, and received the Jakob Ackeret award from the Swiss Association of Aeronautical Sciences for his masters thesis in 2011. His masters studies were supported by a scholarship from the Swiss Government.

Group Schedule, Winter 2015

2015-02-12T16:50:44Z

Cmcghan: /* Week 6: 9 Feb - 13 Feb */

This page contains information about various upcoming events that are of interest to the group. __NOTOC__
{| width=60%
|- valign=top
| width=50% |
* [[Schedule|Richard's calendar (travel)]]
| width=50% |
* [[Group Schedule, Fall 2014]]
|}

The schedule for group and subgroup meetings is given below. Contact Richard if you need to change the schedule. Unless otherwise noted, here are the locations of the meetings:

:{| width=100%
|- valign=top
| width=30% |
* Group meetings - 213 ANB
| width=30% |
* Biocircuits subgroup - 111 Keck
| width=30% |
* NCS subgroup - 243 ANBzachza
|}

{| width=100% border=1

|- valign=top
| width=25% |
=== Week 1: 5 Jan - 9 Jan ===
'''Biocircuits: 6 Jan (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Yutaka Hori (long)
* Lab updates (Richard)
'''NCS: 8 Jan (Thu), 9:30-11a 111 Keck'''
* Anthony Fragoso (main)
* Open (short)
<hr>
* MPP retreat, Fri-Sun (SF)
| width=25% |

=== Week 2: 12 Jan - 16 Jan ===
'''Biocircuits: 12 Jan, 1p - 3p'''
* Ania Baetica (long)
* Emzo de los Santos (short)
<hr>
* AFOSR BRI call: Mon, 8:30a-10a
* iCyPhy BIT mini-workshop: Tue, 8a-5p
* RMM unavailable Wed-Fri

| width=25% |

=== Week 3: 19 Jan - 23 Jan ===
'''Biocircuits: 20 Jan (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Anandh Swaminathan (short)
* Victoria Hsiao (long)
'''NCS: 22 Jan (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Ivan Papusha (main)
* Open (short)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 4: 26 Jan - 30 Jan ===
'''Biocircuits: 27 Jan (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Dan Siegal (long)
* Anu Thubagere (short)

'''NCS: 29 Jan (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Yilin Mo (main)
* Open (short)
<hr>
* Brian Munsky visit on Mon
* Rahul Sarpeshkar visit on Mon
* Richard out of town on Wed?

| width=25% |

=== Week 5: 2 Feb - 6 Feb ===
'''NCS: 5 Feb (Thu), 3:30p-5p, 110 Steele'''
* Vasu Raman (main)
* Open (short)
<hr>
* AFOSR BRI telecon: Mon, 8:30a-10a
* iCyPhy planning meeting: Mon-Tue, in Berkeley
* Biocircuits lab cleanup: Tue, 10a-12p

| width=25% |

=== Week 6: 9 Feb - 13 Feb ===
'''Biocircuits: 10 Feb (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Ye Yuan (long)
* <s>Vanessa Jonsson (short)</s>
'''NCS: 12 Feb (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Cat McGhan (main)
* Cat McGhan (short)
'''Group Meeting: 9 Feb (Mon), 12p-1:15p 121 ANB'''
* Nikolay Atanasov - University of Pennsylvania
<hr>
* Richard out of town on Fri
|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 7: 16 Feb - 20 Feb ===
'''Biocircuits: 17 Feb (Tue), 10a-12p'''
* Vipul Singhal (long)
* Clare Hayes (short)
'''NCS: 19 Feb (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Ioannis Filippidis (main)
* Open (short)
'''Group Meeting: 20 Feb (Fri), 12p-1:15p 107 ANB'''
* Mark Muller - ETH

| width=25% |

=== Week 8: 23 Feb - 27 Feb ===
'''Biocircuits: 23 Feb (Mon), 1p-3p'''
* Yong Wu (long)
* Shaobin Guo (short)
'''NCS: 25 Feb (Wed), 4p-5:30p 114 Steele Library'''
* Scott Livingston
* Open (short)
<hr>
* MPP protocol synthesis workshop: Thu-Fri

| width=25% |

=== Week 9: 2 Mar - 6 Mar ===
'''Biocircuits: 2 Mar (Mon), 1p-3p 114 Steele Library'''
* Enoch Yeung (long)
* Zach Sun (short)
'''NCS: 5 Mar (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Samira Farahani
* Open (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town Tue-Wed (Seattle)

|- valign=top
| width=25% |

=== Week 10: 9 Mar - 13 Mar===
'''Biocircuits: 9 Mar (Mon), 9a-11a'''
* Henrike N (long)
* Sean Sanchez (short)
'''NCS: 12 Mar (Thu), 9:30a-11a 110 Steele'''
* Daniel Naftalovich (short)
* Benson Christalin (short)
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Tue-Wed (Boston)
* Group camping trip, 13-15 Mar

| width=25% |

=== Week 11: 16 Mar - 20 Mar ===
Finals week
<hr>
* Richard out of town, Mon-Fri
* Biocircuits lab cleanup: Tue, 10a-12p

| width=25% |

=== Week 12: 23 Mar - 27 Mar ===
Spring break
|}

SURF discussions, Jan 2015

2015-01-29T21:03:59Z

Cmcghan: /* 29 Jan (Thu) */

Slots for talking with applicants and co-mentors about SURF projects. Please sign up for one of the slots below. All times are PST. __NOTOC__

{| width=100% border=1
|- valign=top
|
==== 21 Jan (Wed) ====
* 9:20: Samira and Nuno
* 9:50: Ania, Vipul, and Cody
<hr>
* 14:30: Rafsan Chowdhury
<hr>
* <s>15:30: Open</s>
|

==== 22 Jan (Thu) ====
* 9:00: Divyansh, Shaunak
<hr>
* 17:30: Open
* 18:00: Anushka, Clare + Vipul
|

==== 23 Jan (Fri) ====
* 10:00:Aileen Cheng
<hr>
* 14:00: Enrique, Clare + Vipul
* 14:30: Marcus Greiff
<hr>
* 16:00: Charlie Erwall
|- valign=top
|
==== 26 Jan (Mon) ====
* 8:00: Cat, Riashat
* 8:30: Phuc (Sam), Yong, Shaobin
<hr>
* 9:30: Rafsan, Scott, Sean (?)
<hr>
* 17:30: Samira, Vasu, Yuening
* 18:00: Jihoon, Clare, Vipul (?)
|

==== 29 Jan (Thu) ====
* 12:30: Open
<hr>
* 16:30: Open
* 18:30: Sandra, Cat
|

==== 30 Jan (Fri) ====
* 12:45: Xianglin, Ania, and Vipul
* 1:15: Open
|}

The agenda for the phone call is (roughly):

# Description of the basic idea behind the project (based on applicant's understanding)
# Discussion about approaches, things to read, variations to consider, etc
# Discussion of the format of the proposal
# Questions and discussion about the process

SURF discussions, Jan 2015

2015-01-20T21:28:29Z

Cmcghan: /* 26 Jan (Mon) */

Slots for talking with applicants and co-mentors about SURF projects. Please sign up for one of the slots below. All times are PST. __NOTOC__

{| width=100% border=1
|- valign=top
|
==== 21 Jan (Wed) ====
* 9:20: Samira and Nuno
* 9:50: Ania, Vipul, and Cody
<hr>
* 14:30: Rafsan Chowdhury
<hr>
* 15:30: Open
|

==== 22 Jan (Thu) ====
* 9:00: Open
<hr>
* 17:30: Open
* 18:00: Open
|

==== 23 Jan (Fri) ====
* 10:00:Aileen Cheng
<hr>
* 14:00: Open
* 14:30: Open
<hr>
* 16:00: Open
|

==== 26 Jan (Mon) ====
* 8:00: Cat, Riashat
* 8:30: Phuc (Sam), Yong, Shaobin
<hr>
* 17:30: Samira, Vasu, Yuening (tentative)
* 18:00: Open
|}

The agenda for the phone call is (roughly):

# Description of the basic idea behind the project (based on applicant's understanding)
# Discussion about approaches, things to read, variations to consider, etc
# Discussion of the format of the proposal
# Questions and discussion about the process

SURF 2015

2014-12-29T03:54:01Z

Cmcghan: /* List of available projects */

{{righttoc}}
This page is intended for students interested in working on SURF projects in the Summer of 2015. It contains information about how to apply for a SURF project in my group along with a list of project areas.

=== Applying for a SURF project ===

Because I get many students interested in doing SURFs in my group and because we have several projects available, we use the first few weeks in January to sort out who we will work with in writing proposals. We only submit one proposal per project area and so we often can't accommodate everyone who wants to work in my group over the summer.

# A list of SURF project descriptions is given in the table below. Due to the number of SURF projects that we support, we are only able to support students who select from among these projects. Please make sure to read the project descriptions, required skills (if any) and skim a few of the listed references before contacting me about doing a SURF project.
# Students interested in writing proposals for SURF projects should contact me via e-mail by 9 Jan (Fri) and provide the following information:
#* A list of up to three SURF projects from the list below that you are interested in working on
#* A one page resume listing relevant experience and coursework
#* If you are not a Caltech student, I will also need the following additional information:
#** An unofficial copy of your academic transcript
#** Names of two faculty members at your current institution that I can contact for a reference
# Starting on 10 January, I will go through all applications and work with my group to identify who is a possible fit for each project. We will then contact you and ask for you to meet (or talk with) possible co-mentors so that we can eventually work out who we will work with in writing up a proposal.
# We hope to make final decisions on projects by about 20 Jan, at which point we will start working with students on writing up proposals.
# All applications should go through the normal SURF application process, described at www.surf.caltech.edu. SURF applications are due on ~21 Feb 2015.
# If you are selected for a SURF, please be aware of the following information
#* All SURF projects in my group will start on 16 Jun (Tue). If you can't start on that date, please make sure that you indicate this when you contact me
#* All SURF projects are for a minimum of 10 weeks, although I usually recommend that you try to stay for 12 weeks if possible (at no additional pay). It's hard to complete a project in just 10 weeks and spending a few extra weeks can greatly improve the project.
#* All SURF students in my group will be expected to devote full-time effort to their SURF project, so you cannot have a second job in addition to your SURF.

=== List of available projects ===

Projects will be posted as they come available. I recommend waiting until near the deadline submission before submitting your project preferences.

{| border=1 width=100%
|-
| '''Title''' || '''Grant/Project''' || '''Co-Mentors''' || '''Comments'''
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive}}
| KISS
| [https://www.cds.caltech.edu/~cmcghan/ Catharine McGhan]
| Multiple positions may be available


|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Optimal Trajectory Generation under Environmental Uncertainties using Signal Temporal Logic Specifications}}
| NGC
| [http://directory.caltech.edu/personnel/farahani Samira Farahani]
|
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Formal synthesis of switching protocols for estimation and control of aircraft electric power systems}}
|
| Benson Christalin and Scott C. Livingston
|
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Platform-based design for robotics applications}}
|
| [http://www.cms.caltech.edu/~vasu/ Vasu Raman] and Samira Farahani
|
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Machine-readable protocols and rapid-prototyping for synthetic biology research}}
| MPP
| Scott C. Livingston and Sean Sanchez
|
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Design space exploration of the violacein pathway in TX-TL}}
| PMTI
| Yong Wu and Shaobin Guo
|
|-
| {{SURF entry|2015|Rapid prototyping of moderate complexity biomolecular circuits}}
| MPP
| Clare Hayes
| Multiple positions may be available
|}

SURF 2015: Correct-by-Construction Control of UAVs Under Environmental Uncertainty

2014-12-29T03:53:07Z

Cmcghan: Cmcghan moved page SURF 2015: Correct-by-Construction Control of UAVs Under Environmental Uncertainty to SURF 2015: Optimal Trajectory Generation under Environmental Uncertainties using Signal Temporal Logic Specifications: Samira asked me to h...

#REDIRECT [[SURF 2015: Optimal Trajectory Generation under Environmental Uncertainties using Signal Temporal Logic Specifications]]

SURF 2015: Optimal Trajectory Generation under Environmental Uncertainties using Signal Temporal Logic Specifications

2014-12-29T03:53:07Z

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''
* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Samira Farahani

In safety-critical robotics applications in which autonomous air, ground, and space vehicles carry out complex tasks, it is important to concisely and unambiguously specify the desired system behavior to be able to automatically synthesize a controller that implements this behavior. Controller synthesis is complicated by the fact that autonomous systems often have high-dimensional, nonlinear dynamics and require efficient (not just feasible) controllers.

This project aims at designing a “correct by construction” controller for an autonomous vehicle that is capable of responding to a dynamic environment, visiting goals, periodically monitoring areas, staying safe, and remaining stable. To this end, we will take advantage of the new tools and techniques for formal specification, design, and verification of embedded control systems [3,4,5,7]. In these approaches, we either verify that a given design satisfies the specification or synthesize a controller that satisfies the specification, as summarized in the following figure.

The formal language that we use in this project is Signal Temporal Logic (STL), which allows the specification of properties of dense-time, real-valued signals. For an efficient implementation, we will directly encode an STL formula as mixed-integer linear constraints on the original dynamical system [6]. Of particular interest are mixed logical dynamical (MLD) systems and certain differentially flat systems [2], whose dynamics can be encoded with mixed-integer linear constraints. MLD systems include constrained linear systems, linear hybrid automata, and piecewise affine systems. Differentially flat systems include quadrotors and car-like robots.

After the successful design the controller, we are going to perform a detailed comparison of mixed-integer linear programming solvers and Boolean satisfiability solvers that have been extended to support linear operations, e.g., [1]. Moreover, depending on the progress lever, we can also implement the controller on of the available robots in the lab for experimental purposes.

[[File:Agent.png]]

''Required Skills:'' The software we will use for the implementation of formal methods is called TuLiP [5] and the programming language underlying TuLiP is Python. The student is expected to know Matlab and Python or to have enough programming experience to learn it in a short time. Some familiarity with or willingness to learn automata theory, formal languages, and model checking (see for instance to the extent of the first 5 lectures in [6]) is desired.

References:

[1] M. Fränzle and C. Herde. Efficient proof engines for bounded model checking of hybrid systems. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 133:119–137, 2005.
http://homepage.divms.uiowa.edu/~tinelli/classes/AR-group/readingsF04/FMICS04_Fraenzle_Herde.pdf

[2] S. M. LaValle. Planning Algorithms. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006.
http://planning.cs.uiuc.edu/bookbig.pdf

[3] S. Livingston, R. M. Murray, and J. W. Burdick. Backtracking temporal logic synthesis for uncertain environments. In Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2012.
http://scottman.net/pub/Livingston-Murray-Burdick-ICRA2012.pdf

[4] U. Topcu, N. Ozay, J. Liu, , and R. M. Murray. On synthesizing robust discrete controllers under modeling uncertainty. In Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control, 2012.
http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/tolm12-hscc_s.pdf

[5] E. M. Wolff, U. Topcu, and R. M. Murray, Optimization-based trajectory generation with linear temporal logic specifications, International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2014.
http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~ewolff/wolff_icra14.pdf

[6] V. Raman, A. Donzé, M. Maasoumy, R. M. Murray, A. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, S. A. Seshia, Model Predictive Control with Signal Temporal Logic Specifications, CDC 2014.
http://users.cms.caltech.edu/~vasu/papers/vraman_cdc_14.pdf

[7] T. Wongpiromsarn, U. Topcu, and R. M. Murray. Receding horizon temporal logic planning. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 57(11):2817{2830, 2012. http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~utopcu/pubs/WTM-itac12.pdf

[8] Wongpiromsarn, U. Topcu, N. Ozay, H. Xu, and R.~M. Murray, TuLiP: a software toolbox for receding horizon temporal logic planning, International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control, 2011 (software available at http://tulip-control.sourceforge.net).
http://www.aero.umd.edu/~mumu/files/wtoxm_HSCC2011.pdf

[9] EECI, "Specification, Design, and Verification of Distributed Embedded Systems" course website
http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/wiki/index.php/HYCON-EECI,_Spring_2013

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:33:44Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. This architecture's capabilities are also applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, Mars Sample Return, and Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., SLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires practical programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in related concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:29:43Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, Mars Sample Return, and Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., SLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires practical programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in related concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:28:54Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, Mars Sample Return, and Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., SLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in related concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:27:17Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, or Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., SLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in related concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:22:37Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, or Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., VSLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in related concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:13:38Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, or Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Existing RSE software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., VSLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-24T09:09:38Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_Pioneer3-DX.jpg‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 1. The Pioneer 3-DX robot used in the lab.]]

[[File:SURF15_RSE-Architecture.png‎|thumb|300px|Fig. 2. The Resilient Spacecraft Executive Architecture.[1]]]

'''Overview:''' The Resilient Space Systems group at Caltech has partnered with MIT, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to develop and test a game-changing architecture for resilient spacecraft operations that has applications to robotics operating in a wide variety of hazardous and uncertain environments.[1] This includes rovers with and without manipulation capability, autonomous underwater vehicles, fixed-wing and rotorcraft UAVs, and CubeSat platforms, to name a few earthly and near-earth applications. These architectural capabilities would also be applicable to space missions such as the Venus lander, or Trojan asteroid tour.

We are looking for individuals interested in helping to develop the capabilities that this architecture needs, by adding to the software base necessary to support such systems' operability. This includes coding, debgging, and testing various known algorithms and techniques, some which are generalizable to multiple robotic platforms and some that are platform-specific. These will be added to a growing library of modules and made available for the RSE architecture to utilize and leverage as part of our system testing.

For this summer's project, we are currently focusing on the Pioneer 3-DX platform in-lab as our implementation target of choice, with possible extention to other robotic platforms with pre-existing models already-implemented in the gazebo simulation environment that could be leveraged for our use in the near-term.

Examples of work related to diversifying the baseline capabilities of the Pioneer 3-DX system include:
* the coding of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) for better state estimation of the position and orientation of the vehicle from IR camera data
* the integration of point cloud data from a mounted SICK sensor into rolling map updates toward the ability to perform map localization and/or real-time obstacle avoidance onboard the vehicle (e.g., VSLAM techniques)
* the implementation of various real-time trajectory solvers for roving across 2-D and/or 3-D terrain
* the implementation of local obstacle avoidance algorithms that use the onboard front-facing sonar sensors (e.g., Bug algorithms)
* the coding of various discrete 'actions' that can be commanded to the vehicle, such as a 'stop', 'turn X degrees', 'move forward X meters', etc.
* the coding of various discrete modes of 'behavior' that can be commanded to the vehicle and change the characteristics of its motion, such as being 'cautious', 'adventurous', 'goal-seeking', 'risk-taking', etc.
* the modeling of the discharge rates of the rover's batteries after performing various actions (an overall energy model of the rover that can be used for planning processes in the deliberative and/or habitual layers)

All work will be tested on a rolling basis, using the preliminary implementation of the evolving RSE architectural software scheme.

Existing software capabilities include:
* 2-D trajectory planning under uncertainty in Matlab (deliberative layer)
* 2-D trajectory planning in python using OMPL [2] (habitual layer)
* a simple turn-and-drive waypoint follower (reflexive layer)
* 2-D global position and orientation resolution from an overhead camera (state estimation)

'''Goals:''' All software produced as a result of this project is expected to be integrated into the RSE open-source project in some capacity, and should be geared towards this end result.

'''Required Skills:''' ''This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. Experience with the core and extended functionality of the Robot Operating System (ROS) software [3] -- or a willingness and interest in learning, using, and developing code that works within this communications framework -- is a must. Familiarity with, and an interest in, control systems theory and robotics hardware is desired. Further interest in concrete robotics-related concepts, such as applied automata theory, AI, model-based systems engineering, and other formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis, is a plus.''

=== References ===

[1] Catharine L. R. McGhan, Richard M. Murray, Romain Serra, Michel D. Ingham, Masahiro Ono, Tara Estlin and Brian C. Williams. A Risk-Aware Architecture for Resilient Spacecraft Operations. Submitted, 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference. http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/preprints/mcg+15-ieeeaero_s.pdf

[2] Ioan A. Sucan, Mark Moll, and Lydia E. Kavraki. The Open Motion Planning Library. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Vol. 19, December 4, 2012, pp 72-82. http://ompl.kavrakilab.org

[3] Morgan Quigley, Ken Conley, Brian P. Gerkey, Josh Faust, Tully Foote, Jeremy Leibs, Rob Wheeler, and Andrew Y. Ng. ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System. ICRA Workshop on Open Source Software, 2009. http://www.willowgarage.com/sites/default/files/icraoss09-ROS.pdf

File:SURF15 Pioneer3-DX.jpg

2014-12-24T07:54:12Z

Cmcghan:

File:SURF15 RSE-Architecture.png

2014-12-24T07:51:32Z

Cmcghan:

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-11T23:12:48Z

Cmcghan:

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_???.png‎|frame|Fig. 1. ???.]]

[[File:SURF15_???.png‎|frame|Fig. 2. ???.]]

'''Overview:''' ???

'''Goals:''' ??? Open research questions include:
# ???
# ???
#* ???
#* ???
All software produced as a result of this project will be integrated with ???.

'''Required Skills:''' This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. ''??? Familiarity with, and an interest in, applied automata theory and formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis is desired. ???''

=== References ===

[1] ???

[2] ???

[3] ???

SURF 2015: Improved State Estimation and Control of a Pioneer 3-DX for a Resilient Spacecraft Executive

2014-12-11T23:07:54Z

Cmcghan: Created page with "'''2015 SURF project description''' * Mentor: Richard Murray * Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan Fig. 1. ???. [[File:SURF15_???.png..."

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''

* Mentor: Richard Murray
* Co-mentor: Catharine McGhan

[[File:SURF15_???.png‎|frame|Fig. 1. ???.]]

[[File:SURF15_???.png‎|frame|Fig. 2. ???.]]

'''Overview:''' ???

'''Goals:''' ??? Open research questions include:
# ???
# ???
#* ???
#* ???
All software produced as a result of this project will be integrated with ???.

'''Required Skills:''' This project requires programming experience, ideally in Python and C++. {{ ??? Familiarity with, and an interest in, applied automata theory and formal methods such as model checking and logic synthesis is desired. ??? }}

=== References ===

[1] ???

[2] ???

[3] ???

SURF 2015

2014-12-11T23:01:07Z

Cmcghan: /* List of available projects */

{{righttoc}}
This page is intended for students interested in working on SURF projects in the Summer of 2015. It contains information about how to apply for a SURF project in my group along with a list of project areas.

=== Applying for a SURF project ===

Because I get many students interested in doing SURFs in my group and because we have several projects available, we use the first few weeks in January to sort out who we will work with in writing proposals. We only submit one proposal per project area and so we often can't accommodate everyone who wants to work in my group over the summer.

# A list of SURF project descriptions is given in the table below. Due to the number of SURF projects that we support, we are only able to support students who select from among these projects. Please make sure to read the project descriptions, required skills (if any) and skim a few of the listed references before contacting me about doing a SURF project.
# Students interested in writing proposals for SURF projects should contact me via e-mail by 9 Jan (Fri) and provide the following information:
#* A list of up to three SURF projects from the list below that you are interested in working on
#* A one page resume listing relevant experience and coursework
#* If you are not a Caltech student, I will also need the following additional information:
#** An unofficial copy of your academic transcript
#** Names of two faculty members at your current institution that I can contact for a reference
# Starting on 10 January, I will go through all applications and work with my group to identify who is a possible fit for each project. We will then contact you and ask for you to meet (or talk with) possible co-mentors so that we can eventually work out who we will work with in writing up a proposal.
# We hope to make final decisions on projects by about 20 Jan, at which point we will start working with students on writing up proposals.
# All applications should go through the normal SURF application process, described at www.surf.caltech.edu. SURF applications are due on ~21 Feb 2015.
# If you are selected for a SURF, please be aware of the following information
#* All SURF projects in my group will start on 16 Jun (Tue). If you can't start on that date, please make sure that you indicate this when you contact me
#* All SURF projects are for a minimum of 10 weeks, although I usually recommend that you try to stay for 12 weeks if possible (at no additional pay). It's hard to complete a project in just 10 weeks and spending a few extra weeks can greatly improve the project.
#* All SURF students in my group will be expected to devote full-time effort to their SURF project, so you cannot have a second job in addition to your SURF.

=== List of available projects ===

Projects will be posted as they come available. I recommend waiting until near the deadline submission before submitting your project preferences.

SURF 2015: Optimal Trajectory Generation under Environmental Uncertainties using Signal Temporal Logic Specifications

2014-12-11T20:56:34Z

Cmcghan: Created page with "Pageholder for Samira's SURF 2015 description."

Pageholder for Samira's SURF 2015 description.

SURF 2015

2014-12-11T20:55:10Z

Cmcghan: /* List of available projects */

{{righttoc}}
This page is intended for students interested in working on SURF projects in the Summer of 2015. It contains information about how to apply for a SURF project in my group along with a list of project areas.

=== Applying for a SURF project ===

Because I get many students interested in doing SURFs in my group and because we have several projects available, we use the first few weeks in January to sort out who we will work with in writing proposals. We only submit one proposal per project area and so we often can't accommodate everyone who wants to work in my group over the summer.

# A list of SURF project descriptions is given in the table below. Due to the number of SURF projects that we support, we are only able to support students who select from among these projects. Please make sure to read the project descriptions, required skills (if any) and skim a few of the listed references before contacting me about doing a SURF project.
# Students interested in writing proposals for SURF projects should contact me via e-mail by 9 Jan (Fri) and provide the following information:
#* A list of up to three SURF projects from the list below that you are interested in working on
#* A one page resume listing relevant experience and coursework
#* If you are not a Caltech student, I will also need the following additional information:
#** An unofficial copy of your academic transcript
#** Names of two faculty members at your current institution that I can contact for a reference
# Starting on 10 January, I will go through all applications and work with my group to identify who is a possible fit for each project. We will then contact you and ask for you to meet (or talk with) possible co-mentors so that we can eventually work out who we will work with in writing up a proposal.
# We hope to make final decisions on projects by about 20 Jan, at which point we will start working with students on writing up proposals.
# All applications should go through the normal SURF application process, described at www.surf.caltech.edu. SURF applications are due on ~21 Feb 2015.
# If you are selected for a SURF, please be aware of the following information
#* All SURF projects in my group will start on 16 Jun (Tue). If you can't start on that date, please make sure that you indicate this when you contact me
#* All SURF projects are for a minimum of 10 weeks, although I usually recommend that you try to stay for 12 weeks if possible (at no additional pay). It's hard to complete a project in just 10 weeks and spending a few extra weeks can greatly improve the project.
#* All SURF students in my group will be expected to devote full-time effort to their SURF project, so you cannot have a second job in addition to your SURF.

=== List of available projects ===

Projects will be posted as they come available. I recommend waiting until near the deadline submission before submitting your project preferences.

SURF 2015

2014-12-11T20:28:15Z

Cmcghan: /* List of available projects */

{{righttoc}}
This page is intended for students interested in working on SURF projects in the Summer of 2015. It contains information about how to apply for a SURF project in my group along with a list of project areas.

=== Applying for a SURF project ===

Because I get many students interested in doing SURFs in my group and because we have several projects available, we use the first few weeks in January to sort out who we will work with in writing proposals. We only submit one proposal per project area and so we often can't accommodate everyone who wants to work in my group over the summer.

# A list of SURF project descriptions is given in the table below. Due to the number of SURF projects that we support, we are only able to support students who select from among these projects. Please make sure to read the project descriptions, required skills (if any) and skim a few of the listed references before contacting me about doing a SURF project.
# Students interested in writing proposals for SURF projects should contact me via e-mail by 9 Jan (Fri) and provide the following information:
#* A list of up to three SURF projects from the list below that you are interested in working on
#* A one page resume listing relevant experience and coursework
#* If you are not a Caltech student, I will also need the following additional information:
#** An unofficial copy of your academic transcript
#** Names of two faculty members at your current institution that I can contact for a reference
# Starting on 10 January, I will go through all applications and work with my group to identify who is a possible fit for each project. We will then contact you and ask for you to meet (or talk with) possible co-mentors so that we can eventually work out who we will work with in writing up a proposal.
# We hope to make final decisions on projects by about 20 Jan, at which point we will start working with students on writing up proposals.
# All applications should go through the normal SURF application process, described at www.surf.caltech.edu. SURF applications are due on ~21 Feb 2015.
# If you are selected for a SURF, please be aware of the following information
#* All SURF projects in my group will start on 16 Jun (Tue). If you can't start on that date, please make sure that you indicate this when you contact me
#* All SURF projects are for a minimum of 10 weeks, although I usually recommend that you try to stay for 12 weeks if possible (at no additional pay). It's hard to complete a project in just 10 weeks and spending a few extra weeks can greatly improve the project.
#* All SURF students in my group will be expected to devote full-time effort to their SURF project, so you cannot have a second job in addition to your SURF.

=== List of available projects ===

Projects will be posted as they come available. I recommend waiting until near the deadline submission before submitting your project preferences.

Jin Ge, Dec 2014

2014-12-10T04:08:59Z

Cmcghan: /* Schedule */

Jin Ge is a graduate student working with Gabor Orosz who will be visiting on 11 Dec (Thu).

=== Schedule ===
* 9:45 am - meet Richard in 109 Steele Lab
* 10 - 12 pm - Networked Control Systems group meeting
* 12-1:30 - group meeting (seminar)
* 1:30 - 2:15: Yilin Mo (Ann 310)
* 2:15 - 3:00: Ioannis Filippidis (Ann 330)
* 3:00 - 3:45: Samira Farahani (Ann 203)
* 3:45 - 4:30: Catharine McGhan (Ann 218)

=== Talk info ===
Title: Linear Quadratic Regulation (LQR) for Time-Varying Systems with Delay 
Thu, 12 pm -- 213 Annenberg

In this talk, linear quadratic regulation (LQR) for time-varying systems with delay is used to optimize the control gains for connected cruise control (CCC). We assume that the CCC vehicle receives kinematic information through wireless vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication from several vehicles ahead. An optimized feedback law is obtained by minimizing a cost function defined by distance and velocity errors and the acceleration of the CCC vehicle on an infinite horizon. Communication delays, driver reaction times, and heterogeneity among vehicles are taken into account. We show that the feedback gains can be obtained recursively as signals from vehicles farther ahead become available, and that the optimal gains decay with the number of cars between the source of the signal and the CCC vehicle. To ensure smooth traffic flow the head-to-tail string stability is investigated and the robustness against connectivity loss and delay variations is tested. The analytical results are verified by numerical simulations of connected vehicle systems