Controls and Control Theory Commons^™

Trajectory-Based Model Predictive Control For Rotary Crane Sway Suppression With Only Horizontal Boom Actuation, Haryson J. Nyobuya

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Safety is of biggest importance in construction and industrial activities involving rotary cranes. These cranes are huge and responsible of moving large parts or/and materials from different positions. Now operating these cranes tend to be subdue to pay load oscillations when moving the load for which is extremely dangerous when not suppressed. This study proposes the generation of trajectory using Model predictive control approach with reduced control horizon compared to state horizon. Reduced control horizon design reduces computational time for trajectory generation while maintaining the pay-load sways to a minimum. In this approach the complex dynamic model is reduced to …

A Comparative Study Of Model Predictive Control And The Stanley Method For Vehicle Path Tracking Applications, Noah S. Fitzgerald

Master's Theses

This thesis compares a model predictive controller (MPC) and a lateral Stanley controller for vehicle path-tracking applications under simulation-based and perception-driven operating conditions. Both controllers were evaluated in simulation using a nonlinear dynamic bicycle model executing single and double lane change maneuvers. Following simulation-based evaluation, both controllers were implemented on hardware within a perception-driven steering-control pipeline. This pipeline utilized recorded sensor data from the MXcarkit 1/8^th-scale autonomous vehicle platform, incorporating lane instance segmentation and homography-based roadway estimation.

Under idealized simulation conditions, the MPC demonstrated improved trajectory-tracking performance during aggressive maneuvers while requiring greater steering activity and computational effort …

Mass - Modular Acoustic Suppression System, Julia Megargle, Michael A. Milner, Lucas Kaemmererer, Jonathan Corvera, Gabriel Choi, Emmi Cayer

Mechanical Engineering

The Modular Acoustic Suppression System (MASS) is a mass tuned damper that reverberates a membrane atop a cavity to absorb select acoustic frequencies produced by the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) within NASA's Artemis Human Lander. The height of the reverberation chamber is adjusted to mitigate a range of varying tonal frequencies within the human lander.

Autonomous Vision-Based Litter Collection Rover, Dante Michael Benedetti, Benjamin Scott Tavares, Nathan Heil

Electrical Engineering

This report documents the design, implementation, and testing of an autonomous litter-collection rover developed as a Senior Project Design Lab (EE 460/463/464) at California Polytechnic State University. The rover integrates autonomy, computer vision, embedded real-time control, mecanum-wheel omnidirectional mobility, and a two-degree-of-freedom robotic arm to detect, approach, and collect small ground-level litter such as bottles, wrappers, and paper fragments.

The system uses a two-layer compute architecture: an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano running ROS 2 for perception, SLAM, and path planning, paired with an STM32L4A6ZG microcontroller for real-time motor control and odometry. The robot is built on a multi-level aluminum frame …

Versatile Exoskeleton Control Paradigms For Agile Human Locomotion: Task-Agnostic And Stability-Augmented Assistance, Miao Yu

All Dissertations

Lower-limb exoskeletons have shown great potential for assisting human locomotion, but designing controllers that provide assistance across diverse locomotor tasks and under external perturbations remains a major challenge. Many existing controllers for steady-state walking rely on pre-defined reference trajectories, which constrain voluntary human motion and limit adaptability across tasks. Moreover, they usually assume stable walking, while their performance under unstable conditions remains largely unexplored. In addition, existing gait stability augmentation controllers are often reactive rather than proactive to unstable conditions. In this dissertation, we propose control frameworks that preserve voluntary human motion while addressing two major challenges: providing task-agnostic assistance …

Development Of Low-Cost Triaxial Force Sensor For Measurement Of Human-Exoskeleton Interaction Forces, Hamdan Khan Sarvathullah

All Theses

Contemporary research suggests that shear force is a major contributor to discomfort and pressure injury. However, the variation of shear forces during human-exoskeleton interaction dynamics is a highly unexplored field. The high cost of commercial triaxial force sensors may be a major factor in the notable lack of research in this field. Therefore, in this paper, we present a low-cost, 3D-printed triaxial force sensor designed specifically to measure the triaxial interaction forces between an exoskeleton and its user. The triaxial force sensor uses Carbon-Black/Silicone Rubber (CB/SR) strings to measure shear forces, whereas the normal force is measured with a Force …

Safe Control Design For Quadruped Locomotion In Unstructured Environments Using Linear Transfer Operators, Sriram Sundar Krishnamoorthy Shankara Narayanan

All Dissertations

Deploying quadruped robots in unstructured, obstacle-rich environments requires control and planning methods that remain safe and reliable despite complex terrain geometry, limited sensing, and inevitable modeling errors. This thesis develops operator-theoretic tools for safe control design of robotic systems using linear transfer operators, with a focus on quadruped locomotion in unstructured environments. The central goal is to develop a unified operator-theoretic framework for safe control design based on the Perron–Frobenius (P–F) and Koopman operators. In particular, the thesis leverages \emph{density functions} to develop safe navigation frameworks in the dual space of densities. In the operator-theoretic perspective, the P–F operator governs …

The Pid-Based Three Quadcopter Uavs Formation Control Under External Disturbance, Vo Van An, Trinh Luong Mien

Makara Journal of Technology

This paper presents the design and evaluation of a formation control strategy for three quadcopter UAVs, based on a PID controller in a leader–follower structure, under the influence of external disturbances. Each UAV employs a six-degree of-freedom dynamic model and utilises a cascade PID control architecture, in which the inner control loop stabilises the attitude. In contrast, the outer control loop regulates position and maintains the formation. The PID parameters are tuned using the Ziegler–Nichols method to ensure simple implementation and low computational cost. The performance of the control system is evaluated through simulations in the MATLAB environment for two …

Deep Learning Based Control System For Multi-Zone Hvac Residential Buildings, Mohammad H. Z. Alghalayeeni

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are major contributors to residential energy consumption. However, most homes continue to rely on single zone thermostat control, which regulates temperature based on a single sensor and cannot account for thermal variations across multiple rooms. This often leads to uneven thermal conditions and inefficient energy use in multi-zone residential buildings. This thesis presents a deep reinforcement learning based approach for improving HVAC zoning control through dynamic airflow distribution. A physics based multi zone thermal model of a residential house was developed to simulate heat transfer processes including conduction, convection, solar and internal heat …

Stability Analysis Of Thermohaline Convection With A Time-Varying Shear Flow Using The Lyapunov Method, Kalin Kochnev

Honors Scholar Theses

This work applies the Lyapunov method to identify instabilities and compute the growth rate of a linear time-varying system. The linear system studied describes cold fresh water on top of hot salty water with a periodically time-varying background shear flow. A time-dependent weighting matrix is employed to construct a Lyapunov function candidate. The resulting linear matrix inequalities are discretized in time using the forward Euler method. As the number of temporal discretization points increases, the growth rate predicted by the Lyapunov method or Floquet theory, used for comparison, will converge to the same value obtained from numerical simulations. Furthermore, the …

Robust Data-Driven Predictive Control Of Nonlinear Systems Under Modeling Uncertainty, Pegah Ghafghanbari

All Dissertations

Data-driven predictive control enables designing controllers directly from data, making it attractive for complex systems with hard-to-model dynamics. However, practical deployment is challenged by modeling inaccuracies and changing operating conditions. This dissertation develops predictive control frameworks that incorporate robustness and adaptability to address these issues in uncertain nonlinear systems.

The first part employs the Linear Parameter-Varying (LPV) framework, which represents nonlinear dynamics through simple linear form representation. To characterize the plant-model-mismatch often caused by limited data and numerical calculations, Bayesian Neural Networks (BNNs) are used, and their uncertainty estimates are integrated into two robust control approaches. The first is a …

Data-Driven Constrained Control, Ali Kashani

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Ensuring safety is a fundamental challenge. Traditional methods often rely on precise mathematical models, which are difficult, impractical, or costly to obtain for real-world systems with complex, nonlinear dynamics. This dissertation develops direct data-driven control approaches that enable safe and efficient operation of nonlinear systems without requiring explicit models or performing system identification. This effort leverages machine learning, optimization, and control theory to bridge theoretical rigor and practical applicability. Deterministic guarantees are provided based on the Lipschitz continuity of the system, and probabilistic guarantees through scenario optimization. The computation of safe sets is performed using one-shot approaches with broad neural …

Hydropower Collegiate Competition, Aiden D. Foster, Devon Bountry, Joanna Vo, Timothy Rinker, Amanda Rodriguez, Minh Nguyen, Eli Haushalter, Sophie Watkinson, Maiya Holton, Breanne Evans

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly SLO HCC team presents a feasibility study and engineering design review package for retrofitting the non-powered Ritschard Dam in Colorado into a hydroelectric facility as part of the 2025 Hydropower Collegiate Competition. Through a rigorous and multi-staged assessment of plausible dam sites in the western US, the team has chosen the Ritschard Dam in Colorado to implement an electromechanical component designed to accommodate a large range of flowrates stemming from a large variance in upper reservoir capacity due to geographical and climate effects. The team evaluated non-powered dams based on technical feasibility, electric grid proximity, power generation …

Capacitive Sensors With Ultra-Small Capacitance For Smart Measurement And Control Systems, Rustam Baratov, Farrux Jabbor O'G'Li Ko'charov

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

This article discusses methods of low capacitance measurement of capacitive sensors. The results of the study of the amplitude-frequency (AF) and phase-frequency (PF) response of measurement circuits of capacitive sensors for low capacitances measurement, consisting of RC - differentiating elements are presented. The input and output parameters of the differentiating circuit and the complex transfer function are analyzed. The research results show that low capacitances measurement by measuring the rectangular pulses duration is the most effective measurement method.

Convex Approach To Data-Driven Optimal Control With Safety Constraints Using Linear Transfer Operator, Joseph Raphel Moyalan

All Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with the data-driven solution to the optimal control problem with safety constraints for a class of control-affine nonlinear systems. Designing optimal control satisfying safety constraints is a problem of interest in various applications, including robotics, power systems, transportation networks, and manufacturing. This problem is known to be non-convex. One of this thesis's main contributions is providing a convex formulation to this non-convex problem. The second main contribution is providing a data-driven framework for solving the control problem with safety constraints. The linear operator theoretic framework involving Perron-Frobenius and Koopman operators provides the convex formulation and associated …

Nonlinear Guidance And Control Of Unmanned Aerial Manipulators For Delivering A Payload On A Moving Platform, Ravi Gyawali

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Unmanned Aerial manipulators (UAMs) are a class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a manipulator. By combining the aerial mobility of a UAV with a manipulator's dexterity, these hybrid systems can perform a wide range of complex tasks while reducing risks and costs. As a result, they are increasingly being utilized for military, industrial, and agricultural applications.

The thesis presents a novel approach for a multi-UAM system to collaboratively deliver a payload on a stationary or maneuvering platform. A sliding-mode-based guidance law, sourced from existing literature, is integrated with a combined control technique for the UAVs and their respective …

External Direct Sum Invariant Subspace And Decomposition Of Coupled Differential-Difference Equations, Keqin Gu, Huan Phan-Van

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This article discusses the invariant subspaces that are restricted to be external direct sums. Some existence conditions are presented that facilitate finding such invariant subspaces. This problem is related to the decomposition of coupled differential-difference equations, leading to the possibility of lowering the dimensions of coupled differential-difference equations. As has been well documented, lowering the dimension of coupled differential-difference equations can drastically reduce the computational time needed in stability analysis when a complete quadratic Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is used. Most known ad hoc methods of reducing the order are special cases of this formulation.

Structured Invariant Subspace And Decomposition Of Systems With Time Delays And Uncertainties, Huan Phan-Van, Keqin Gu

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This article discusses invariant subspaces of a matrix with a given partition structure. The existence of a nontrivial structured invariant subspace is equivalent to the possibility of decomposing the associated system with multiple feedback blocks such that the feedback operators are subject to a given constraint. The formulation is especially useful in the stability analysis of time-delay systems using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional approach where computational efficiency is essential in order to achieve accuracy for large scale systems. The set of all structured invariant subspaces are obtained (thus all possible decompositions are obtained as a result) for the coupled differential-difference equations …

Provably Safe Control For Input-Constrained Robotic Systems, Pedram Rabiee

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

This dissertation addresses challenges in control design for safety-critical robotic systems with input constraints. It focuses on developing novel control barrier function (CBF) approaches to ensure safety while optimizing performance. The work is motivated by the limitations of traditional methods in handling nonlinear systems with multiple constraints and actuator limits.

Three main contributions are presented. First, a soft-minimum barrier function is introduced, utilizing finite-time horizon predictions to create control forward invariant subsets of the safe set while respecting actuator constraints. This method is extended to multiple backup controls, which can enlarge the safe operating region.

Second, a technique for composing …

On Uncertainty For Ill-Posed Robot Decision Problems, Jared Joseph Beard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As robots adopt more real world responsibilities, they will be expected to solve more complicated problems. In some cases limited prior knowledge will result in unmodelled environmental conditions; in others, multiple users may have competing perspectives on how to frame a decision problem. Many existing frameworks, namely Markov decision processes (MDP) presuppose users have identified a specific problem with models sufficient to solve or learn a problem. If we wish to extend MDPs to novel problems or those heavily dependent on user feedback, autonomous decision makers must be able to identify limitations in how a given problem is framed and …

Controlled Manipulation And Transport By Microswimmers In Stokes Flows, Jake Buzhardt

All Dissertations

Remotely actuated microscale swimming robots have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of biomedicine. However, for the longterm goals of this field of research to be achievable, it is necessary to develop modelling, simulation, and control strategies which effectively and efficiently account for not only the motion of individual swimmers, but also the complex interactions of such swimmers with their environment including other nearby swimmers, boundaries, other cargo and passive particles, and the fluid medium itself. The aim of this thesis is to study these problems in simulation from the perspective of controls and dynamical systems, with a particular focus …

Safe Navigation Of Quadruped Robots Using Density Functions, Andrew Zheng

All Theses

Safe navigation of mission-critical systems is of utmost importance in many modern autonomous applications. Over the past decades, the approach to the problem has consisted of using probabilistic methods, such as sample-based planners, to generate feasible, safe solutions to the navigation problem. However, these methods use iterative safety checks to guarantee the safety of the system, which can become quite complex. The navigation problem can also be solved in feedback form using potential field methods. Navigation function, a class of potential field methods, is an analytical control design to give almost everywhere convergence properties, but under certain topological constraints and …

Hardware-In-The-Loop Reaction Wheel Testbed With Camera Vision, Abigail Romero, Harvey Perkins, Stephen Kwok-Choon

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Reaction wheels are widely used in aerospace systems as a method of attitude control. This research was focused on the design, development, and testing of a hardware-in-the-loop reaction wheel testbed that can be used for research and teaching applications related to satellite navigation and control. This project successfully utilized commercial off-the-shelf components to develop a reaction wheel capable of controlling the orientation of a freely rotating platform, as well as tracking objects using computer vision.

Integrated Energy-Aware Motion Planning And Charge Scheduling Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Hayleyesus Alemayehu

All Theses

The growing demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is driven by their operational convenience, cost-effectiveness, availability, and adaptability to various scenarios. In energy-constrained environments, optimizing energy consumption and ensuring a continuous power supply for UAVs is crucial for mission success. The objective of this thesis is to address this issue by integrating energy-aware motion planning and charge scheduling for UAVs by utilizing a charger hosted on an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), whose rendezvous locations and routes are jointly computed to minimize overall energy consumption.

This thesis proposes a hierarchical trajectory and control framework comprising local and global planners for each …

Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Future assembly technologies will involve higher levels of automation in order to satisfy increased microscale or nanoscale precision requirements. Traditionally, assembly using a top-down robotic approach has been well-studied and applied to the microelectronics and MEMS industries, but less so in nanotechnology. With the boom of nanotechnology since the 1990s, newly designed products with new materials, coatings, and nanoparticles are gradually entering everyone’s lives, while the industry has grown into a billion-dollar volume worldwide. Traditionally, nanotechnology products are assembled using bottom-up methods, such as self-assembly, rather than top-down robotic assembly. This is due to considerations of volume handling of large …

Study Of Eco-Driving And Charging Planning In Connected And Automated Vehicles Environment, Pradeep Bhat

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this dissertation, the development of eco-driving and charging planning algorithms in the connected and automated vehicle environment (CAV) are presented. CAV technologies provide opportunities for potential energy savings and efficiency improvement of transportation networks, which are explored through multiple research tasks in this study.

The objective of the first study presented in Chapter 2 is to reduce vehicle dynamic losses and required tractive force while completing trip distance within a given travel time. Sequential Quadratic Programming method is employed for this nonlinearly constrained optimization problem. The validation result illustrates the benefits of optimal velocity trajectories. The objective of the …

Imitation Learning For Swarm Control Using Variational Inference, Hafeez Olafisayo Jimoh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Swarms are groups of robots that can coordinate, cooperate, and communicate to achieve tasks that may be impossible for a single robot. These systems exhibit complex dynamical behavior, similar to those observed in physics, neuroscience, finance, biology, social and communication networks, etc. For instance, in Biology, schools of fish, swarm of bacteria, colony of termites exhibit flocking behavior to achieve simple and complex tasks. Modeling the dynamics of flocking in animals is challenging as we usually do not have full knowledge of the dynamics of the system and how individual agent interact. The environment of swarms is also very noisy …

Modeling, Control And Estimation Of Reconfigurable Cable Driven Parallel Robots, Adhiti Raman Thothathri

All Dissertations

The motivation for this thesis was to develop a cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR) as part of a two-part robotic device for concrete 3D printing. This research addresses specific research questions in this domain, chiefly, to present advantages offered by the addition of kinematic redundancies to CDPRs. Due to the natural actuation redundancy present in a fully constrained CDPR, the addition of internal mobility offers complex challenges in modeling and control that are not often encountered in literature.

This work presents a systematic analysis of modeling such kinematic redundancies through the application of reciprocal screw theory (RST) and Lie algebra while …

Multi-Robot Symbolic Task And Motion Planning Leveraging Human Trust Models: Theory And Applications, Huanfei Zheng

All Dissertations

Multi-robot systems (MRS) can accomplish more complex tasks with two or more robots and have produced a broad set of applications. The presence of a human operator in an MRS can guarantee the safety of the task performing, but the human operators can be subject to heavier stress and cognitive workload in collaboration with the MRS than the single robot. It is significant for the MRS to have the provable correct task and motion planning solution for a complex task. That can reduce the human workload during supervising the task and improve the reliability of human-MRS collaboration. This dissertation relies …

Model-Based Design Of An Optimal Lqg Regulator For A Piezoelectric Actuated Smart Structure Using A High-Precision Laser Interferometry Measurement System, Grant P. Gallagher

Master's Theses

Smart structure control systems commonly use piezoceramic sensors or accelerometers as vibration measurement devices. These measurement devices often produce noisy and/or low-precision signals, which makes it difficult to measure small-amplitude vibrations. Laser interferometry devices pose as an alternative high-precision position measurement method, capable of nanometer-scale resolution. The aim of this research is to utilize a model-based design approach to develop and implement a real-time Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) regulator for a piezoelectric actuated smart structure using a high-precision laser interferometry measurement system to suppress the excitation of vibratory modes.

The analytical model of the smart structure is derived using the …