82 citations · 220 across the 23 of their papers we have counts for
27 papers
Using Finite-Time Control to Synthesize Dynamic Backup Control Barrier Functions
Victor Turpin-Aguayo, Victor Freire, Marco M. Nicotra
This paper presents a novel approach for the construction of control barrier functions (CBFs) for controllable linear systems subject to multiple state and input constraints. The a…
Direct and Indirect Data-Driven Control with Prior Information about the Equilibrium Manifold
Yi-Chun Liao, Valentina Breschi, Marco M. Nicotra
By hinging on the assumption that a system to be controlled is fully unknown, many data-driven control approaches do not leverage available or readily inferable priors. In contrast…
A Semi-smooth Newton Method for the Constrained Optimal Control of Continuous-Time Linear Systems
Simon J. Jones, Dominic Liao-McPherson, Marco M. Nicotra
This paper details a novel indirect method for solving constrained optimal control problems (OCPs) directly in continuous-time function space. The KKT conditions are embedded in a…
Moving On, Even When You're Broken: Fail-Active Trajectory Generation via Diffusion Policies Conditioned on Embodiment and Task
Gilberto G. Briscoe-Martinez, Yaashia Gautam, Rahul Shetty +3
Robot failure is detrimental and disruptive, often requiring human intervention to recover. Our vision is 'fail-active' operation, allowing robots to safely complete their tasks ev…
Designing Control Barrier Functions Using a Dynamic Backup Policy
Victor Freire, Marco M. Nicotra
This paper presents a systematic approach to construct control barrier functions for nonlinear control affine systems subject to arbitrary state and input constraints. Taking inspi…
Compliant Explicit Reference Governor for Contact Friendly Robotic Manipulators
Yaashia Gautam, Gilberto Briscoe-Martinez, Adhitya Mohan +3
This paper introduces the Compliant Explicit Reference Governor (CERG), a modular reference management system that enables robots to interact physically with their environment unde…
Using Dynamic Safety Margins as Control Barrier Functions
Victor Freire, Marco M. Nicotra
This paper presents an approach to design control barrier functions (CBFs) for arbitrary state and input constraints using tools from the reference governor literature. In particul…
Finite-Time Computation of Polyhedral Input-Saturated Output-Admissible Sets
Yaashia Gautam, Marco M. Nicotra
The paper introduces a novel algorithm for computing the output admissible set of linear discrete-time systems subject to input saturation. The proposed method takes advantage of t…
Stability Analysis of Hypersampled Model Predictive Control
Yaashia Gautam, Marco M. Nicotra
This paper introduces a new framework for analyzing the stability of discrete-time model predictive controllers acting on continuous-time systems. The proposed framework introduces…
Solving quantum optimal control problems using projection-operator-based Newton steps
Jieqiu Shao, Mantas Naris, John Hauser +1
The Quantum Projection Operator-Based NewtonMethod for Trajectory Optimization (Q-PRONTO) is a numerical method for solving quantum optimal control problems. This paper significant…
Attitude Trajectory Optimization and Momentum Conservation with Control Moment Gyroscopes
Thomas L. Dearing, John Hauser, Christopher Petersen +2
In this work, we develop a numerically tractable trajectory optimization problem for rest-to-rest attitude transfers with CMG-driven spacecraft. First, we adapt a specialized dynam…
A Projection Operator-based Newton Method for the Trajectory Optimization of Closed Quantum Systems
Jieqiu Shao, Joshua Combes, John Hauser +1
Quantum optimal control is an important technology that enables fast state preparation and gate design. In the absence of an analytic solution, most quantum optimal control methods…
Constrained Power Reference Control for Wind Turbines
Daniel S. Zalkind, Marco M. Nicotra, Lucy Y. Pao
The cost of wind energy can be reduced by controlling the power reference of a turbine to increase energy capture, while maintaining load and generator speed constraints. We apply…
Feasibility Governor for Linear Model Predictive Control
Terrence Skibik, Dominic Liao-McPherson, Torbjørn Cunis +2
This paper introduces the Feasibility Governor (FG): an add-on unit that enlarges the region of attraction of Model Predictive Control by manipulating the reference to ensure that…
A Feasibility Governor for Enlarging the Region of Attraction of Linear Model Predictive Controllers
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Terrence Skibik, Torbjørn Cunis +2
This paper proposes a method for enlarging the region of attraction of Linear Model Predictive Controllers (MPC) when tracking piecewise-constant references in the presence of poin…
An Analysis of Closed-Loop Stability for Linear Model Predictive Control Based on Time-Distributed Optimization
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Terrence Skibik, Jordan Leung +2
Time-distributed Optimization (TDO) is an approach for reducing the computational burden of Model Predictive Control (MPC). When using TDO, optimization iterations are distributed…
Distributed Reinforcement Learning for Cooperative Multi-Robot Object Manipulation
Guohui Ding, Joewie J. Koh, Kelly Merckaert +5
We consider solving a cooperative multi-robot object manipulation task using reinforcement learning (RL). We propose two distributed multi-agent RL approaches: distributed approxim…
Sensitivity-based Warmstarting for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control with Polyhedral State and Control Constraints
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Marco M. Nicotra, Asen L. Dontchev +2
Model predictive control (MPC) is of increasing interest in applications for constrained control of multivariable systems. However, one of the major obstacles to its broader use is…
A Semismooth Predictor Corrector Method for Suboptimal Model Predictive Control
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Marco Nicotra, Ilya Kolmanovsky
Suboptimal model predictive control is a technique that can reduce the computational cost of model predictive control (MPC) by exploiting its robustness to incomplete optimization.…
Spacecraft Attitude Control with Nonconvex Constraints: An Explicit Reference Governor Approach
Marco Nicotra, Dominic Liao-McPherson, Laurent Burlion +1
This paper introduces a novel attitude controller for spacecraft subject to actuator saturation and multiple exclusion cone constraints. The proposed solution relies on a two-layer…
Time Distributed Optimization for Model Predictive Control: Stability, Robustness, and Constraint Satisfaction
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Marco Nicotra, Ilya Kolmanovsky
Time distributed optimization is an implementation strategy that can significantly reduce the computational burden of model predictive control by exploiting its robustness to incom…
Technical Note for "A Geodesic Approach for the Control of Tethered Quadrotors"
Tam W. Nguyen, Marco M. Nicotra, Emanuele Garone
This technical note focuses on the control of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tethered to the ground. The control objective is to stabilize the UAV to the desired positio…
A Semismooth Predictor Corrector Method for Real-Time Constrained Parametric Optimization with Applications in Model Predictive Control
Dominic Liao-McPherson, Marco Nicotra, Ilya Kolmanovsky
Real-time optimization problems are ubiquitous in control and estimation, and are typically parameterized by incoming measurement data and/or operator commands. This paper proposes…
Explicit Reference Governor for the Constrained Control of Time-Delayed Linear Systems
Marco M. Nicotra, Tam Nguyen, Emanuele Garone +1
This paper introduces an explicit reference governor approach for controlling time delay linear systems subject to state and input constraints. The proposed framework relies on sui…