First results on obstacle avoidance controller design

Hour: 11.00 - 12.00
Venue: Seminar Room, Polo scientifico-tecnologico Fabio Ferrari – via Sommarive 9 - Trento

• Philipp Braun -  University of Newcastle, Australia

Abstract

Constructive methods for the controller design for dynamical systems subject to bounded state constraints have only been investigated by a limited number of researchers. The construction of robust control laws is significantly more difficult compared to unconstrained problems due to the necessity of discontinuous feedback laws. A rigorous understanding of the problem is however important in obstacle or collision avoidance for mobile robots, for example. In this talk we present preliminary results on the controller design for obstacle avoidance of linear systems based on the notation of hybrid systems. In particular, we derive a discontinuous feedback law, globally stabilizing the origin while avoiding a neighborhood around an obstacle. In this context, additionally an explicit bound on the maximal size of the obstacle is provided.

Biosketch

Philipp Braun received the Diploma degree in mathematics from the Technical University Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, in 2012 and the Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, in 2016.
Since 2016, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Chair of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bayreuth (currently on leave), and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia.
His research interests include predictive control algorithms, in particular, distributed control algorithms in the context of smart grids. Additionally, he is working on stability and stabilization of constrained dynamical systems using Lyapunov methods.