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September 16, 2019: Developments in Constrained Control for Aerospace Applications

  • September 16, 2019
  • 4:00 p.m.
  • 210 Robeson Hall
  • Dr. Ilya Kolmanovsky, University of Michigan
  • Faculty Host: Dr. Cornel Sultan

Abstract:  The ability to satisfy pointwise-in-time state and control constraints such as actuator range and rate limits, safety limits, comfort limits, and obstacle avoidance limits is increasingly important with the growing autonomy, agility and downsizing of aerospace systems.  This talk will describe recent research by the speaker (and his students) on constrained control theory and its aerospace applications. In the first part of the talk, we will consider reference governors which are add-on control schemes used for monitoring and modifying commands to avoid constraint violation.  Recent developments in the reference governor theory will be discussed and the potential of reference governors for aerospace applications including for maneuver load alleviation in very flexible aircraft will be illustrated.  In the second part of the talk, formulations of Model Predictive Control (MPC) for time optimal control problems will be considered. A time maximization problem will be addressed where the objective is to maximize the time until the system trajectory exits a prescribed set, defined by system safety constraints, operating limits and/or efficiency requirements.  Such “drift counteraction” problems are relevant to operating life extension for spacecraft.

Bio:  Professor Ilya V. Kolmanovsky has received his Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1995, his M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1993 and his M.A. degree in Mathematics in 1995, all from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is presently a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. Professor Kolmanovsky’s research interests are in control theory for systems with state and control constraints and in control applications to aerospace and automotive systems.  Prior to joining the University of Michigan in January of 2010, Dr. Kolmanovsky was with Ford Research and Advanced Engineering in Dearborn, Michigan for close to 15 years. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a past recipient of the Donald P. Eckman Award of American Automatic Control Council, of 2002 and 2016 IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Outstanding Paper Awards and of several innovation, publication and technical achievement awards of Ford Research and Advanced Engineering.  He is also named as an inventor on 100 United States patents.