CCNY Lecture Series on Computer Vision, Robotics and Human-Computer Interaction

Title: Applied Nonlinear Control: Opportunities and Challenges

    Professor Zhong-Ping Jiang
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
    Polytechnic University (Brooklyn)

Date: February 22, 2006
Time: 12:00pm ~ 1:00 pm
Room: EE dept. conference room, T-648

Abstract

The development of nonlinear control theory is driven by solving engineering problems involving strong nonlinearities (e.g., mechanical and information systems). Over the last 25 years a lot of progress has been made in nonlinear control design and applications. In this lecture, we will review some methods proposed in the recent literature. A special focus will be placed on the nonlinear small-gain methodology that we have proposed for nonlinear and interconnected feedback systems. We will show how this methodology can serve as a framework for unifying various existing results in nonlinear control design. In particular we will present a nonlinear extension of the popular PI controller.

Connections with the classical Lyapunov's direct method will be mentioned. In the second part of the talk, we will demonstrate some open research problems in the theory of nonlinear control and discuss our current NSF and Air Force projects where nonlinear control techniques are needed for novel solutions.

Biography

Dr. Jiang received the B.Sc. degree in mathematics from the University of Wuhan, Wuhan, China, in 1988, the M.Sc. degree in statistics from the University of Paris (Orsay), Paris, France, in 1989, and the Ph.D. degree in automatic control and mathematics from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, Paris, France, in 1993.

From 1993 to 1998, he held visiting researcher positions in several institutions including INRIA (Sophia-Antipolis), France, the Department of Systems Engineering in the Australian National University, Canberra and the Department of Electrical Engineering in the University of Sydney.
In 1998, he also visited several U.S. universities. In January 1999, he joined the Polytechnic University at Brooklyn as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, where he has been an Associate Professor since 2002. His main research interests include stability theory, nonlinear control theory and their applications to mechanical and information systems. He is author of four book chapters, 76 journal papers and numerous conference papers. More detailed information can be found in the website http://ctrl.poly.edu/.

Dr. Jiang is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and the ARC Queen Elizabeth II and Japan JSPS Invitation Fellowships. Currently, he is a Editor for the International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, and an Associate Editor for Systems & Control Letters and European Journal of Control. He served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (2003-2005) and the IEEE CSS Conference Editorial Board (2000-2002).

The lecture series is supported by CCNY Grove School of Engineering, and National Science Foundation.