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GRASP Lab Seminar 2003-2004
April 23, 11:00 AM, Levine Hall 307, hosted by Ali Jadbabaie.
Mehran
Mesbahi
University of Washington
Constrained attitude control, distributed space systems, and state-dependent dynamic graphs
Abstract: In the first part of this talk, we will consider the non-convex constrained attitude control problem as it arises in single and multiple spacecraft missions. Although this problem has been of great interest in the space systems community for many years, no general methodology have been available for its solution; we will present a methodology for this problem based on convex optimization techniques and in particular semi-definite programming.
In the second part of this talk, we consider control problems associated with distributed space systems that operate over a sensing and communication network. Specifically, we will focus on network-enabled space systems where the network geometry is allowed to be a function of the states of the underling dynamic system. We refer to such systems as state-dependent graphs. Various new results on such dynamic graphs, having a mixture of combinatorial and system theoretic features, are presented. Along the way, we will present a result on the eigenvalue assignment problem over graphs, and highlight the connections between notions from system theory and control (controllability, invariance, etc.), and the theory of extremal combinatorics.Biography: Mehran Mesbahi (Ph.D. 1996, Univ. of Southern California) is an Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at University of Washington. Prior to joining UW in 2002, he was an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2000-2002), Member of Technical Staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech (1996-1999), a Lecturer in the Department of Control and Dynamical Systems, Caltech (1998-1999), and a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Southern California (1997-1998). M. Mesbahi was a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2001 for his work on distributed space systems, a NASA New Technology Award in 2001 for his research at Jet Propulsion Laboratory on multiple spacecraft formation flying, and the Cassini Attitude and Articulation Award for his contribution to the control algorithms for the Cassini Mission. His research interests are distributed space systems, system and control theory, optimization, and engineering applications of combinatorics.
