Computing efficiently a feasible or optimal trajectory between two given states lies at the core of almost every autonomous system. Traditional techniques, based on optimal control or discrete abstractions of the problem can provide optimal trajectories for a variety of problems. However, the usefulness of these techniques diminishes very quickly when one wants to plan trajectories in high-dimensional state/configuration spaces, especially in the presence of several state constraints and/or obstacles. In this talk I will discuss our recent work on developing asymptotically optimal motion planning algorithms using sampling based methods that expedite convergence using ideas from dynamic programming, thus bridging the gap between these recent methods and the more traditional methods based on optimal control.

 

Dr. Tsiotras joined the faculty of the School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998 as an Associate Professor. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, Dr. Tsiotras was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia. He has held visiting appointments with INRIA, Rocquencourt, the Laboratoire de Automatique de Grenoble, and the Ecole des Mines de Paris in France. He has published over 250 journal and conference papers in the areas of astrodynamics, optimal and nonlinear control, and dynamics and control of mechanical and aerospace systems. His current research interests include analysis and control of autonomous and semi-autonomous ground, aerial and space vehicles. Dr. Tsiotras is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, the Sigma Xi President and Visitor’s Award for Excellence in Research as well as numerous fellowships and scholarships. He is a past Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, of the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics of the IEEE Control Systems Magazine and of the Dynamics and Control journal (now merged with the Journal of Dynamical and Control Systems). He is a Fellow of the AIAA, and a Senior Member of the IEEE.