Speaker:  Dr. Fumin Zhang

Title:
Controlled Lagrangian Prediction Theory

Abstract:
This talk addresses the behaviors of a class of nonlinear systems under time-varying, state-dependent, and stochastic perturbations. The research is motivated by experimental work on navigating ocean gliders over the last decade. Experimental data consistently suggests that the navigation error growth demonstrates certain patterns that have not been fully understood till this day. Our main contribution is to establish a theoretical framework to explain and quantify these patterns in error growth. We have discovered the major factors that contribute to the error growth, which successfully explained some of the growth patterns.  Indeed, the controlled Lagrangian prediction theory may have suggested a new research direction towards control the motion of marine robots, which have seen significant growth in applications related to environmental sensing and disaster recovery.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Fumin Zhang is associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a Ph.D. degree in 2004 from the University of Maryland (College Park) in electrical engineering, and held a postdoctoral position at Princeton University from 2004 to 2007. His research interests include mobile sensor networks, maritime robotics, control systems, and theoretical foundations for cyber-physical systems. He received the NSF CAREER Award in September 2009, the Lockheed Inspirational Young Faculty Award in March 2010, the ONR Young Investigator Program Award in April 2010, and the GT Roger P. Webb Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in April 2011. He is currently serving as the co-chair for the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Marine Robotics, and the chair for the IEEE CSS Technical Committee on Robotic Control and Manufacturing Automation.