681416 event 1743090545 1743090579 <![CDATA[PhD Defense by Ji Yin]]>
Ji Yin
(Advisor: Prof. Panagiotis Tsiotras]
will defend a doctoral thesis entitled,
Safe and Efficient Variational Inference Model Predictive Control with Application to Aggressive Autonomous Driving
On
Tuesday, April 1 at 9:00 a.m.
Virtual
Zoom Link
Abstract
Autonomous driving demands a careful balance between optimal performance, safety, and real-time feasibility. Variational Inference Model Predictive Control (VIMPC), particularly Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) control, offers flexibility in handling nonlinear dynamics but is hindered by high computational costs, a lack of risk-awareness, and the absence of formal safety guarantees. This research enhances VIMPC by improving sampling efficiency, incorporating risk-aware decision-making, and enforcing formal safety constraints. To optimize trajectory sampling, Covariance-controlled MPPI (CC-MPPI) dynamically adjusts the covariance of its sampling distribution, significantly enhancing efficiency. Risk-aware MPPI (RA-MPPI) integrates Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) to penalize high-risk trajectories, improving decision-making under uncertainty. Shield MPPI enforces safety through Control Barrier Function (CBF) constraints, extending to Belief-space Stochastic MPPI (BSS-MPPI) for robust planning under state estimation uncertainty. Finally, Neural Shield MPPI (NS-MPPI) leverages Neural Control Barrier Functions (NCBF) to further enhance sampling efficiency and overall autonomous driving performance. Validated on 1/28-scale BuzzRacer and 1/5-scale AutoRally platforms, these methods significantly improve efficiency, risk-awareness, and safety, making VIMPC a more viable solution for real-time, high-performance autonomous driving.

Committee
•    Dr. Panagiotis Tsiotras (Advisor), Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Tech
•    Dr. Samuel Coogan, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech
•    Dr. Ye Zhao, George Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech
•    Dr. Shreyas Kousik, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech
•    Dr. Chuchu Fan, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 

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