Further information
Professor Alessandro Astolfi, Professor of Non-Linear Control Theory presents his inaugural lecture “Longitude”.
In the Chair: Professor Peter Cheung, Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London
Vote of Thanks: Professor Alberto Isidori, Department of Computer and Systems Science, University of Rome “La Sapienza”.
A pre lecture tea will be served from 16.45 in the Senior Common Room, Level 2, Sherfield Building
Attendance at this lecture is free with registration in advance: l.brown@imperial.ac.uk.
Abstract: This talk summarises 20 years in control with a view to the future. I start formulating the longitude problem using the concept of coordinates, nonlinear systems theory and the notions of feedback and robustness. I then discuss Harrison’s solution from a control perspective and present my work on nonlinear control theory and its applications. I highlight the importance of selecting coordinates which are adapted to the control problem, provide an interpretation of controllers as signal generators, and illustrate the role of a geometric perspective of performance. Flight control, drug scheduling, and image processing problems are presented to illustrate these ideas.
Biography: Alessandro Astolfi graduated in electronic engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1991. In 1992 he joined ETH-Zurich, where he obtained a Ph.D. degree with “Medal of Honour” in 1995 for his thesis on discontinuous stabilization of nonholonomic systems. In 1996 he was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” for his work on nonlinear robust control. In 1996 he joined the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department of Imperial College London, where he is currently Professor of Non-Linear Control Theory. His research interests are focused on mathematical control theory and control applications. He has studied the problems of discontinuous stabilization, robust stabilization, adaptive control, observer design and model reduction and their application to electro-mechanical, power and energy transformation systems. He was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2003 and the IEEE Control Systems Society Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher Prize in 2007 in recognition of his cutting-edge contributions to the theory and application of systems and control. He was elected Fellow of the IEEE in 2009.