Raffaell D'Andrea

Design & Control of Autonomous Systems

Abstract:  The commoditization of computation, sensing technology, and communication has enabled the conceptualization of new physical systems with large levels of autonomy. In many instances, we are no longer limited by physical hardware, but rather our ability to design and deploy reliable systems that take advantage of these new capabilities. In this talk I will discuss some of our contributions in the area of control and system design, and our attempts to tame and manage the complexity inherent in high performance autonomous systems. Examples include soccer playing robots, self-assembling chairs, and warehouses with hundreds of autonomous mobile vehicles. For more information, please visit www.raffaello.name.

Bio:  Raffaello D'Andrea received a B.Sc. degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto in 1991, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1992 and 1997. He was an assistant, and then an associate, professor at Cornell University from 1997 to 2007. He is currently a full professor of automatic control at ETH Zurich. He is also a founding member and engineering fellow of systems architecture & algorithms at Kiva Systems.  

He is a co-recipient of the 2008 IEEE/IFR Invention and Entrepreneurship Award, a United States Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering, and was the faculty advisor and system architect of the Cornell Robot Soccer Team, four-time world champions at the international RoboCup competition in Sweden, Australia, Italy, and Japan. He is a recipient of two best paper awards from the American Automatic Control Council and the IEEE, a National Science Foundation Career Award, and several teaching awards in the area of project-based learning. A creator of dynamic sculpture, his work has appeared at various international venues, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Venice Biennale, the Luminato Festival, Ars Electronica, and ideaCity.