Automatica

Activities

The Automatica research group at DET-PoliTo is involved in both fundamental research and applications of methods and technologies for the analysis, identification and control of dynamical systems; efficient modeling and optimization for large-scale complex and networked systems, machine learning, data analytics, convex optimization, and robotics.

The main theoretical research activities of the Automatica group include model-based control design for linear and nonlinear systems; Model Predictive Control; data-driven control design; scenario methods for probabilistic robust control; modeling and control for industrial and service robotics; modeling, optimization, and control of large-scale and networked systems; model identification and prediction; direct virtual sensor design for linear and nonlinear systems; sparse optimization for data analytics; Machine Learning; financial modelling and investment decision support; single-period and multi-period portfolio allocation.

Applied research is performed in different fields, including computational finance, energy (power grid analysis, energy efficiency in buildings, high altitude wind energy generation using power kites, demand prediction), environment (water and atmospheric pollution forecast), aerospace (power kites for naval propulsion and wind energy generation, spacecraft control, quadrotor control), automotive (control of suspension systems and vehicle lateral dynamics, engine control), biomedical engineering (identification and control of diabetes systems, cell population control), sustainable mobility (modeling and optimization of shared vehicle systems), multi-agent systems (coordination and cooperation), socio-technical systems (epidemic spreading, diffusion of innovation), industrial and mobile robotics (motion planning and control, collision avoidance and detection, friction modelling and compensation, monitoring and programming of robotic cells, UAVs planning and control, cooperative robotics), food and agriculture (modeling, control, and robotics applications in the food processing industry, and in precision farming and agriculture).

We are open for consulting and/or for collaboration with industrial and professional partners on regional, national and international research projects. 

 

Research focus groups

The research personnel and activities and of the Automatica research group are organized into four main sub-areas:

  • Control systems and automation
  • Optimization and data science
  • Industrial, mobile, and service robotics
  • Networked systems, opinion dynamics and consensus

Research topics