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Drs. Sergey Nersesov and Hashem Ashrafiuon

Title: Robust Control of Networks of Heterogeneous Nonholonomic Vehicles in Uncertain Environments
Sponsor: Office of Naval Research
Grant: $336,043 over three years

With Mechanical Engineering Professor Hashem Ashrafiuon, PhD, Dr. Nersesov is conducting research in the field of autonomous vehicles. The topic has gained increasing attention both in the robotics and the control communities, due to the need for autonomous control of more than one type of robotic agent in the same workspace. Their potential application in military missions is of particular interest, and researchers are looking at networks of nonlinear heterogeneous agents in order to include more realistic conditions where individual agent constraints and capabilities may limit, expand or otherwise significantly affect the overall system performance.

The main application and potential growth in the area of nonholonomic multi-agent systems (those whose state depends on the path taken in order to achieve it) is cooperative control of networks of heterogeneous air, surface and underwater marine, and ground vehicles. Drs. Ashrafiuon and Nersesov will specifically focus on applications such as:

• Coordinated shipboard landings
• Collaborative missions involving surface and underwater marine and air vehicles
• Formation flying for ensembles of heterogeneous unmanned air vehicles, including unmanned aerial refueling.

Proof of concept experimental validation of the theoretical results of their research will be performed at the College of Engineering鈥檚 state-of-the-art facilities that include a fully equipped pool for marine vessels, and the Heterogeneous Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory, which offers precise 3-D positioning capabilities for air and ground vehicles.