We work on aerospace systems that include networks of satellites circling the earth, spacecraft going beyond our orbit, machines that can perform complex tasks in space like fixing or assembling crafts, space stations, and other equipment, and even rovers on the Moon, Mars, or asteroids. These autonomous and robotic machines must work remotely, often without direct inputs, not knowing exactly what they will come across. They must navigate to avoid crashing into each other or other obstacles. We develop algorithms and software that work for guidance, navigation and control and enhance the stability, performance and robustness of these systems. Figuring out how to do all of these things well in space means that we can improve our autonomous and robotic systems here on earth as well.
Associated faculty
Key labs
- Active Aeroelastic Structures Lab
- Autonomous Control Laboratory
- Autonomous Flight Systems Laboratory
- Control and Trustworthy Robotics Lab (CTRL)
- The illimited Lab
- Multiscale Analysis of Materials & Structures (MAMS)
- Nonlinear Dynamics and Control Lab
- Robotics, Aerospace, and Information Networks (RAIN) Lab
Student club highlight
Husky Robotics
Husky Robotics designs, builds, programs and competes Mars Rovers in simulated missions while providing students with experience in machining, circuit design, coding and project management.
Research highlights
Hide and seek
A&A's Autonomous Flight Systems Lab builds a drone-based machine learning dataset to find those lost in the wilderness.
RAIN Lab's research on the science of sync published in Science
Research on sync and the structure of networks by the RAIN Lab, led by Mehran Mesbahi, was published in Science.
A&A drone mapping project advances wildfire modeling
A&A’s Autonomous Flight Systems Lab is partnering with the US Forest Service to improve the efficiency of data collection for wildfire modeling.
Award highlights
Sarah Li named Amelia Earhart Scholar
Ph.D. student Sarah Li wins Amelia Earhart Scholarship for her dynamic games approach to autonomous networks.
Açıkmeşe wins IEEE Technical Excellence Award
Açıkmeşe won the IEEE's Control Systems Society's 2019 Technical Excellence Award in Aerospace Control.
