Coffee and Control

In the second part of my interview with the incredibly talented Carmen Amo Alonso we discuss her fascinating work at the intersection of AI and control, examining topics such as:Using tools from control theory to analyse and design AI systemsControlling large language models to guarantee a particular sentiment for their outputUsing vision-language-action models to control robots using languageand a whole lot more! You can find the transcript for this episode at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ph1yaQuV_ybRM8h9rU5Uvmz9eB5Ar4HVhcBnc7b7zJ8/edit?usp=sharingFollow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ ReferencesThe architecture of language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApC0AWWTajUDiffusion models: https://the-principles-of-diffusion-models.github.io/Skip connection paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.10609 Review of state-space models in AI: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16899 3 Blue 1 Brown video on transformers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjZofJX0v4MDynamical systems framework paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.15731 Designing sequence models: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09389v1Controlling LLM output: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.15454v3Controllability of LLMs: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05637v1 Vision-language-action model paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05487v1NARRATE: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.10762DEMONSTRATE: https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12855v1Domitilla Del Vecchio: https://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/ddv@MIT.EDUBiomolecular feedback systems book: https://www.fbswiki.org/wiki/index.php/Biomolecular_Feedback_SystemsMathias Foo episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1G3vhRoeenTWRrEwauT0neinControl episodes: Mario di Bernardo: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/19167890-ep44-mario-di-bernardo-from-circuits-to-cells-and-swarms-control-meets-complexityMustafa Khammash: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/12648716-ep11-mustafa-khammash-cybergeneticsJohn Doyle: https://ieeecss.org/contact/john-doyleInControl episode: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/12841020-ep12-john-doyle-part-i-a-pioneer-s-guide-to-robust-control-the-past-present-and-futureJerome Sieber: https://jerome.sieber.io/

In this episode I talk to three lovely researchers all about journal clubs (AKA reading groups) – what they are, why you might want to be part of one, and how to start your own! I also give some insights from my own experiences running a (control-related) journal club, as well as a summary of three of my favourite papers we’ve read. You can find the transcript at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19i4egf_2KEWqkp94ZW3QjRTH8PeAZz6yEix8zoSfx4k/edit?usp=sharingFollow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ ReferencesAl Edwards: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/62mm7y/doctor-al-edwardsAntonia Marcu: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5xk5lz/miss-antonia-marcuConvexification for soft landing optimal control paper: http://www.larsblackmore.com/iee_tcst13.pdfImproved soft robotic parameterisation paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8961972KKL observer synthesis paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.11655

In this episode I got to speak with the fantastic Gioele Zardini about his work on the co-design framework, a fascinating framework used to optimise large interconnected systems. We cover the theoretical background of this, intuition behind it, and a ton of different applications where it’s useful, as well as discussing exciting open questions in the field! Find the transcript at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XPZr9jP4Lphskkw-SiM8h-x1kp7LROqZ243S6zA7EsY/edit?usp=sharingFollow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ ReferencesGioele Zardini: https://zardini.mit.edu/PhD thesis: https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/entities/publication/d7c08dd5-bf96-4c1f-a744-5e751f0f44a5PhDs in control interview: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10555200Emilio Frazzoli: https://idsc.ethz.ch/research-frazzoli/people/person-detail.frazzoli.htmlAndrea Cenci: https://nccr-automation.ch/about/people/andrea-censiMarco Pavone: https://profiles.stanford.edu/marco-pavoneNuTonomy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NuTonomy(current site: https://motional.com/)Brad Nelson: https://msrl.ethz.ch/the-lab/team/Brad_Nelson.htmlDavid Sacramuza: https://rpg.ifi.uzh.ch/people_scaramuzza.htmlYujun Huang: https://zardini.mit.edu/people/yujun-huang/Uncertainty in co-design paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.02766 Background refs on category theory:David Spivak: https://dspivak.net/Brendan Fong: http://brendanfong.com/ Gioele's work in progress book: https://storage.zuper.ai/sync/ACT4E/ACT4E/alphubel-prod/build/last/build-public/ACT4E-public.pdfYouTube talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmAz6fEPa2oGioele's course: https://zardini.mit.edu/act4ed/MIT applied category theory course: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-s097-applied-category-theory-january-iap-2019/Seven sketches in compositionality: http://brendanfong.com/fong_spivak_an_invitation.pdf LQG control co-design paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9654960LQG background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4_hFazBGxUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_RDCFOlJx4Aaron Ames: http://ames.caltech.edu/Nikolai Matni: https://nikolaimatni.github.io/John Doyle: https://www.eas.caltech.edu/people/doyleCDC episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ZUcm3gVHKILDEyDjQtXvx Braess’s paradox: https://resources.mpi-inf.mpg.de/departments/d1/teaching/ws12/ct/Braess-paradox.pdf Co-design of mobility-on-demand systems: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2003.04739 Formula One co-design papers: https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/entities/publication/bd65f78e-f19a-4469-a379-d4b219893a33https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/JQmudBCo-design of soft robotics: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.03761 Cosimo Della Santina inControl episode: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/LPNORz Games with partially-ordered objectives: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.07099 Mingjia He: https://mingjia-he.github.io/Paper on hierarchical games: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.12059 Game theory episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xrwua7U2HfSW3sxY6BnRUJeff Shamma inControl episode: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/18482182-ep40-jeff-shamma-gain-scheduling-nonlinear-control-learning-dissipativity-in-games-jiu-jitsuVincent Abbott: https://zardini.mit.edu/people/vincent-abbott/Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli: https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/sangiovanni-vicentelli.htmlInControl episodes: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/14692449-ep21-alberto-sangiovanni-vincentelli-part-i-classics-eda-logic-synthesis-spice-intel-x386-cadence-synopsis-platform-based-designhttps://www.incontrolpodcast.com/1632769/episodes/14882529-ep22-alberto-sangiovanni-vincentelli-part-ii-cyberphysical-and-hybrid-systems-contracts-chiplets-models-of-computation-time-innovative-ecosystems-biobricks-neuromorphicsJohn Doyle: https://www.eas.caltech.edu/people/doyle

In this bonus episode I explore the work of ten fascinating researchers that I met at the Meet the Faculty Candidates poster session at CDC last month. We cover a wide array of different areas, including data-driven methods, fault-tolerant control, biological systems, PDEs, distributed estimation and a whole lot more! Correction: At ~5:20 I mention that Anju was able to characterize the strategies of the two communicating entities at the Nash equilibrium - In actual fact this is a Stackelberg equilibrium (Stackelberg games involve players acting sequentially, taking either a leader or follower role)You can view the transcript for this episode at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Tf4ORHPI5Thbs-nA9DQTSu87TKbYni9JJN2UXqn5kU/edit?usp=sharingFollow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ Links and referencesAmy Strong: https://bridgeman.pratt.duke.edu/people/amy-strongPaper on data-driven invariance: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.19231 Anju Anand: https://sites.google.com/binghamton.edu/anjuanandStrategic quantisation: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10960399Incorporating privacy into the objective: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.06321 Brian Block: https://mae.osu.edu/people/block.168Control of PDE traffic flow: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.04823 Declan Jagt: https://search.asu.edu/profile/3729730Stability analysis of coupled multivariate PDEs: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.14840 Scalar quadratic PDEs: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10384073PIETOOLS software: https://control.asu.edu/pietools/pietoolsHamza El-Kebir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamza-el-kebir/Control authority degradation paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10354437Sensor and actuator degradation: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10521243Electrosurgery paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article/21/210/20230420/90578/Heat-conduction-in-live-tissue-duringElectrostatic signed distance functions: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.12554 Kirill Sechkar: https://engbio.ox.ac.uk/people/kirill-sechkarControl of genetic circuits paper: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.01.646303v2.full.pdf Nick Marios Kokolakis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-marios-t-kokolakis-44717b164/Pre-defined time RL paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005109825003152 Parth Paritosh: https://pptx.github.io/pparitosh/Estimating a subset of variables: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2312.01227Privacy preserving paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11073227Radoslaw Patelski: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radoslaw-patelski/?originalSubdomain=plObservers for hovercraft: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9874346ADRC with parameter identification: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10345678ADRC with adaptive input gain: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019057825001089 Carmen Amo Alonso: https://camoalon.github.io/Research overview: https://camoalon.github.io/research/Comparing mixer blocks: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.15731 Intro to state space models in deep learning: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.16899 Combining generative AI with control in robotics: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.10762

In this episode I talk to some wonderful members of IEEEcontrol systems society (CSS) NextCom committee about their work fostering inclusivity and belonging within CSS, as well as empowering the next generation of leaders within control. We also cover how you can be a part of this! You can find the transcript at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/186arBxVLdcpHUCT9djgXQ7IMVvX5SLsMk0LmnzOLbRY/edit?usp=sharing Fill in this leadership interest survey if you’d like to getinvolved: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-9qK13qYOSylyo-L-s8LvIYjd9bUmWlpd7zj2C7cxDASK-Q/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=113511961640315346198 Slack channel: https://join.slack.com/t/next-comworkspace/shared_invite/zt-3kz84ooc6-iLeTIhTKs5oMwJ8ccjTZxw(This link will time-out after a little while – if you find it’s not working you can contract me or one of the other committee members and we can add you directly!) Links and referencesNextCom webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/css-nextcomBrooks Butler: https://sites.google.com/view/brooks-butlerEmail: bbutler2@uci.eduAnastasia Bizyaeva: https://anastasiabzv.github.io/Email: anastasiab@cornell.eduPhil E Paré: https://sites.google.com/view/philpareUmar Niazi: https://sites.google.com/view/umarniazi/Urmee Maitra: https://urmeemaitra.github.io/Carina Veil: https://profiles.stanford.edu/carina-veilPio Ong: https://pioong.github.io/Leonardo Toso: https://leotoso.github.io/ ECC episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4PAlFzgSoLM6andaXEWB8e

In this month’s episode got to talk to Dr Carrie Weidner allabout controlling quantum systems! I find out what the control objective is forthese systems, how to characterise their robustness (or at least attempt to),how easy it is to apply this to practical systems, and a lot more besides.You can find the transcript at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aixaD-P6R6jFDjS4Zp6nJ2n5ZHPfbWKYCue2v2_ZCVU/edit?usp=sharing Follow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ReferencesPhD thesis: https://jila.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/2019-03/Weidner_PhD_final.pdfSabine Hauert episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/65iwMh2NstKqXvfATpzfm4Sabine episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12t_8k9LRckeGB--YVDS0XWnOeLX8sQcY3njA7jBCj1o/edit?usp=sharingCarrie’s quantum control survey: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00294 Sophie Shermer: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/s.schirmer/Frank Langbein: https://langbein.org/Edmond Jonckheere: https://ee.usc.edu/~jonckhee/Sean O’Neil: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=250lKHEAAAAJ&hl=enPhila Rembold: https://qusco-itn.eu/portfolio_page/phila-rembold-2/Bases in quantum control: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.20889Nelder-Mead optmisation: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Nelder-Mead_algorithm#Advantages_and_disadvantageshttps://brandewinder.com/2022/03/31/breaking-down-Nelder-Mead/Ronnie Kosloff: https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/connect/explore-the-humboldt-network/singleview/1211067/prof-dr-ronnie-kosloffBelavkin-Carmichael quantum filter: https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0510028Luenburg filter papers: https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.06454 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6426181Non-Markovian systems papers: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/14/7/073023 https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.09637 Christiane Koch: https://atominnen.at/empower/interviews/382-christiane-kochOpen quantum systems paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-8984/28/21/213001Carrie’s mu analysis paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.12385 Randa Herzallah: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/people/staff/herzallah/Paper on quantum optimal control: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00207179.2024.2342939Quantum thermodynamics paper: https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.98.012139Irtaza Khalid: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/khalidmiRobustness-infidelity metric paper: https://journals.aps.org/pra/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevA.107.032606Time-domain log-sensitivity paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2210.15783 Unifying log-sensitivity and RIM: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2303.09518 Robust quantum control papers:https://arxiv.org/pdf/2110.05372https://arxiv.org/pdf/2008.13691 Energy landscape shaping paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/addc0dJacob Sherson: https://jacobsherson.com/David DiVincenzo: https://qutech.nl/person/david-divincenzo/ Enrico Fermi: https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/greatinventors/enricofermi/index.htmlPhysical review letters paper: https://link.aps.org/accepted/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.263201Point spread modification paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2312.05341

This episode features the second part of my interview with the fantastic Alberto Padoan! Featuring discussions of data-driven modelling in a geometric/ non-linear context, how to define distances in a behavioural systems setting, and the origin story of his podcast, inControl.You can find the transcript at: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/y67vmp Follow the podcast on linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcastOr connect with me personally: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/Alberto episode part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kwlnlQqtID1naRcyLL12OPaolo Rapisarda: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x2hb9/professor-paolo-rapisarda(Coffee and Control episode) https://open.spotify.com/episode/076dEw28abILPAbT5qA6awPersistency of excitation for autonomous systems: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7902166Giordano Scarciotti: https://giordanoscarciotti.com/ Alessandro Astolfi: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/a.astolfiAlessandro’s paper on moment matching: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/5437314Almost periodicity: https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2022/02/16/almost-periodic-functions/Examples of uses of polynomial matrices in behaviouralsystems context: https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/linear-differential-systems-2Conical, convex, and affine behaviours paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10383687Jan Willems behavioural systems paper: https://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~sistawww/smc/jwillems/Articles/ConferenceArticles/2002/5.pdfEttore Fornasini: https://www.dei.unipd.it/~fornasini/Data-driven control Stuttgart: ⁠https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/Y3ytXoAutonomous e-scooter: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/oMiusDSoft robotics: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9992740MPC control of covid outbreaks: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136757882030078X?via%3DihubFlorian Dörfler: https://dorfler.ethz.ch/John Lygeros: https://control.ee.ethz.ch/people/profile.john-lygeros.htmlJeremy Coulson: https://jeremycoulson.github.io/ Keith Moffat: www.keithmoffat.comAlessandro Chuiso: https://automatica.dei.unipd.it/alessandro-chiuso/Linear quadratic tracking paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7068299Ivan Markovsky: https://imarkovs.github.io/Distances between finite horizon behaviours: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=11022752Uncertainty quantification in data-driven control: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9993002 Split-as-a-pro: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.19411Yu Tang: https://nccr-automation.ch/about/people/yu-tangCarlo Cenedese: https://ee.ethz.ch/the-department/people-a-z/person-detail.Mjg0OTQz.TGlzdC8zMjc5LC0xNjUwNTg5ODIw.htmlAlessio Rimoldi: https://github.com/AlessioRimoldiBehavioural uncertainty gap metric paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9993002Vidyasagar inControl episode (ep 33): https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/wfzcsiMalcolm Smith: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/mcs1000Glenn Vinnicombe: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/gv103DeePC: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.05890CDC/LSS paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22849Steve Brunton SVD series: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/isMaZSinControl podcast: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/ NCCR automation: https://nccr-automation.ch/Rudolf Kalman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_E._K%C3%A1lm%C3%A1nJan Willems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Camiel_WillemsGeorge Zames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_ZamesNorbert Weiner inControl episode: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/7PQUfdRichard Bellman inControl episode: https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/XGgk11(Miroslav Kristic) https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/1RD07e(Tryphon Georgiou) https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/mwpfwx(Mustafa Khammash) https://CoffeeControlLinks.short.gy/T0BsyS

In this episode I sit down with Dr Ying Shuai Quan and getexcited about her work on adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping systems, with particular focus on applying model predictive control. Features deep-dives into various aspects of MPC, with occasional offshoots into other cool areas of control! You can find the transcript for this episode at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufp57VuzymcEivN3lzMaHVKgH8LgqI9BZDzgmdz2pug/edit?usp=sharingFollow the podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coffee-and-control-podcast/Or you can connect with me directly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/ References/ cool papers to learn moreYing’s thesis: https://repository.hanyang.ac.kr/handle/20.500.11754/188296Tube-based adaptive cruise control paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9992382Motion sickness patents: (general system) https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250115255A1/en(control and estimation) https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250128715A1/enTutorial on IQCs: https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84979771505Classic LMI book: https://web.stanford.edu/~boyd/lmibook/lmibook.pdfLMIs in control book chapter: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-84800-025-4_4Steve Brunton MPC video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwodGM2eoy4&t=1sGreat review/ tutorial paper on MPC: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00170-021-07682-3Review on linear fractional transformations: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/261572Ying’s control-barrier functions paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10130631Tutorial paper on CBFs: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10836828Review on control barrier functions: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10836828Using CBFs in MPC: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.08400Control Lyapunov-barrier function-based MPC: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8431468High-order CBFs: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9516971Neural network lane-keeping paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8859955Robust stability of NN-based LKS: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10644841Matt Turner episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KLLOvbCjOkL0v8iXo84vtTranscript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r41Lcpv4MtxnqfMn8ZFfnAqiK5rlfcPZ19NQhfeqaFI/edit?usp=sharingMultiple model switched adaptive control: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/72334/Examples of systems with unknown input delays:(Connected platoons) https://ieeexplore-ieee-org/document/9530266 (Glucose control in diabetes) https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85192198866(Spacecraft control) https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84947032651Min-max MPC for non-linear systems: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0947358009707034PCA: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/data-analysis/principal-component-analysis-pca/LPV gain-scheduling control with parameter reduction: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9830128Safe MPC using constraint softening: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.15373 Application to autonomous driving: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05933 Robust and Stochastic MPC: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367578816300098Stochastic MPC review: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7740982Polynomial chaos in non-linear stochastic MPC: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6858851Polynomial chaos overview: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6595094Melanie Zeilinger: https://idsc.ethz.ch/the-institute/people/person-detail.html?persid=142737Safe learning-based control talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBK1CNuU66c&t=572sControl meets learning seminar series: https://sites.google.com/view/control-meets-learning/home

In this episode I interview Dr Mathias Foo about his fascinating research on controlling river systems, implementing control systems using DNA, and gene network rewiring. Basically applying control to a bunch of different systems that you weren’t expecting. You can find the transcript for this episode at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cWRFK20bWm64k7MCghI82eJ3-FjTt3hK0VEpQ-VE0Og/edit?usp=sharing Connect with me and with the podcast!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/X: https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_podBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/ ReferencesDr Mathias Foo: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/people/mathias_foo/ PhDPhD thesis: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=H5eLRq4AAAAJ&cstart=20&pagesize=80&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=H5eLRq4AAAAJ:2osOgNQ5qMECNadia Bedjaoui: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-bedjaoui-39862110/Observers for leak detection in irrigation channels: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967066110001498MPC using reverse engineering paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6114363Maciejowski MPC book: https://www.amazon.com/Predictive-Control-Constraints-Jan-Maciejowski/dp/0201398230Maciejowski inverse optimal control paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474667015366180 DNA strand displacement reactionsOishi and Klavins paper: https://www.dna.caltech.edu/courses/cs191/paperscs191/Oishi2011linear.pdfDNA amplifiers: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1148532DNA Logic gates: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1132493DNA Detectors: https://www.dna.caltech.edu/Papers/Nucleation_DNA10.pdfPID control using DSD reactions: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8721529Nuno Paulino: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FKL-xegAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=aoDNA programmable gate arrays: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06484-9Theoretical DNA feedback paper: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/10/4/466DNA stability paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005109820303010SSV DNA robustness paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=8619072Gomez-Uribe covalent modification cycle paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18159939/Quasi sliding-model controller paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7833853Design based on covalent modification cycle: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13036-016-0036-1PI-degradation controllers: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/staff/dgb/077972431.pdf Gene regulatory networksVoit S-system paper: https://doi.org/10.1042/bse0450029Modelling and control using S-system models: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8254368Extended S-system model for restoring circadian cycles: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41540-022-00216-xUri Alon gene regulation paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg2102Network re-wiring paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00037Reverse-engineering Hill-type models paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsif.2024.08112009 Cell optimisation paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867409007120Briat antithetic integral control paper: https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S2405-4712(16)00005-3Professor Declan Bates: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/staff/dgb/Steve Brunton: https://www.youtube.com/@EigensteveControl bootcamp series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi7l8mMjYVE&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNR20Mz-VpzgfQs5zrYi085mPhysics-informed machine learning series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoFW2uSd3Uo&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNQ0BaKuBKY43k4xMo6NSbBaProbability and statistics series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqniayndb4&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNR3sNYvfgiKgcStwuPSts9V

In this episode I talk to Professor Paolo Rapisarda about a bunch of interesting theoretical (but very useful) aspects of control, including his work on behavioural systems theory, model reduction, Willems’ fundamental lemma, and data-driven control.You can find the transcript at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xosQlyCazjngvrydEdlSX917p84v4GY8Maljp5J8MQY/edit?usp=sharingYou can engage with the podcast onX: https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_podBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/Or email me at lhodginscontrol@gmail.com Paolo Rapisarda: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x2hb9/professor-paolo-rapisarda IntroductionState maps for linear systems: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/264646/1/State_maps.pdfHarry Trentelman: https://research.rug.nl/en/persons/harry-trentelmanJan Willems: https://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~sistawww/smc/jwillems/PhD thesis: https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/linear-differential-systems-2 Behavioural systemsEpic Jan Willems behavioural systems paper: https://skoge.folk.ntnu.no/prost/proceedings/cpc6-jan2002/willems.pdf State mapsLTV paper:https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/457114/1/State_for_linear_discrete_time_varying_systems.pdfLeibnitz rule: https://www.cuemath.com/calculus/leibniz-rule/ DissipativityJan Willem’s paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf00276493Jan Willem’s optimal control paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1099831Quadratic differential forms: https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/S0363012996303062 BalancingSiep Weiland: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37301202100Keith Glover: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/kg103H-infinity model order reduction: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7010851980 Moore balancing paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1102568Kalman decomposition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalman_decomposition Arjan van der Schaft: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=BIPifjAAAAAJ&hl=enHamiltonian systems: https://www.unige.ch/~hairer/poly_geoint/week1.pdfPort Hamiltonianity:https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-control-081219-092250Jacqueline Scherpen: https://research.rug.nl/en/persons/jacqueline-scherpenBalancing of Port-Hamiltonian systems: https://research.rug.nl/files/2999949/2003ProcIFACWorkshopLHMNCLopezlena.pdfBalancing for non-linear systems: https://research.rug.nl/files/3318296/1993ProcECCScherpen.pdf Fundamental lemmaIvan Markovski: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qSl_3FQAAAAJ&hl=enContinuous-time work: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016769112400238XChebychev polynomials: https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ChebyshevPolynomialoftheFirstKind.htmlKanat Camblibel: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aeWjKPcAAAAJ&hl=enSufficient condition modification of Willems’s lemma: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18962Experimental implementation: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12509 Data-driven controlData-driven ILC:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10384133DeePC: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.05890Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=W-vnMBwAAAAJ&hl=en Extra questionsAizerman’s conjecture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aizerman%27s_conjecture

In this episode, I talk to Professor William Holderbaum about some of the many fascinating areas of research he’s involved in, including Boolean control, geometric control, and control of electroactive polymer gels—plus a lot more! Follow us for updates on new episodes: Instagram BlueSky X (Twitter) PhD research PhD Thesis (in French) Boolean Control Using State-Space Approach Neural Networks for Boolean Control PID Control of Boolean Systems Predictive Control Sliding Mode Control FES work Coffee and Control Episode with Chris Freeman Professor Ken Hunt FES for Paraplegic Standing Adaptive PID Sliding Mode Control FES muscle fatigue papers Chapter 5 of this Thesis PubMed Paper 1 PubMed Paper 2 IEEE Explore Paper Fatigue reduction with soft robotics Geometric control Resources for Understanding Geometric Control Lecture Slides YouTube Video 6D Lie Groups Application to Spacecraft Time-Parameterized Motion Planning Control of RTG cranes Optimal Control and MPC Fuzzy Logic Control Electroactive polymer gels Paper 1 Paper 2 Springer Chapter Model-Based Control of Soft Robots Arm with Self-Control Feedback Loop

In this episode we interview Professor Matthew Turner, professor in the Cyber Physical Systems group at the university of Southampton, about his fascinating work on aircraft control, anti-windup, Lur’e systems, and his recent research into applying techniques from control theory to the analysis of neural networks.The transcript for this episode is available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r41Lcpv4MtxnqfMn8ZFfnAqiK5rlfcPZ19NQhfeqaFI/edit?usp=sharing Contact me at: lgh1g19@soton.ac.ukWe have an Instagram now!References:PhD ThesisNationalResearch Council of Canada Aerospace Research CentreNonlinear High Gain FeedbackLMIs in ControlAW for Model-Reference Adaptive ControlAW for ILCAnti-Windup ReviewTwo-Stage Anti-WindupAnti-Windup in Anticipation of Saturation (Zongli Lin)Matt TurnerChris RichardsAizerman ConjectureIan PostlethwaiteJorge SofronyMurray KerrOliver BriegerCircle and Popov CriterionKhalil Nonlinear Control BookZames and Sakkary Gap Metric PaperGeorge ZamesZames-Falb Multipliers Summary ArticleO’ShearZames-Falb Multipliers: Don’t PanicEarly Neural Network Work (with Guido Hermann)Additional NN ResearchRoss DrummondReLU Network Analysis Using Lur’e SystemsAntonis PapachristodolouExploiting Sparsity in Neural NetworksRobust Control PaperMalcolm SmithGlenn VinnicombeOther cool neural network/ control papersSynthesis of MPC Algorithms that Robustly Approximate Neural NetworksShrinking Down Neural Networks Using Inspiration from ControlDesigning Neural Networks that are More Robust