The Vehicle Optimization, Dynamics, Control and Autonomy Laboratory’s mission is to research and develop enabling technologies for controlling advanced and increasingly autonomous vehicles operating in the space, air, ground and marine domains. These vehicles and vehicle systems exhibit complex nonlinear dynamics, and must function in uncertain environments with limited resources, while satisfying stringent constraints and counteracting the effects of disturbances. In addition to modeling and control of the mechanical motions of such vehicles, we address related problems of optimal energy management, thermal management, and information collection. We maintain close connections to challenging and emerging real world vehicle applications to inform novel research directions in control theory and to make the maximum impact.
