Automatic Control LaboratoryOpen OpportunitiesSum-of-Squares (SOS) relaxation is a beautiful technique to solve nonconvex optimization problems. As computational capabilities continue to increase, so is the scope of engineering challenges that can be tackled with this method. The goal of this project is to exploit the flexibility of SOS relaxations to design new data-driven control methods for linear dynamics, that can more efficiently incorporate prior knowledge on the system and cope with noisy input-output data. - Dynamical Systems, Optimisation, Systems Theory and Control
- Applications (IfA), Computation (IfA), Master Thesis, Theory (IfA)
| In this project, we will investigate how the productivity level of a global supply chain is impacted by local interaction structures and decision-making dynamics via mathematical analysis and simulation. We will extend existing models on the two-player supply chain game to multi-player supply chains with non-trivial connectivity structures modeled via graph theory, and investigate various player dynamics (e.g. consensus, best response, gradient descent) in combination with different interconnection structures(e.g. trees, small-world network, star) to study the stability of the overall supply chain. - Engineering and Technology, Operations Research, Optimisation, Systems Theory and Control
- Master Thesis
| Hydroponics is a technique to grow plants without soil, but therefore in nutrient rich solutions. This project aims to construct a small scale fully automated hydroponics system, including the hardware, controller and filter designs, and software implementation. The implementation will finally be validated by growing actual plants. Hydroponics offers an alternative to conventional agriculture, minimizing water usage, fertilization and space requirements and allowing to create optimal environments for plants to grow. Combined it offers a potential future technology to fight food limitations in the face of a rising world population and climate change. - Control Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Theory and Control
- Master Thesis
| When controlling a system we typically aim to make the system carry out specific tasks, like remaining in a set of states, or reaching a set of states, or both. Recent advances allow to formulate controllers using dynamic programming that trade off such specifications optimally against costs, such as energy consumption. However, these methods rely on full model knowledge; it is the aim of this project to explore model-free attempts towards achieving these objectives. The approach will be validated on the Ball-on-a-Plate system, which is a mechanically actuated plate with a ball on it. - Control Engineering, Systems Theory and Control
- Master Thesis
| Buildings are a major contributor to global energy consumption. Better building automation can help reduce the energy consumption and thus the operating cost of a building. This, however, comes at the cost of installing additional sensors and actuators. The goal of this project is to find the optimal trade-off between the two with the exciting real-world example of Empa's famous Nest building. - Control Engineering, Electrical Engineering
- Applications (IfA), Energy (IfA), Master Thesis
| In this project we will design a robust MPC controller for flexibility in supply chains. The objective is to guarantee better response to abrupt changes in demand. Specifically we will design a MPC controller that optimally tunes the flexibility, namely the capability of a firm to substitute and reroute products along existing pathways. By enhancing flexibility the system can effectively mitigate the impact of disruptions. - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Information Storage, Retrieval and Management, Information Systems Management, Mathematical Sciences, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Systems Theory and Control
- Master Thesis
| The objective of this project is the design and analysis of a smart recommender system as a dynamic feedback controller that, given (some of) the opinions in the system (measured outputs), provides news (namely, the control input) which is tailored to it. The recommender system objective is to optimize his performances, e.g., to maximize engagement, reduce polarization, or robustify against malicious agents. In contrast to other works, we will incorporate learning into this design, using methods from Data-Driven Control. - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Systems Theory and Control
- ETH Zurich (ETHZ), Master Thesis
| Feedback optimization is emerging as an important control method for modern power systems, thanks to its robustness and ability to steer the grid to an efficient operating point. In this project, we will design and evaluate novel feedback optimization schemes, based on Lagrangian dual methods, which can handle safety constraints and promise improved robustness to measurement noise. - Dynamical Systems, Optimisation, Systems Theory and Control, Systems Theory and Control
- Applications (IfA), Energy (IfA), Master Thesis, Theory (IfA)
| Battery-powered electric buses can be interpreted as large-scale, mobile, electricity storage devices. The schedules and locations of electric buses are relatively predictable with regards to fixed routes, such as in the twice daily runs of school buses. When an electric bus is not serving its route, it can schedule its charging/discharging to provide ancillary services to the main grid in exchange for monetary incentives. This is often referred to as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). Simultaneously, a fleet of electric buses can play a key role as a source of demand-side flexibility to support the system in managing operational uncertainty, resulting in the generation of new revenue streams. The onsite coupling of electric buses with site resources in a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) setting has shown extremely promising performance in terms of both site self-sufficiency maximization and demand-side flexibility provision. This project will investigate economic model predictive control (MPC) to reduce energy costs and maximize service revenues in the scenario of joint control of an energy hub (e.g., depot, school campus, parking lot) and its buses. Flexibility envelopes will be developed to estimate the flexibility potential and the corresponding market revenues generated with this joint control architecture, as compared to unpredictable arrival/departure times and with separate control policies. Since the flexibility provision market is highly regulated, we plan to include Swiss/EU regulations as hard constraints in our formulation. Extensions will include the effects of different depreciation models and cases where the energy hub is equipped with Photovoltaic generation, electricity storage (battery/hydrogen), and/or thermal storage. - Engineering and Technology
- ETH Zurich (ETHZ), Master Thesis, Semester Project
| The collaboration between Advanced Manufacturing Lab (am|z) and Automatic Control Lab (IFA) is centered on developing a novel scan path generator for a laser powder bed fusion (PBF) machine capable of processing multiple materials simultaneously. The aim is to integrate the Machine Control Framework (AMCF) with our machine control system to enhance controlability and reliability. - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Programming Techniques
- Bachelor Thesis, ETH Zurich (ETHZ), Master Thesis
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