February 05, 2015 / by George Council / In booklist

    A direct method for Trajectory Optimization of Rigid Bodies Through Contact

    A paper about trajectory optimization in hybrid systems. Interesting, as it relaxes would be naively been consider a core constraint of hybrid systems - the order at which vector fields are switched through. While specific for a rigid body, it provides a scablable numerical tool to optimizie over the 'aggregate' dynamics, rather than find optimal solutions in each vector field with a known ordering

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    February 05, 2015 / by George Council / In booklist

    Optimization-based Locomotion Planning, Estimation, and Control Design for Atlas Humonoid Robot

    A fun paper expanding on the control methods used in the well-known and well-performing Atlas robots by Boston Dynamics. A little bit of a 'behind the curtain' result, it's interesting to see the methods behind a robot that has gained so much attention. Unsprisingly, online optimization of trajectory outcomes is employed, suggesting that a more constructive theory for robot decision making and control is missing.

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    February 04, 2015 / by George Council / In news

    From Data to Dynamical Systems

    This article is part of a series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Ed Lorenz's seminal paper 'Deterministic nonperiodic flow'. The system he studied has become the object of extensive mathematical investigations and serves as a paradigm of a low-dimensional chaotic dynamical system.

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