Derek Paley Speaker, Princeton University, Thursday, March 15, 2007, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Room 3-133

Cooperative Control of Collective Motion and Ocean Sampling with Autonomous Vehicles

Derek Paley Speaker, Princeton University

Thursday, March 15, 2007

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM, Room 3-133

Abstract: Collective motion is ubiquitous in nature and an essential aspect of emerging engineering applications such as autonomous ocean sensor networks. Cooperative path planning for mobile sensing nodes in the ocean enables scientists to make new discoveries that affect our understanding of the environment. In this talk, I will describe a cooperative control framework for stabilization of parallel and circular formations of vehicles modeled as identical particles moving in the plane at unit speed. Particle interaction can be undirected or directed and time-invariant or time-varying. The design and at-sea demonstration of cooperative control of an adaptively sampling underwater glider fleet will be presented. I will also summarize ongoing and proposed research on the application of a cooperative control framework to modeling of animal groups.

Biography: Derek A. Paley is a Ph.D. candidate in the area of dynamics and controls in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He received the B.S. degree in applied physics from Yale University in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, he worked as an analyst in the defense industry for Metron Inc. From 2000 to 2002, he worked as a software engineer in the underwater vehicle industry for Bluefin Robotics Corp. He received the M.A. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 2004. His research interests include collective motion of natural and engineered systems, collaborative ocean sampling with autonomous vehicles, and spatial modeling of animal groups.