Socio-Technical Modeling, Control, and Optimization for Urban Mobility
Thursday, March 21, 2019 @ 10 a.m.
3110 Etcheverry Hall
Dr. Anuradha Annaswamy – Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract: Urban mobility in Transportation is witnessing a transformation due to the emergence of new concepts in Mobility on Demand, where new modes of transportation other than private individual cars and public mass transit are being investigated. With a projection of a total number of 2 billion vehicles on roads by the year 2050, such innovations in transportation are urgently needed. One such paradigm is the notion of shared mobility on demand, which consists of customized dynamic routing for multi-passenger transport. A solution to this problem consists of a host of challenges that ranges from distributed optimization, behavioral modeling of passengers, traffic flow modeling, and distributed control. Recent efforts in our group have made some inroads into this problem and form the focus of this talk. A socio-technical model that combines behavioral models of passengers based on Cumulative Prospect Theory and traffic models will be discussed. The solution to dynamic routing is presented in the form of an optimization problem solved via an Alternating Minimization based approach. The model together with the optimization framework is then used to propose a dynamic tariff that can be viewed as a model-based control strategy based on Transactive Control, a methodology that is being explored in power grids for incentivizing flexible consumption.
Biography: Dr. Anuradha Annaswamy is Founder and Director of the Active-Adaptive Control Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Her research interests span adaptive control theory and its applications to aerospace, automotive, and propulsion systems as well as cyber physical systems such as Smart Grids, Smart Cities, and Smart Infrastructures. Her current research team of 15 students and post-docs is supported at present by Air-Force Research Laboratory, Boeing, Ford-MIT Alliance, Department of Energy, and NSF.
Dr. Annaswamy has received several awards including the George Axelby (1986) and Control Systems Magazine (2010) best paper awards from the IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS), the Presidential Young Investigator award from NSF (1992), the Hans Fisher Senior Fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Study at the Technische Universität München (2008), the Donald Groen Julius Prize from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (2008). Dr. Annaswamy has been elected to be a Fellow of the IEEE (2002) and IFAC (2017). She received a Distinguished Member Award and a Distinguished Lecturer Award from IEEE CSS in 2017.
Hosted by: Professor Murat Arcak, 569 Cory Hall, 510-642-4804, arcak@berkeley.edu
Underwater Flight of the Pteropod
Friday, March 22, 2019
2:00-2:30 p.m. Beverages & Refreshments
2:30-4:00 p.m. Seminar
3110 Etcheverry Hall
Professor Donald R. Webster – Georgia Tech
E201 Ocean Engineering Seminar Series, Spring 2019
Abstract: A portable tomographic particle image velocimetry (tomo-PIV) system was used to study fluid dynamics and kinematics of pteropods (aquatic snails nicknamed ‘sea butterflies’) in Antarctica. These pteropods (Limacina helicina antarctica) swim with a pair of parapodia (or “wings”) via a unique flapping propulsion mechanism that incorporates similar techniques as observed in small flying insects. The swimming velocity is typically 14 – 30 mm/s for pteropod size ranging 1.5 – 5 mm, and the pteropod shell pitches forward-and-backward at 1.9 – 3 Hz. It has been shown that pitching motion of the shell effectively positions the parapodia such that they flap downwards during both power and recovery strokes. The tomo-PIV measurements reveal the influence of the vortex structure created and shed from the parapodia on the generated lift forces. The non-dimensional variables characterizing the motion of swimming pteropods are flapping, translating, and pitching Reynolds numbers (i.e. Ref, ReU, and ReΩ). The observed specimens swim within the same optimal Strouhal number range as observed for a broad range of species in air and water. Further, we found that the relationship between these Reynolds numbers show an existence of a critical ReΩ, below which pteropods fail to swim successfully.
Biography: Dr. Donald Webster received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994. After a postdoctoral research position at Stanford University and a non-tenure track faculty position at the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in September 1997. For more than a decade, he has been part of the School’s leadership team, serving as an affinity group coordinator 2012-2014, the associate chair for undergraduate programs 2007-2012, the associate chair for graduate programs 2012-2013, and the associate chair for finance and administration 2013-2018. In May 2018, he became the Karen and John Huff School Chair. Dr. Webster’s research expertise lies in environmental fluid mechanics, with an emphasis on the influence of fluid mechanics and turbulence on biological systems. His contributions have been in three arenas: 1) illuminating the fluid mechanics processes related to sensory biology and biomechanics; 2) developing advanced experimental techniques and facilities; and 3) translating research results into bio-inspired design.
Hosted by: Assistant Professor Simo Mäkiharju, 6119 Etcheverry Hall, makiharju@berkeley.edu
Hungary as a European Hub for Autonomous Vehicle Design and Validation
Thursday, April 4, 2019 @ 11 a.m.
3110 Etcheverry Hall
Dr. László Palkovics – Minister of Innovation and Technology of Hungary
Abstract: Hungary, having a remarkable performance in the field of automotive industry production capacities, is becoming one of the key European hubs of developing autonomous driving systems with currently more than 10,000 development engineers working on these innovative technologies at various organizations in the country. Hungary also has a leading role in implementing and developing innovative infocommunication networks, in particular the 4G and 5G systems.
Autonomous mobility has significant potential being a key sector of the future, and thus can become one of the most important strategic and development areas for Hungary. However, testing autonomous functions in a highly realistic and reproducible way is one of the biggest difficulties of today’s automotive development and validation process. Having recognized this strategic opportunity, the Government of Hungary initiated the establishment of a globally unique testing environment with the ZalaZone proving ground as its central element.
The proving ground design is unique as it provides an opportunity to accomplish not only dynamic, autonomous and electric vehicle tests but also the application of forward-looking vehicle industry and related digital technologies while stimulating research and development. ZalaZONE offers a complex, outstanding development ecosystem for future technologies acting as a catalyst and synergistic hub for the different directional vectors addressing autonomous vehicle development.
Biography: Dr. László Palkovics was appointed as Minister of the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and Technology in May 2018. Previously he served as Minister of State for Higher Education between 2014-2016 then as Minister of State for Education between 2016 and 2018. Since 2016 he is a Government Commissioner responsible for research and development of autonomous and electric vehicle systems. He also held senior research positions at the Technical University of Budapest and the College of Kecskemét. Earlier he pursued an international, executive level industrial career with Knorr-Bremse. Dr. Palkovics completed his master’s degree and Ph.D. in engineering, specializing on vehicle mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Budapest. Dr. Palkovics is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Hosted by: Professor Francesco Borrelli, 5133 Etcheverry Hall, 510-643-3871, fborrelli@berkeley.edu
Growth of Three-Dimensional Cracks
Monday, April 8, 2019 @ 4 p.m.
3110 Etcheverry Hall
Professor Gregory J. Rodin – Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
Abstract: Growth of three-dimensional cracks is modeled as a continuous sequence of initiation events during which the crack front remains smooth. Two issues of importance are addressed. First, it is established that, at each point along the crack front, the velocity and configurational force are two-dimensional vectors, lying in the local normal plane. This allows one to generalize any two-dimensional crack growth criterion to three dimensions. Second, a simple mesoscopic model to account for along-the-crack-front non-locality is proposed. This model eliminates pathological growth patterns ubiquitous to three-dimensional cracks, and it is easy to use, as it relies on standard fracture properties only.
Biography: G. J. Rodin is Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has been on the faculty since 1986. He is also affiliated with the Institute for Computational Engineering and Science.
Professor Rodin studied engineering at Saint-Petersburg Technical University in Russia, and earned his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986. Professor Rodin was awarded Research Initiation Grant by the National Science Foundation in 1987, ALCOA Foundation Awards in 1991 and 1993, and was chosen as a Temple Foundation Fellow in 1995. He has held visiting positions at Ecole Normale Superior (France), Ecole Polytechnique (France), University of Stuttgart (Germany), University of Liverpool (UK), and University of Minnesota.
Professor Rodin’s primary research interests are in mechanics of materials. He is particularly interested in various aspects of multi-scale modeling of complex materials and fracture. He has published papers in the leading journals in mechanics of materials, computational and applied mathematics, chemical physics, and fluid mechanics.
Hosted by: Professor Tarek I. Zohdi, 6117 Etcheverry Hall, 510- 642-9172, zohdi@berkeley.edu