Optimization of the speedskating technique for the straights

The Dutch speedskating federation expressed the need for a feedback system for elite long-track speedskaters that can aid them in finding the optimal technique for an individual athlete. To contribute to this goal, this research aims to develop an optimization workflow that can reproduce realistic steady state speedskating behaviour. This is...

Data-driven Abstractions for Verification of Linear Systems

We introduce a novel approach for the construction of symbolic abstractions - simpler, finite-state models - which mimic the behaviour of a system of interest, and are commonly utilized to verify complex logic specifications. Such abstractions require an exhaustive knowledge of the concrete model, which can be difficult to obtain in real...

Learning to Play Trajectory Games Against Opponents with Unknown Objectives

Many autonomous agents, such as intelligent vehicles, are inherently required to interact with one another. Game theory provides a natural mathematical tool for robot motion planning in such interactive settings. However, tractable algorithms for such problems usually rely on a strong assumption, namely that the objectives of all players in...

Distributed Time-Varying Optimization of Second-Order Multiagent Systems Under Limited Interaction Ranges

This article investigates the distributed time-varying optimization problem for second-order multiagent systems (MASs) under limited interaction ranges. The goal is to seek the minimum of the sum of local time-varying cost functions (CFs), where each CF is only available to the corresponding agent. Limited communication range refers to the...

Minimizing Environmental Impact of Cruise Flights using Meta-heuristic and Optimal Control Optimizations

Aviation has a negative impact on the environment. As the number of flights is expected to increase, the total environmental impact of aviation will continue to worsen. New solutions are required to mitigate these effects. Aircraft Trajectory Optimization For Environmental Impact (TOFEI) can help reduce the impact of aircraft pollutants while...

Aircraft Trajectory Optimization for European Flights: Assessment of the trajectory variability considering a trade-off between operating costs and climate impact

In order to reduce the climate impact induced by the aircraft industry, the variability between cost optimized and climate optimized flight trajectories was evaluated. This was done to establish how the climate impact reduction affects the operating costs and vice versa. To evaluate the climate impact of air traffic, a climate-chemistry model...

Modeling stochastic behavior of state variables within the optimization of departure procedures

Laser-Enhanced Solar Sailing: Modeling and Trajectory Optimization for Interplanetary Missions

When sunlight illuminates a body, a tiny pressure is exerted upon its surface due to the photons impacting on it. Such a principle forms the basis of solar sailing, in which the solar radiation pressure is used to accelerate highly reflective lightweight structures called solar sails. Similarly, a laser-enhanced solar sail is a solar sail in...

Vega Launchers' Trajectory Optimization Using a Pseudospectral Transcription

Given the current technological limitations, launch missions are extremely costly: rockets are huge, being about 100 times more massive than the payload, and most of the times expendable. The specific cost required to place a spacecraft in LEO is between 10 and 25 k€/kg. Consequently, trajectory optimization plays a major role in the design of a...

Parallel autonomy in automated vehicles: Safe motion generation with minimal intervention

Current state-of-the-art vehicle safety systems, such as assistive braking or automatic lane following, are still only able to help in relatively simple driving situations. We introduce a Parallel Autonomy shared-control framework that produces safe trajectories based on human inputs even in much more complex driving scenarios, such as those...

Dynamic Ramping Model Including Intraperiod Ramp-Rate Changes in Unit Commitment

The growing increase of renewable generation worldwide is posing new challenges for a secure, reliable and economic operation of power systems. In order to face the uncertain and intermittent production of renewable sources, operating reserves must be allocated efficiently and accurately. Nowadays, these reserves are mainly assigned to thermal...

Model and trajectory optimization for an ideal laser-enhanced solar sail

A laser-enhanced solar sail is a solar sail that is not solely propelled by solar radiation but additionally by a laser beam that illuminates the sail. This way, the propulsive acceleration of the sail results from the combined action of the solar and the laser radiation pressure. The potential source of the laser beam is a laser satellite...