Control Architectures Theory (CAT) Workshop - CDC 2024

Organizers

Aaron Ames (Caltech)

Nikolai Matni (UPenn)

Gioele Zardini (MIT)

Relevant Info and Links

When? On December 15, 2024.
Where? At CDC 2024, Room Amber 4 (NEW ROOM), Allianz MiCo, Milan Convention Centre, Milan, Italy
IEEE CDC 2024 Webpage
IEEE CDC 2024 Registration

Motivation and Objectives

The design and control of complex systems stands out as one of the paramount challenges of this century. Such systems are labeled as complex not only due to the intricacies of their individual components, but also because their functioning hinges on complex interactions among these components, across domains and scales. To give a sense of the kind of systems we are interested in, think about the complex circuit governing a sensor employed in autonomous driving context, and autonomous vehicle which leverages the sensor, as well as a number of other complex hardware and software components within the autonomy stack, a fleet of autonomous vehicles of this kind, deployed and controlled following certain objectives, and interacting via a complex patterns, and a mobility system leveraging Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (i.e., the fleet) systems as well as standard transit options. Each of these subsystems is complex to design and control per se, and is influenced and influences other ones at different scales. In this workshop we are driven by the need for a robust theory concerning layered control architectures (LCAs) across various complex systems, ranging from power systems and communication networks to autonomous robotics, bacteria, and human sensorimotor control. Such systems exhibit exceptional capabilities, yet lack a cohesive, compositional theory for analysis and design, primarily due to their diverse domains. Conversely, there exists a fundamental set of control concepts and theories which are universally applicable and can accommodate domain-specific adaptations. In this context, however, control methods are often limited to work for individual components of larger systems, lacking comprehensive theoretical foundations.

Although fragments of a control architecture theory have emerged across disparate disciplines and domains, a unified theory and community are lacking. Against this backdrop, the objective of this workshop is to cultivate a new interdisciplinary community which considers control architectures and systems theory as a central focus of study. In particular, we will bring together experts from a wide range of disciplines, spanning robotics, control, applied mathematics, systems biology, aerospace, etc., with the goal of establishing a common language and core set of challenge problems and techniques. A key outcome of the workshop will be a white paper laying out a research program in this area.

Speakers

Aaron Ames (Caltech)

Domitilla Del Vecchio (MIT)

Florian Doerfler (ETH Zurich)

John Doyle (Caltech)

Nadia Figueroa (UPenn)

Lisa Li (U. Michigan)

Nikolai Matni (UPenn)

Manfred Morari

Alberto S.-Vincentelli (UC Berkeley)

Alberto Speranzon (Lockheed Martin)

Paulo Tabuada (UCLA)

Gioele Zardini (MIT)

Tentative Program

The workshop (full day, 8:45 am to 6:00 pm) will consist of a morning and afternoon session with talks from diverse speakers (both from academia and industry), and will conclude with a panel.

Time	Speakers	Title
8:45	Aaron Ames, Nikolai Matni, Gioele Zardini	Introduction to the workshop
9:00	John Doyle	Universal laws, architectures, and diversity
9:30	Aaron Ames	Towards a theory of control architecture
10:00	Nikolai Matni	Layered Control Architectures as Optimal Control Decomposition
10:30	Coffee Break
11:00	Florian Doerfler	Towards a systems theory of algorithms
11:30	Gioele Zardini	Compositional Design of Complex Systems
12:00	Lunch Break
13:30	Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli	Contracts in System Design
14:00	Paulo Tabuada	What can abstractions and (bi)simulation relations tell us about control architectures?
14:30	Alberto Speranzon	On neuro-symbolic methods for compositional design of autonomous systems
15:00	Nadia Figueroa	A Layered Control Architecture for Safe, Reactive, and Useful Physical Human-Robot Interaction
15:30	Coffee Break
16:00	Domitilla Del Vecchio	Context-aware modular design of genetic circuits
16:30	Lisa Li	Layered control in animal sensorimotor systems
17:00	Fred Leve, John Doyle, Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, Aaron Ames	Panel Discussion