Open positions
List of open positions for experienced researchers (postdocs) and projects and interships for students.
The power grid, as a whole, is composed of heterogeneous power generators and loads. In steady state, the frequency and voltage of the grid are constant, with all the power produced being consumed. If a mismatch between the produced and consumed power occurs, the system deviates from the synchronized steady state. During such transients, a control is required to maintain the network equilibrium state within a tight margin. The main goal here is transient stability. The transient stability characteristics can be improved by applying distributed communication and cooperative control.
The goal of the project is to develop a mathematical model (or models) of dynamics of discharge of a queue of road vehicles at intersections controlled by traffic lights.
For low-Earth orbiting satellite formations effects of other bodies can be disregarded; individual trajectories are Keplerian ellipses if no controls are applied. When the controls are acting the orbits change according to Lagrange Planetary Equations. Formulate the consensus problem appropriate for a chosen satellite formation and show cooperative stability. This would allow completely autonomous station keeping, excluding the need for ground stations.
Investigate satellite trajectories in the system of tidally locked ''eyeball'' planets. Use the Hill's model to study the shape and stability of trajectories. Look into long-term effects of perturbations; is long-term orbit around either of the bodies stable? Find, if possible, compensating controls to stabilize an unstable orbit.
Your task will be to build a system for manipulation of liquid droplets using EWOD (electrowetting on dielectric) digital microfluidics. Such system contains a matrix of electrodes covered by a dielectric layer that can be hydrophobic or hydrophilic based on applied voltage. The inspiration can be taken from existing and open system OpenDrop.
This project aims to build an experimental system for maintaining and synchronization of oscillations. The system will consist of two or more balls on rails and coil underneath that will keep the ball oscillating and synchronized to prevent their collision. Instead of the rails, it is possible to use two pendulums suspended from the one point.
Your task will be to recreate and improve system called Flying ball in the hoop that serves for education and research of optimal control. The primary motivation is to create the building instructions and documentation that enables others to build and use this system in their labs.
This project aims to design a control system for the automatic AirHockey. The control system will run on RaspberryPi, and it will use a camera to detect the position of a puck and command stepper motors. The inspiration can be taken from the existing system. Hardware and electronics are ready.
This student project is motivated by the needs of a larger industrial research project that the AA4CC group is running since January 2018 jointly with a small hi-tech Brno-located company focused on automation in public transportation. The focus of the proposed project is on numerical simulations of urban traffic using existing opensource simulation packages.
We are looking for a hardware platform suitable for presentation of trajectory optimization algorithms and your goal will be to build one. The platform will resemble a gantry crane or a pendulum on a cart with a variable length if you want. It will be attachable/detachable to a whiteboard and there will be a pen at the place where the hook normally is (or, at the end of the pendulum). The ultimate goal for the platform will be to draw a given curve on the whiteboard in the shortest possible time. Nevertheless, at first, we need you to build the platform for us.
You will be developing algorithms for a sensor measuring positions of micro-objects in 3D. The sensor mainly consists of an image sensor capturing diffraction patterns encoding positions of some micro-objects. We have algorithms which can extract the positions from the diffraction patterns, but they are slow. We have some ideas how to make the algorithms faster by implementing them on a graphical card (GPU) and/or by approximating them by methods from machine learning. Your goal will be to explore these possibilities.
We receive numerous inquiries from undergraduate students if there is any research project solved by our group in which they can be involved. The typical motivation is the final-year undergraduate project/thesis but oftentimes even second- or third-year students are expressing their interest.