Episodes

  • ECC Special (European Control Conference 2025)

    ECC Special (European Control Conference 2025)

    · Coffee and Control

    This episode is an ECC special, where I go on a trip to theEuropean control conference and bring you with me!

    Connect with me and with the podcast

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/

    X: https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_pod

    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.social

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/

    References (Cool people to go look up!)

    ECC25 web page: https://ecc25.euca-ecc.org/

    Guido Carnevale: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/guido.carnevale/en

    Luca Furieri: https://www.lucafurieri.it/

    René Vidal: http://vision.jhu.edu/rvidal.html

    Lisa Li: https://flyingpeach.github.io/

    Victor Magron: https://homepages.laas.fr/vmagron/

    Giacomo Como: https://www.control.lth.se/personnel-old/giacomo-como/

    Venanzio Cichella (safe autonomous agents): https://engineering.uiowa.edu/directory/venanzio-cichella

    Maryam Kamgarpour: https://people.epfl.ch/maryam.kamgarpour?lang=en

    Miroslav Kristic: https://flyingv.ucsd.edu/

    Iasson Karafyllis: https://semfe.ntua.gr/en/faculty-members/item/16-karafyllis

    Daniel Nikovski: https://www.merl.com/people/nikovski

    Rosane Ushirobira: https://chercheurs.lille.inria.fr/~ushirobira/

    Michelle Chong: https://www.tue.nl/en/research/researchers/michelle-chong

    Timm Faulwasser: https://www.tuhh.de/ics/teampages/timm-faulwasser

    Seth Siriya: https://www.irt.uni-hannover.de/en/siriya

    Lorenzo Zino: https://lorenzozino90.wixsite.com/lzino

    François-Grégoire Bierwart (Koopman operators): https://researchportal.unamur.be/en/persons/fgbierwa

    Konstantin Zimenko (Finite-time stability analysis): https://dblp.org/pid/144/1527.html

    ABB: https://global.abb/

    Massimiliano D’Angelo: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KrzPm2UAAAAJ&hl=it

    Yongduan Song (Neural network semi-plenary): https://accu.cqu.edu.cn/info/1112/3673.htm

    Niloufar Dabestani: https://www.trafficfluid.tuc.gr/en/people/phd-students/dabestani

    Antonella Ferrara: http://sisdin.unipv.it/labsisdin/people/ferant/ferant.php

    Maria Laura Delle Monache: https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/delle-monache

    Carlo Novara (MPC on quantum computers): https://www.polito.it/en/staff?p=003528

    Daniel Hobson: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5xp9hs/mr-daniel-hobson

    Stefano Stramigioli: https://people.utwente.nl/s.stramigioli

    Frank Allgower (Event-based control): https://www.uni-stuttgart.de/en/press/experts/Prof.-Frank-Allgoewer/

  • Mathias Foo (River systems and biochemical control)

    Mathias Foo (River systems and biochemical control)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode I interview Dr Mathias Foo about his fascinating research on controlling river systems, implementing control systems using DNA, and gene network rewiring. Basically applying control to a bunch of different systems that you weren’t expecting.

    Connect with me and with the podcast!

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/

    X: https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_pod

    Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.social

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/

    References

    Dr Mathias Foo: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/people/mathias_foo/

    PhD

    PhD thesis: https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=H5eLRq4AAAAJ&cstart=20&pagesize=80&sortby=pubdate&citation_for_view=H5eLRq4AAAAJ:2osOgNQ5qMEC

    Nadia Bedjaoui: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-bedjaoui-39862110/

    Observers for leak detection in irrigation channels: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967066110001498

    MPC using reverse engineering paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6114363
    Maciejowski MPC book: https://www.amazon.com/Predictive-Control-Constraints-Jan-Maciejowski/dp/0201398230

    Maciejowski inverse optimal control paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474667015366180

    DNA strand displacement reactions

    Oishi and Klavins paper: https://www.dna.caltech.edu/courses/cs191/paperscs191/Oishi2011linear.pdf

    DNA amplifiers: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1148532

    DNA Logic gates: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1132493

    DNA Detectors: https://www.dna.caltech.edu/Papers/Nucleation_DNA10.pdf

    PID control using DSD reactions: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8721529

    Nuno Paulino: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FKL-xegAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

    DNA programmable gate arrays: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06484-9

    Theoretical DNA feedback paper: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/10/4/466

    DNA stability paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005109820303010

    SSV DNA robustness paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=8619072

    Gomez-Uribe covalent modification cycle paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18159939/

    Quasi sliding-model controller paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7833853

    Design based on covalent modification cycle: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13036-016-0036-1

    PI-degradation controllers: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/staff/dgb/077972431.pdf

    Gene regulatory networks

    Voit S-system paper: https://doi.org/10.1042/bse0450029

    Modelling and control using S-system models: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8254368

    Extended S-system model for restoring circadian cycles: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41540-022-00216-x

    Uri Alon gene regulation paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg2102

    Network re-wiring paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00037

    Reverse-engineering Hill-type models paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsif.2024.0811

    2009 Cell optimisation paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867409007120

    Briat antithetic integral control paper: https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S2405-4712(16)00005-3

    Professor Declan Bates: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/staff/dgb/

    Steve Brunton: https://www.youtube.com/@Eigensteve

    Control bootcamp series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi7l8mMjYVE&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNR20Mz-VpzgfQs5zrYi085m

    Physics-informed machine learning series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoFW2uSd3Uo&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNQ0BaKuBKY43k4xMo6NSbBa

    Probability and statistics series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqniayndb4&list=PLMrJAkhIeNNR3sNYvfgiKgcStwuPSts9V

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  • Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado (Switched systems and DC networks)

    Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado (Switched systems and DC networks)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode I interview Jonathan Mayo Maldonado about his work on applying the behavioural framework to modelling and controlling switched systems, as well as applying data-driven control to power systems!

    You can engage with the podcast on

    BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.social

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/

    Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/

    Or email me at [email protected]

    Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/668pbh/doctor-jonathan-mayo-maldonado

    PhD

    PhD thesis: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/383678/

    Switched linear differential systems: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1303.0308

    Dissipative switched linear differential systems: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/386199/1/DissipativeSLDS-Rev5.pdf

    DC-DC converters

    Power shaping control: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344671509_Power_shaping_control_of_DC-DC_converters_with_constant_power_loads

    Paolo Rapisarda’s dissipativity paper: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/271668/1/PublishedArticle.pdf

    Lifted coordinates: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344800256_Nonlinear_Stabilizing_Control_Design_for_DC-DC_Converters_Using_Lifted_Models

    Episode with Chris on Non-minimum phase ILC: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0hLqV5hv5OeQO3gOE6aU9c

    Direct voltage control of higher-order converters paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359245867_Direct_Output-Voltage_Control_of_Non-Minimum_Phase_Higher-Order_DC-DC_Converters

    Enrique Garza Arias PhD thesis: https://repositorio.tec.mx/items/6dfd5498-d0d4-417c-9e33-afb75930710a

    Data-driven control

    Active and reactive power analogy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv_7XWf96gg

    Data-driven D-PMU paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339887346_Data-Driven_Framework_to_Model_Identification_Event_Detection_and_Topology_Change_Location_Using_D-PMUs

    Voltage performance index tracking paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10517964

    Extra questions

    Advice from a young scientist to younger scientists article:https://medium.com/@jonathanmayo_75536/advice-from-a-young-scientist-to-younger-scientists-74d9aaf2d2f2

    Arjan van der schafft: https://www.math.rug.nl/~arjan/index.html

    Johann Kolar: https://pes.ee.ethz.ch/the-institute/People/prof-kolar2.html

    Konstantinos Gatsis: https://kgatsis.github.io/

  • Paolo Rapisarda (Behavioural systems and Willems' fundamental lemma)

    Paolo Rapisarda (Behavioural systems and Willems' fundamental lemma)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode I talk to Professor Paolo Rapisarda about a bunch of interesting theoretical (but very useful) aspects of control, including his work on behavioural systems theory, model reduction, Willems’ fundamental lemma, and data-driven control.

    You can engage with the podcast on

    X: https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_pod

    BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.social

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/

    Or email me at [email protected]

    Paolo Rapisarda: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x2hb9/professor-paolo-rapisarda

    Introduction

    State maps for linear systems: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/264646/1/State_maps.pdf

    Harry Trentelman: https://research.rug.nl/en/persons/harry-trentelman

    Jan Willems: https://homes.esat.kuleuven.be/~sistawww/smc/jwillems/

    PhD thesis: https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/linear-differential-systems-2

    Behavioural systems

    Epic Jan Willems behavioural systems paper: https://skoge.folk.ntnu.no/prost/proceedings/cpc6-jan2002/willems.pdf

    State maps

    LTV paper:https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/457114/1/State_for_linear_discrete_time_varying_systems.pdf

    Leibnitz rule: https://www.cuemath.com/calculus/leibniz-rule/

    Dissipativity

    Jan Willem’s paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/bf00276493

    Jan Willem’s optimal control paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1099831

    Quadratic differential forms: https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/S0363012996303062

    Balancing

    Siep Weiland: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37301202100

    Keith Glover: https://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/kg103

    H-infinity model order reduction: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/701085

    1980 Moore balancing paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1102568

    Kalman decomposition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalman_decomposition

    Arjan van der Schaft: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=BIPifjAAAAAJ&hl=en

    Hamiltonian systems: https://www.unige.ch/~hairer/poly_geoint/week1.pdf

    Port Hamiltonianity:https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-control-081219-092250

    Jacqueline Scherpen: https://research.rug.nl/en/persons/jacqueline-scherpen

    Balancing of Port-Hamiltonian systems: https://research.rug.nl/files/2999949/2003ProcIFACWorkshopLHMNCLopezlena.pdf

    Balancing for non-linear systems: https://research.rug.nl/files/3318296/1993ProcECCScherpen.pdf

    Fundamental lemma

    Ivan Markovski: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qSl_3FQAAAAJ&hl=en

    Continuous-time work: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016769112400238X

    Chebychev polynomials: https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ChebyshevPolynomialoftheFirstKind.html

    Kanat Camblibel: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aeWjKPcAAAAJ&hl=en

    Sufficient condition modification of Willems’s lemma: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18962

    Experimental implementation: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.12509

    Data-driven control

    Data-driven ILC:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10384133

    DeePC: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.05890

    Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=W-vnMBwAAAAJ&hl=en

    Extra questions

    Aizerman’s conjecture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aizerman%27s_conjecture

  • Sabine Hauert (Swarm robotics and artificial evolution)

    Sabine Hauert (Swarm robotics and artificial evolution)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode I interview Professor Sabine Hauert about the super interesting work she does on the control of swarm robots, how considering nanoparticles as swarms can be used to treat cancer, and how morphogenesis can generate structure from random interactions.

    You can follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/coffee_and_control_podcast/),BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/coffee-and-control.bsky.social) and X(https://x.com/coffee_ctrl_pod)for updates on episodes!

    You can also connect with or follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-hodgins-733a30175/

    References

    Sabine: https://hauertlab.com/

    Podcasts/ TEDx talks

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn1gmcs-HXU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBbYuzhxpE0

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=vvknnV6325Q

    Robot Talk: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0JWPnKQmwTQdM1K7247jkq

    Complexity: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6nfcUpB3wesHqXP5XzSPAl

    Engenius: https://open.spotify.com/episode/34jert4EQGBVrQBfS4OfxW

    Research

    Invertebrate inspiration review paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-3190/acc223/meta

    Centipede control inspiration: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171421

    David Garzon-Ramos: https://dgarzonramos.com/

    Puzzle/ Problem/mess paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.22478

    Dario Floriano: https://people.epfl.ch/dario.floreano?lang=en

    Manuela Veloso: https://engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/veloso-manuela.html

    PhD

    PhD thesis: https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/dbb9fe40-930c-4e54-a5c0-10b62ebb6d1c
    Robot swarm video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_qRuHkD5lc

    Onboard evolution of swarm behaviours: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aisy.201900031

    Supervisory control papers: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/229980063/Paper_SWARM2019.pdf

    MAP-elites algorithm: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-77538-8_49

    Morphogenesis

    James Sharpe: https://www.embl.org/people/person/james-sharpe/

    Original paper: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/scirobotics.aau9178

    Controllability of morphogenesis: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/toward-controllable-morphogenesis-in-large-robot-swarms

    Controllability in control theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controllability

    Steve Brunton controllability Gramian video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNHx62HbKNA

    Alan Turing reaction diffusion paper: https://www.dna.caltech.edu/courses/cs191/paperscs191/turing.pdf

    Nanoswarms

    Sangita Bhatia: https://ki.mit.edu/people/faculty/sangeeta-bhatia

    Nanoswarm papers: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4295824/

    John Ives: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Jonathan-Ives-fa38de81-8d34-4978-a99d-1f55efe2e0f4/

    Matimba Swana: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/matimba-c-swana

    Outreach

    AIhub.org: https://aihub.org/

    Robohub.org: https://robohub.org/

    Drones for 3D printing buildings: https://robohub.org/five-ways-drones-will-change-the-way-buildings-are-designed/

    AI environmental impact: https://aihub.org/2025/02/06/explained-generative-ais-environmental-impact/

    AI for drug development: https://aihub.org/2025/01/09/will-ai-revolutionize-drug-development-researchers-explain-why-it-depends-on-how-its-used/

    Extra questions

    Radhika Nagpal: https://www.radhikanagpal.org/

    Dot robots: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.13809

  • William Holderbaum (Geometric control and electroactive matter)

    William Holderbaum (Geometric control and electroactive matter)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode, I talk to Professor William Holderbaum about some of the many fascinating areas of research he’s involved in, including Boolean control, geometric control, and control of electroactive polymer gels—plus a lot more!

    Follow us for updates on new episodes:
    Instagram
    BlueSky
    X (Twitter)

    PhD research

    PhD Thesis (in French) Boolean Control Using State-Space Approach Neural Networks for Boolean Control PID Control of Boolean Systems Predictive Control Sliding Mode Control

    FES work

    Coffee and Control Episode with Chris Freeman Professor Ken Hunt FES for Paraplegic Standing Adaptive PID Sliding Mode Control

    FES muscle fatigue papers

    Chapter 5 of this Thesis PubMed Paper 1 PubMed Paper 2 IEEE Explore Paper Fatigue reduction with soft robotics

    Geometric control

    Resources for Understanding Geometric Control Lecture Slides YouTube Video 6D Lie Groups Application to Spacecraft Time-Parameterized Motion Planning

    Control of RTG cranes

    Optimal Control and MPC Fuzzy Logic Control

    Electroactive polymer gels

    Paper 1 Paper 2 Springer Chapter Model-Based Control of Soft Robots Arm with Self-Control Feedback Loop
  • Zehor Belkhatir (Fractional order modelling and cancer control)

    Zehor Belkhatir (Fractional order modelling and cancer control)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode I talk to Dr Zehor Belkhatir about her fascinatingwork using fractional order systems to model the brain, as well as how controlcan be used for chemotherapy treatment.

    You can follow us on Instagram, BlueSky, and X for updates on episodes!

    References

    Thesis: Dr. Zehor Belkhatir's thesis explores key aspects of fractional systems in biomedical applications. Fractional order estimation: ScienceDirect article. Cardiovascular system ECC paper: IEEE Explore paper. Hybrid dynamical systems: Springer chapter. Kevin Aquino: Google Scholar profile. Fractional differential equations textbook: Mathematics in Science and Engineering. Fractional calculus in biomedical engineering book: Begell House publication. Fractional Robust Control Design book: Springer book. Fractional order Matlab toolbox: MathWorks resource. Fractional Youla-Kucera parameterisation: (Details forthcoming). Allen Tannenbaum: Profile. Jeff Shamma: Profile. Larry Norton: MSKCC Profile. Cancer modelling (and MPC) paper: Google Scholar citation. Impulse response cancer control: Google Scholar citation. Optimal mass transport paper: bioRxiv abstract.
  • Matthew Turner (Anti-windup and aircraft control)

    Matthew Turner (Anti-windup and aircraft control)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this episode we interview Professor Matthew Turner, professor in the Cyber Physical Systems group at the university of Southampton, about his fascinating work on aircraft control, anti-windup, Lur’e systems, and his recent research into applying techniques from control theory to the analysis of neural networks.

    Contact me at: [email protected].uk

    We have an Instagram now!

    References:

    PhD Thesis NationalResearch Council of Canada Aerospace Research Centre Nonlinear High Gain Feedback LMIs in Control AW for Model-Reference Adaptive Control AW for ILC Anti-Windup Review Two-Stage Anti-Windup Anti-Windup in Anticipation of Saturation (Zongli Lin) Matt Turner Chris Richards Aizerman Conjecture Ian Postlethwaite Jorge Sofrony Murray Kerr Oliver Brieger Circle and Popov Criterion Khalil Nonlinear Control Book Zames and Sakkary Gap Metric Paper George Zames Zames-Falb Multipliers Summary Article O’Shear Zames-Falb Multipliers: Don’t Panic Early Neural Network Work (with Guido Hermann) Additional NN Research Ross Drummond ReLU Network Analysis Using Lur’e Systems Antonis Papachristodolou Exploiting Sparsity in Neural Networks Robust Control Paper Malcolm Smith Glenn Vinnicombe

    Other cool neural network/ control papers

    Synthesis of MPC Algorithms that Robustly Approximate Neural Networks Shrinking Down Neural Networks Using Inspiration from Control Designing Neural Networks that are More Robust
  • Chris Freeman (Iterative learning control and stroke rehabilitation)

    Chris Freeman (Iterative learning control and stroke rehabilitation)

    · Coffee and Control

    In this first episode, I talk to Chris Freeman, professor of applied control at the University of Southampton and expert on all things related to iterative learning control and its application in rehabilitation.

    Contact Chris at [email protected] Contact me at [email protected].uk

    References:

    1984 ILC paper Early stroke rehabilitation work RC for tremor suppression ILC and RC design paper Multiple model adaptive control for FES Robust control of Hammerstein systems Electrode array control (1) Electrode array control (2) FES control review paper Thoracic pressure control paper

    People Chris worked with throughout his PhD:

    Paul Lewin Eric Rogers Jari Hatonen David Owens James Ratcliffe

    Rehabilitation robotics folks:

    Jane Burridge Igo Krebs Neville Hogan Jonathan Rossiter (Cool video)

    Tremor suppression:

    Kevin Moore Trish Sampson

    Multiple model ILC:

    Mark French Dominic Buchstaller Oli Brend Abeer Al-Gburi

    Electrode arrays:

    Thierry Keller FATRONIK-Tecnalia research centre Russel Torah Kai Yang m.c. Schraefel

    Biomedical contexts of ILC:

    Mike Thompson Rujie Sun

    EDI:

    Reena Pau Dorota Sikorska

    Other projects:

    Haiming Liu Rafael Mestre
  • Coffee and Control trailer

    Coffee and Control trailer

    · Coffee and Control

    Trailer for my new control-related podcast! Epsiodes will be released on the 1st of each month.

    You can check out inControl here: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/

    inControl episodes tend to be realeased during the middle of the month, so you could subscribe to both!

    (Please bear with me regarding the strange background noises and general awkwardness - I'm still learning how podcast making works!)