News

Invited Guest: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Schaum, University of Hohenheim

• 2024/04/24:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Schaum (University of Hohenheim) will give a talk on Monitoring and control of balance models with focus on bio- and food process engineering at 1:15 pm in 2/W065. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

New DFG Project on Admissible Set Approximation

• 2024/03/26:   The German Research Foundation (DFG) has granted a new project for the professorship titled "Characterizing and approximating the boundary of the admissible set". The project focusses on the calculation of the admissible set, which consists of all safe states of a control system, offering insights into system behavior and possible control strategies to ensure the safety of the system. The method under consideration has been applied to energy, biological and robotic systems in the past, and its theoretical aspects will be significantly developed within the project. The research is being carried out in cooperation with Prof. Jean Lévine from the Mines Paris – PSL.

Invited Guest: Prof. Jaime Moreno, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

• 2024/03/25 - 2024/08/02:  Prof. Dr. Jaime Moreno (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) will visit our professorship to strengthen our cooperation.

Contributions to the European Control Conference 2024

• 2024/02/29:   Our team members will present six peer-reviewed publications at the European Control Conference 2024, which will take place in Stockholm on June 25th-28th. The papers are titled:
  • Observability Analysis of PEM Fuel Cell Systems with Anode Recirculation
  • Predictive Control with Terminal Costs Based on Online Learning Using Value Iteration
  • Global observability analysis of a growth model for insects farming
  • Deep Neural Network based Optimal Control of Greenhouses
  • Quantized Deep Neural Network Based Optimal Control of Greenhouses on a Microcontroller
  • Comparison of Unscented Kalman Filter Design for Agricultural Anaerobic Digestion Model
  Furthermore, the Advanced Control Methods for Food Production and Agriculture session is hosted by Prof. Streif as chair and Dr. Sauerteig as co-chair.

ACSD at LinkedIn

• 2023/12/20:   Our professorship is active on LinkedIn. Feel free to connect!

University award for best PhD thesis

• 2023/11/16:   Our former group member Dr. Tim Aschenbruck receives this year's university award for the best thesis in 2023 of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. His dissertation is entitled On Invariant Sets and the Theory of Barriers for Constrained Systems and their Applications. After 2020 and 2021, Dr. Aschenbruck’s thesis is the third awarded thesis of a team member. Siemens AG is the sponsor of the award.

New team members join to build up our CEA activities: Jonathan Raecke and Mohamed Mansour

• 2023/11/01:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team members, Jonathan Raecke and Mohamed Mansour who will strengthen our Controlled Environment Agriculture team.
  Jonathan studied Mechanical Engineering for his diploma degree at Technische Universität Dresden.
  Mohamed studied mechatronics at the German University in Cairo for his master's degree.

Seminar on basics of train operation

• 2023/10/17:   On 2023/10/17 from 10:00 am to approx. 05:00 pm, a seminar on Basics of train operation (Grundlagen des Bahnbetriebs) takes place in room 2/NK004. It will be held in German and be given by an employee of the Institut für Bahntechnik. Everybody is heartily invited.

Press release about AI-based monitoring of plant production (ResKIPP project)

• 2023/10/12:   The following press release from TU Chemnitz gives insights into the goals of the ResKIPP project, where research on new sensor systems for the production of high-quality and healthy plant-based foodstuff is done, where the use of resources is reduced simultaneously. Further information are also published in this, this, and this press release.

New research area leader Dr.-Ing. Felix Krujatz joins to build up our CEA activities

• 2023/10/02:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new research area leader Dr.-Ing. Felix Krujatz, strengthen our Controlled Environment Agriculture team. He studied biotechnology at the Technical University of Braunschweig. After graduation, he moved to the TU Dresden (Institute of Natural Materials Technology, Chair of Bioprocess Engineering) for his PhD in the field of bioreactor development and validation for phototrophic microorganisms. Since 2016 he worked as a group leader for the research group algae biotechnology and taught as a substitute professor for environmental bioprocess engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz since 2022.

New projects in the CEA area: SensCEA, OptiFood, and ResKIPP

• 2023/10/01:   Our laboratory applies and deepens its knowlege in the Controlled Environment Agriculture area with three projects starting in September and October 2023:
  • SensCEA: Sensorgestützte Effizienzsteigerung in Controlled Environment Agriculture (Sensor-based Efficiency Enhancement in Controlled Environment Agriculture)
  • OptiFood: Entwicklung nachhaltiger und wettbewerbsfähiger Insektenlebensmittel (Development of sustainable and competitive insect foods)
  • ResKIPP: Resiliente und KI-basierte Pflanzenproduktionsüberwachung (Resilient and AI-based crop production monitoring)

Prof. Streif stays at German Aerospace Center (DLR), Planetary Infrastructure Group

• 2023/10/01:   The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Planetary Infrastructure Group in Bremen, under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Schubert, is known worldwide for its research in the field of bioregenerative life support systems, controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) and the famous "Greenhouse for Space" mission EDEN ISS. During his long-term stay at DLR, Prof. Streif will contribute his knowledge in the field of CEA, in particular tailored approaches to optimal multi-level modeling and control as well as process monitoring, to further advance EDEN ISS and to eventually allow the Lunar and Mars missions (EDEN-LUNA and EDEN-Next-Gen projects).

Invited Guest: Prof. Dr. Pablo Zometa, GIU Berlin

• 2023/08/15:   Prof. Dr. Pablo Zometa (German International University Berlin) will give a talk on Model-predictive path-following control on a microcontroller using quantized deep neural networks at 1:30 pm in 2/W059. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

5 Peer-reviewed Publications on the IFAC World Congress 2023

• 2023/07/09 - 2023/07/14:  Our three team members Mr. Moreno Mora, Mrs. Guo, and Mr. Schmidt presented their papers on the IFAC World Congress 2023 - one of the most important control conferences, which took place in Yokohama, Japan on July 9th-14th. The papers are titled:
  • Predictive Control with Learning-Based Terminal Costs Using Approximate Value Iteration
  • Safety-Critical Control for Ensemble Systems
  • High-gain observer for the nitrification process including sensor dynamics
  • Nonlinear Optimal Control of Traffic Flow with Stability Guarantees
  • Critical Clearing Time Estimates of Power Grid Fauls via a Set-Based Method

New team member: Morgan Uland

• 2023/07/03:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team member Morgan Uland, who will join as technical personnel for the planned bioprocess engineering laboratory. During her Bachelor's degree at the College of William & Mary, Morgan majored in Chemistry and minored in Biochemistry. She went on to obtain her masters in Advanced Functional Materials at the Chemnitz University of Technology.

Invited Guest: Dr.-Ing. Felix Krujatz, TU Dresden

• 2023/06/28:   Dr.-Ing. Felix Krujatz (Technische Universität Dresden) will give a talk on (Mikro-)Algen - vom nachwachsenden Rohstoff zur zellulären Fabrik at 1:00 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Prof. Jaime Moreno, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

• 2023/06/19:   Prof. Dr. Jaime Moreno (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) will give a talk on On multivalued observers for nonlinear systems at 2:00 pm in 2/W014. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Contributions to the European Control Conference 2023

• 2023/06/13 - 2023/06/16:  Our two ACSD members Mr. Hauck and Mr. Devadze presented their papers on the European Control Conference 2023, which took place in Bucharest on June 13th-16th. The papers are titled:
  • A map-based model predictive control approach for train operation
  • Formal proofs for Lyapunov stability theorems in exact real arithmetic
  • Extraction of a computer-certified SMT solver for nonlinear theories
  • Formal verification of a controller implementation in fixed-point arithmetic

Invited Guest: Ferdinand Rewicki, DLR Institute of Data Science

• 2023/06/07:   Ferdinand Rewicki (DLR Institute of Data Science) visits our laboratory. He will give a talk on Machine Learning for Space Gardening at 2023/06/07, 01:00 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Visitor: Dhruvkumar Patel, IIITDM Jabalpur

• 2023/05/10 - 2023/08/05:  Dhruvkumar Patel, student at IIITDM Jabalpur (India) visited our lab during a research internship.

Invited Guest: Dario Dennstädt, Universität Paderborn & TU Ilmenau

• 2023/04/28 - 2023/04/24:  Dario Dennstädt (Universität Paderborn & Technische Universität Ilmenau) visits our laboratory. He will give a talk on Funnel-MPC at 2023/04/27, 02:15 pm in 2/NK003. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Dr.-Ing. Daniel Schubert, DLR Institute of Space Systems

• 2023/04/26:   Dr.-Ing. Daniel Schubert (DLR Institute of Space Systems) will give a talk on From the South Pole into Space – Vegetable Cultivation in Antarctica at 11:15 am in 2/N013 (in conjunction with Physikalisches Kolloquium). Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

New team member: Jannis von Salzen

• 2023/04/24:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new external team member Jannis von Salzen. He works at the University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück in the group of Prof. Andreas Ulbrich and will work toward his PhD in cooperation with our lab. He will be working on process optimization and automation for cultivation of water lentils and will be part of our Controlled Environment Agriculture team.

Two new team members: Daniel Pusicha and Kiran Kumar Sathyanarayanan

• 2023/04/21:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team members, Daniel Pusicha and Kiran Sathyanarayanan who will strengthen our Controlled Environment Agriculture team.
  Daniel studied Engineering and Business Administration for his bachelor's degree and Electrical Engineering and Information Technology for his master's degree at Leibniz University Hannover.
  Kiran studied Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering at Anna University Chennai for his bachelor's degree and Automation and Robotics at TU Dortmund for his master's degree.

Opening of the research facility CUBES Circle - Future Food Production

• 2023/04/14:   Our laboratory presented its research results at the opening of the worldwide unique research facility CUBES Circle - Future Food Production at the Humboldt University in Berlin. In it, a circular production process of food through three different stages of the food chain (plants, fish, and insects) is tested in the form of a production plant. The research facility is a result of the CUBES Circle consortium, which is part of the National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030 in the funding line Agricultural Systems of the Future by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Prof. Streif was elected into a steering committee of the German Agricultural Research Alliance

• 2023/03/30:   The German Agricultural Research Alliance (German: Deutsche Forschungsallianz DAFA) represents the majority of German agricultural and nutritional research institutions. The DAFA provides an integrative platform for its members and supports interdisciplinary cooperation.
  The steering committee for controlled environment agriculture is responsible for the overall strategic planning and direction of the research in Germany in this area. Prof. Streif was elected into this committee due to his long standing experience in modeling and optimal control of agricultural systems as well as the optimization of coupled food production units.
  See also here for more information and for a press release (in German) and (in English).

Invited Guest: Dr. Manuel Schaller, Technische Universität Ilmenau

• 2023/03/22:   Dr. Manuel Schaller (Technische Universität Ilmenau) will give a talk on Data-based predictive control using eDMD with guarantees at 3:00 pm in 2/W043. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Prof. Streif joins the Fraunhofer IME to promote Controlled Environment Agriculture

• 2023/03/16:   The Fraunhofer institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (Section Bioresources in the city Gießen) is worldwide known i.a. for insect-based biotechnology, circular economy, biogenic production and controlled environment agriculture. Prof. Streif joins the Fraunhofer Institute to contribute with his expertise on modeling and optimal control and to further promote these mentioned research areas.

Seminar on automated driving in trains

• 2023/03/10:   On 2023/03/10 from 10:15 am to 04:15 pm, a seminar on Automated Driving in Trains (Automatisiertes Fahren in Zügen) takes place in room 2/W059. It will be held in German and be given by an employee of the Institut für Bahntechnik. Everybody is heartily invited.

PhD thesis defense of Tim Aschenbruck

• 2023/03/09:   Our team member Tim Aschenbruck has successfully defended his dissertation with the title On Invariant Sets and the Theory of Barriers for Constrained Systems and their Applications.

Invited Guest: Prof. Florin Stoican, Politehnica University of Bucharest

• 2023/02/27 - 2023/03/10:  Prof. Dr. Florin Stoican (Politehnica University of Bucharest) visits our laboratory. He will give a talk on A mixed-integer MPC with polyhedral potential field cost for collision avoidance at 2023/02/27, 2:00 pm in 2/W059 and on Computing the explicit MPC solution using the Hasse diagram of the lifted feasible domain at 2023/03/01, 2:30 pm in 2/W017. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.
  

Invited Guest: Prof. Timm Faulwasser, Technische Universität Dortmund

• 2023/02/08:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Timm Faulwasser (Technische Universität Dortmund) will give a talk on Output Feedback for Stochastic Systems: Data-Driven Control Through the Eyes of Wiener and Willems at 3:30 pm in 2/W043. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.
  Furthermore, he will give a mini workshop on Economic Operation and Hierarchical Control - A Primer on 2023/02/08 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. in 2/W043. Further information about this mini workshop can be found here.

New project: Integration of hydrogen systems into the power grid

• 2023/02/06:   Our ACSD lab is part of the new research project HZwo:StabiGrid, where hydrogen systems are integrated into power grids to reduce the risk of grid failures and to make a positive contribution to the energy transition using hydrogen as an energy carrier. Further information are given in this press release from TU Chemnitz, as well as this and this press release.

Visitor: Vladimir Guneavoy, Skoltech Moscow

• 2023/01/20 - 2023/04/05:  Vladimir Guneavoy, student at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) Moscow visited our lab during a research internship.

New project: Smart sensors and efficient data analysis for control of fuel cells

• 2023/01/01:   Our ACSD lab is part of the new research project ReSIDA-H2 (Smarte Brennstoffzellen – Sensorintegration und effiziente Datenanalyse für die Regelung von Wasserstoffbrennstoffzellen), where hydrogen sensors are developed and integrated into fuel cells to increase their efficiency and durability. Further information are given in this press release from TU Chemnitz, as well as this, this, and this press release.

New project: MPC for demand-oriented feeding of biogas plants

• 2023/01/01:   In collaboration with the German Biomass Research Center (Deutsches Biomasse Forschungszentrum), our group will contribute its expertise in model predictive control in the field of MPC for demand-oriented feeding of biogas for electricity production. These processes have high time delays and impose high requirements on plant technology, monitoring, and process control.

PhD thesis defense of Lukas Beckenbach

• 2022/12/16:   Our team member Lukas Beckenbach has successfully defended his dissertation with the title Stability and Performance of Model Based Approximate Optimal Control Designs.

Invited Guest: Prof. Matthias Gerdts, Universität der Bundeswehr München

• 2022/12/16:   Prof. Dr. Matthias Gerdts (Universität der Bundeswehr München) will give a talk on Coordination of interacting systems using optimal control techniques at 2:00 pm in 2/N001. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

University award for best research paper (at TU Ilmenau)

• 2022/12/06:   Our group member Philipp Sauerteig receives the university award of Technische Universität Ilmenau for the best research paper 2022 in the category "economic and social sciences" for his contribution as one of the main authors of S. Grundel, S. Heyder, T. Hotz, T. K. S. Ritschel, P. Sauerteig, K. Worthmann (2021): How to Coordinate Vaccination and Social Distancing to Mitigate SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks, SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems (SIADS) 20(2), 1135 – 1157, DOI: 10.1137/20M1387687 .

Invited Guest: Prof. Tsu-Wei Chen, HU zu Berlin

• 2022/11/29:   Prof. Dr. Tsu-Wei Chen (Humbold Universität zu Berlin) will give a talk on Multi-scale modelling and phenotyping facilitate understanding of plant-plant interactions and canopy productivity at 2:00 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Visitor: Farrukh Waheed, Czech Technical University (CTU) Praha

• 2022/11/14 - 2022/12/09:  Farrukh Waheed (Czech Technical University Praha) visited our lab during an ERASMUS+ programme, where he gave a talk on Time Varying Model Predictive Control (MPC) of Underactuated Systems.

Invited Guest: Jun.-Prof. Thomas Berger, Universität Paderborn

• 2022/11/14:   Jun.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger (Universität Paderborn) will give a talk on Funnel control and applications at 5:00 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Dr. Yuning Jiang, EPFL (Lausanne)

• 2022/11/10:   Dr. Yuning Jiang (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) will give a talk on Data-driven control and optimization with kernel-based learning at 2:30 pm in 2/N111. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Wichtige Information zur Lehre im Wintersemester 2022/23 /Important information about courses in the winter term 2022/23

• 2022/09/30:   Alle Lehrveranstaltungen unserer Professur sind im Wintersemester 2022/23 in Präsenz geplant. Alle weiteren Informationen erhalten sie über den OPAL Kurs der entsprechenden Lehrveranstaltung. Bitte melden Sie sich dort bis zum Vorlesungsbeginn am 10.10.2022 an.
  All courses of our professorship are planned in attendance in winter term 2022/23. All further information can be obtained from the OPAL course of the corresponding course. Please enrol there by the start of lectures on October 10th, 2022.

Two new team members: Philipp Sauerteig and Yang Guo

• 2022/09/01:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team members, Philipp Sauerteig and Yang Guo.
  Philipp was working on optimization-based model predictive control in his PhD thesis at the Technical University of Ilmenau. On the one hand, he developed algorithms to exploit the inherent flexibility of locally distributed energy storage devices within modern electricity grids. On the other hand, he studied the impact of interventions, e.g. vaccination and social distancing, on the spread of COVID-19 and suggested optimal control strategies.
  Yang studied Engineering Cybernetics at University of Stuttgart. Afterwards, she worked as an engineer before she decided to go back to university.

Contributions to the European Control Conference 2022

• 2022/07/15 - 2022/07/12:  Our two ACSD members Mr. Moreno Mora and Mrs. Tafat presented their papers on the European Control Conference (ECC) 2022, which took place in London on July 12th-15th. The papers are titled
  • Performance Bounds of Adaptive MPC with Bounded Parameter Uncertainties, and
  • Generating a Robustly Stabilizable Class of Nonlinear Systems for a Converse Optimality Problem.

Best poster award at world conference

• 2022/06/22:   Our extern PhD student Simon Hellmann at the German Biomass Research Center (Deutsches Biomasse Forschungszentrum) in Leipzig took part at this year's 17th World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he presented his research results. For his poster titled ''Monitoring and control of agricultural biogas plants: observability analyses of a simplified ADM1'' he won one of the Best Poster Awards. Congratulations!

Video about the CUBES Circle project

• 2022/05/09:   The ACSD lab is a partner in the CUBES Circle project (Closed Urban modular Energy- and Resource-efficient Agricultural Systems) since 2019. A short video about the project is now available on this website (with additional information about the project), as well as on Youtube. The vision of the project is an intelligent networking of different agricultural production systems (plants, insects and fish) in closed energy and material cycles to utilize residual materials from the involved, interconnected production processes.

University award for best master thesis

• 2021/12/03:   Our former group member Florian Joch receives the university award for the best thesis in 2021 of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. His master thesis is entitled 'Konzeptionelle Analyse sowie Vergleich von Ansätzen zur Schlupfregelung in Zügen' (Conceptual analysis and comparison of approaches to slip control in trains). Siemens AG is the sponsor of the award.

Report on sustainable food production using circular economy and coupled agricultural systems

• 2021/10/26:   An insight about the interplay of insect larvae (Hermetia illucens), fish farming and crop production was given the webpage of Wirtschaftsjahr. The described topic is a part of the CUBES project and a branch of our research, where methods for sustainable food production are investigated.

New publication on epidemic management with set-based-methods

• 2021/09/27:   We published an article on “epidemic management with admissible and robust invariant sets” in collaboration with Jean Lévine (MINES ParisTech). The full article is available on the webpage of Plos One.

Group member receives university award for best master thesis

• 2020/12/03:   Our team member Michael Hauck receives the university award for the best thesis in 2020 of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. His master thesis is entitled 'Control-Oriented Modeling of the Anode Recirculation and Purging Processes in PEM Fuel Cell Systems'. Siemens AG is the sponsor of the award.

PoCET: A Polynomial Chaos Expansion Toolbox for Matlab

• 2020/07/27:   During the 21st IFAC World Congress 2020 one of the many contributions of our lab was publishing PoCET, a Polynomial Chaos Expansion Toolbox for Matlab. It offers a powerful set of routines that allow for fast uncertainty propagation through linear and nonlinear ODE systems and can therefore be used for all kinds of stochastic dynamic optimization problems like parameter estimation, experimental design, or MPC. Moreover, it is available completely open-source and free of charge on GitHub. More information on PoCET can be found on the corresponding research page.

New project on modeling, analysis and "control" of the Corona pandemic

• 2020/07/01:   In a new project, the group will contribute its expertise in set-based methods, dynamical models of the infectious disease and optimal control to design and analyse mitigation actions. The project results will hopefully contribute to mitigate the spread of the Corona virus. Further information can be found in this press release from TU Chemnitz. An overview of our projects can be found here.

New project on safe learning-based control

• 2020/06/12:   Our ACSD lab is part of the new research project SOPRANN (synthesis of optimal controls and adaptive neural networks for mobility applications). The project focuses on (proveable) safe learning-based control using neural networks in mobility applications. Further information can be found in this press release from TU Chemnitz. An overview of our projects can be found here.

16 Peer-reviewed Publications on the IFAC World Congress 2020

• 2020/03/05:   The IFAC World Congress 2020 is one of the most important control conferences. The ACSD lab will publish and present 16 contributions covering a variety of topics, including theoretical contributions in the areas of learning-based control, model predictive control and set-based system analysis as well as application oriented contributions in the area of energy networks and agricultural systems:
  • Maintaining Hard Infection Caps in Epidemics via the Theory of Barriers
  • Sustainability Analysis of Interconnected Food Production Systems via Theory of Barriers
  • Model Predictive Control of a Food Production Unit: A Case Study for Lettuce Production
  • Nonsmooth stabilization and its computational aspects
  • Online Traction Parameter Identification and Mapping
  • Optimal control of centrifugal spreader
  • A reinforcement learning method with closed-loop stability guarantee
  • Hierarchical control of a quadcopter under stuck actuator fault
  • Half-Gain Tuning for Active Disturbance Rejection Control
  • Stabilising the Light Spectrum of LED Solar Simulators using LQG Control
  • Prototypical Description and Controller Design for a Set of Systems Using v-gap Based Clustering
  • A Hierarchical Architecture for the Coordination of an Ensemble of Steam Generators
  • PoCET: a Polynomial Chaos Expansion Toolbox for Matlab
  • Reserve Balancing in a Microgrid System for Safety Analysis
  • A Hierarchical MPC Scheme for Ensembles of Hammerstein Systems
  • A reinforcement learning method with closed-loop stability guarantee for systems with unknown parameters

Invited Guest: Prof. Florin Stoican, Politehnica University of Bucharest

• 2020/02/27:   Prof. Dr. Florin Stoican (Politehnica University of Bucharest) will give a talk on About the use of B-spline functions in motion planning at 4:00 pm in 2/W065. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Research report on production on sustainable food and insect larvae

• 2020/02/10:   An insight how bio-economically optimised resource and energy cycles help in the production of sustainable food can be found in this press release, which also describes the group's research activities in the area of the production of insect larvae (Hermetia illucens).

Invited Guest: Prof. Johann Reger, TU Ilmenau

• 2020/01/30:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johann Reger (TU Ilmenau) will give a talk on Exact Backstepping Control for Systems in Pure Feedback Form at 5:30 pm in 2/W014. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

New project CUBES Circle - Agricultural Systems of the Future

• 2019/12/20:   Starting in 2019, several members of the ACSD lab will be working on Control of closed energy and mass flow of a high complex production system. The lab will closely collaborate with several industrial and academic partners. Further information can be found in this press release from TU Chemnitz, at the project's homepage and in this press release. An overview of our projects can be found here.

Contributions to the Conference on Decision and Control 2019

• 2019/12/11 - 2019/12/13:  The ACSD Lab presents two papers on the Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), which takes place in Nice on December 11th-13th. Dr. Osinenko presents two papers, namely Adaptive Dynamic Programming Using Lyapunov Function Constraints (Göhrt, Osinenko, Streif) and Model Predictive Control with Stage Cost Shaping Inspired by Reinforcement Learning (Beckenbach, Osinenko, Streif). Furthermore, Prof. Streif is co-chair of the Optimal Control V session.

TUCtalk video by Prof. Streif, Dean of the Faculty

• 2019/12/06:   Prof. Streif gives a view in his work as the Dean of the faculty in TUCtalk in this video (in German).

Invited Guest: Dr. Victor Magron, CNRS-LAAS, Équipe MAC

• 2019/10/21:   Victor Magron (CNRS-LAAS,Équipe MAC) will give a talk on Semidefinite programming and moment/sums-of-squares hierarchy for solving polynomial optimization problems at 3:00 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Open Invited Track on Uncertainty Quantification on the IFAC WC 2020

• 2019/10/07:   The lab organizes an open invited track on the IFAC World Congress 2020 in Berlin. The topic of the track is Uncertainty Quantification in Control and Optimization - Tools, Methods and Applications.

Contributions to the IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Control Systems 2019

• 2019/09/04 - 2019/09/06:  The ACSD Lab will present a paper at the IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Control Systems (NOLCOS) 2019 to be held in Vienna on September 4th-6th. New research results in the area of adaptive dynamic programming will be presented.

ACSD lab as a member of the new research project KIN-TUC

• 2019/07/15:   Our ACSD lab is part of the new research project "Aufbau eines universitätsweiten Kooperationsnetzwerks Künstliche Intelligenz am Beispiel Ambient Assisted Living" (KIN-TUC). The aim of the group is it, to mitigate the consequences of ageing through artificial intelligence. More information about the group can be found in this press release.

Invited Guest: Prof. Peter Protzel, TU Chemnitz

• 2019/07/03:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Protzel (TU Chemnitz) will give a talk on Sind wir bald da? Autonomes Fahren, Maschinelles Lernen und KI - (Ernüchternde) Einblicke zum Stand der Forschung at 3:30 pm in 2/W040. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Dr.-Ing. Sören Weinrich, Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum

• 2019/06/12:   Dr.-Ing. Sören Weinrich (Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum) will give a talk on Model-based control for demand-oriented power supply of anaerobic digestion plants at 3:30 pm in 2/W185. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Prof. Oliver Sawodny, University of Stuttgart

• 2019/05/08:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Oliver Sawodny (University of Stuttgart) will give a talk on System Dynamic Methods for Optimization in Electric Vehicles at 3:30 pm in 2/W020. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Final symposium of the Chemnitz junior research group SyNErgIt

• 2019/04/24:   The final symposium of the Chemnitz junior research group SyNErgIt once again brought together experts on the topic Synergetic use of energy and information technology at Chemnitz University of Technology. More information about the project can be found in this press release.

Invited Guest: Prof. Jean Lévine, MINES ParisTech

• 2019/04/11 - 2019/04/18:  From April 11th to 18th, Prof. Jean Lévine (MINES ParisTech) will visit our lab and gives a talk on An introduction to flatness with emphasis on computational aspects at 3:30 pm in 2/W017. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.
  Furthermore, he will give a short course on Differential flatness on 2019/04/15 from 12 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on 2019/04/17 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 2/W168.

Head of the LAB, Prof. Streif, becomes the Dean of the Faculty

• 2019/04/01:   The head of the ACSD Lab, Prof. Stefan Streif, was voted as the new Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Starting April 1st, 2019, he will serve for three years in this honorable position and will have significant authorities over several matters regarding the Faculty.

GAMM-Fachausschuss at the TU Chemnitz

• 2019/03/25 - 2019/03/26:  The GAMM-Fachausschuss/Activity Group of the GAMM (International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics) will be held from at 25th and 26th march 2019 at the Technische Universität in Chemnitz and will be organized by our professorship..

Two new team members: Alexander Kobelski and Fritjof Griesing-Scheiwe

• 2019/03/11:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team members, Alexander Kobelski and Fritjof Griesing-Scheiwe.
  Alexander studied Electrical Engineering in Chemnitz. His Master thesis was on modeling and control of fungal growth. He will strengthen our team on the research topics Modeling and optimal control for biotechnological processes for food production.
  Fritjof studied Technical Cybernetics and Systemtheory at the Ilmenau University of Technology. His Master thesis was on Irregularly sampled data in the design of a soft sensor system .

Visiting Researcher Ngoc Thinh Nguyen

• 2019/01/13:   Ngoc Thinh Nguyen, M.Eng., from the INP Grenoble (Prof. Ionela Prodan's group) visits the ACSD lab to work on hierarchical fault tolerant control.

New guest lecturer Dr. Gernot Herbst

• 2019/01/08:   Dr.-Ing. Gernot Herbst, who works at SIEMENS, joins the group as a guest lecturer. He will give a course on Digital Control in 2/W065 at 3:30pm starting at 2019/01/08. More information can be found on the website of the lecture.

New project in fuel cell technology

• 2019/01/01:   Starting in early 2019, several members of the ACSD lab will be working on model-based, adaptive and robust control for fuel cells in hybrid cars. The lab will take a leading role and will closely collaborate with several industrial and academic partners. Further information can be found either in this press release of the TU Chemnitz or at the project's homepage

Two new projects in the area of agriculture

• 2019/01/01:   The ACSD group successfully acquired two new research projects dealing with optimal control and machine learning.
  In the first project, control methods for optimal fertilization of farm land will be investigated in a large consortium with various partners from all over Germany.
  In the second project, starting in 2019, machine learning will be used for state-dependent soil irrigation and fertilization of cultivated plants.

Contributions to the Conference on Decision and Control 2018

• 2018/12/17 - 2018/12/19:  The ACSD Lab will present two papers on the Conference on Decision and Control to be held in Miami Beach on December 17th-19th. New research results in the area of constructive analysis of control systems and hierarchical MPC will be presented.

Invited Guest: Prof. Lars Grüne (University of Bayreuth)

• 2018/12/12:   Prof. Dr. Lars Grüne (University of Bayreuth) will give a talk on Computing nonsmooth control Lyapunov functions on a grid at 1:45 pm in 2/N001. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

New project: NitraMon

• 2018/12/07:   Our group is involved in the junior research group NitraMon promoted by ESF, in which an autark sensor network is developed for a better ground water quality. Among other things, we are responsible for fault diagnosis and system theoretic analysis. More information can be found in this press release.

Invited Guest: Prof. Klaus Röbenack (TU Dresden)

• 2018/12/05:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dipl.-Math.Klaus Röbenack (TU Dresden) will give a talk on Lösung regelungstechnischer Probleme mittels Quantorenelimination at 3:30 pm in 2/W021. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Invited Guest: Prof. Christian Ebenbauer (University of Stuttgart)

• 2018/11/07:   Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Ebenbauer (University of Stuttgart) will give a talk on To commute or not to commute? The role of geometric control in optimization algorithms at 2:15 pm in 2/W014. Everybody is heartily invited. All past and future seminars can be found here.

Master thesis defense: Model Predictive Path Following Control for Highly Automated Driving

• 2018/10/10:   Mr. Richard Linßen defends his master's thesis on the topic Model Predictive Path Following Control for Highly Automated Driving. The research was conducted in cooperation with IAV Automotive Engineering

New course Advanced Control Methods

• 2018/10/08:   Our new course Advanced Control Methods (ACM) will be held in the winter semester 2018/19. The course covers topics such as robust control and LMIs.

Two new team members: Franz Rußwurm and Lukas Munser

• 2018/10/08:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team members, Franz Rußwurm and Lukas Munser.
  Franz studied Mathematics at the Ilmenau University of Technology. His Master thesis was on Motion principles on the example of the nonholonomic robot. He will strengthen our team on the research topics Nonlinear and optimal control.
  Lukas studied Electrical Engineering in Chemnitz. His Master thesis was on Identification and Aggregation of Dynamic Behavior based on Kernel Methods. He will strengthen our team on the research topics Learning-based methods for nonlinear control.

Research results of the ACSD-lab raised attention of international press

• 2018/10/02:   An article on constructive control theory appeared at phys.org and EurekAlert!.org. Among general things like logical background for control, the article discusses the professorship's recent publication on the constructive analysis of Caratheodory's theorem on existence of system trajectories of discontinuous dynamical systems.

Contributions to the Conference SAFEPROCESS 2018

• 2018/08/29 - 2018/08/31:  The ACSD Lab will present a collaborative paper on the 10th IFAC Symposium on Fault Detection, Supervision and Safety for Technical Processes, SAFEPROCESS, to be held in Warsaw, Poland on August 29th-31st. New research results in the area of hierarchical fault tolerant control will be presented by Assoc. Prof. Florin Stoican from the Polytechnical University Bucharest.

Master thesis defense: Identification based on Kernel Methods by Lukas Munser

• 2018/08/28:   Mr. Lukas Munser defends his master thesis on the topic Identification and Aggregation of Dynamic Behavior based on Kernel Methods.

Master thesis defense: Model Identification in PEM Fuel Cell Systems by Henrik Rudolf

• 2018/08/27:   Mr. Henrik Rudolf defends his master thesis on the topic Identification of the Thermal Behavior of Components in a Cathode Path of a PEM Fuel Cell using a LPV Model. This thesis was done in cooperation with the professorship Advanced Powertrains at the TUC.

Contributions to the Conference on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control 2018

• 2018/08/19 - 2018/08/22:  The ACSD Lab will present a paper on the Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Conference to be held in Madison on August 19th-22nd. New research results in the area of adaptive dynamic programming will be presented.

Research project defense: Machine Learning for Predictive Maintenance by Sina Nahvi

• 2018/07/04:   Mr. Sina Nahvi defended his research project on the topic Maschinelles Lernen für prädiktive Instandhaltung. The project was done in cooperation with Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH.

Upcoming new project: CUBES Circle

• 2018/06/26:   In a highly competitive process over the last two years, a project called CUBES Circles was selected for possible funding by the BMBF within the call "Agricultural systems of the future". In the project, several partners from academia and industry from Germany will be working together. The project is supposed to start in 2019 and will be coordinated by the Humboldt University Berlin. The ultimate goal of the project is to couple the resource and energy flows between different food production units to achieve resource and energy efficiency of the overall system. The Automatic Control and System Dynamics Lab at the TU Chemnitz will have a central role and will be responsible for the optimal control and scheduling of the flows between the coupled agricultural production systems.

Invited Guest: Karl Worthmann (TU Ilmenau)

• 2018/06/18 - 2018/06/19:  Prof. Dr. Karl Worthmann is visiting our professorship on June 18-19, 2018. He conducts scientific discussions with the professorship staff and gives a lecture on suboptimality bounds of model-predictive control without stabilizing constraints. Prof. Worthmann is an expert in optimal control and nonlinear systems. He is also a project partner in KONSENS.

Contributions to the European Control Conference 2018

• 2018/06/12 - 2018/06/15:  The ACSD Lab will present two papers on the European Control Conference, which takes place in Cyprus on June 12th-15th. New research results in the area of optimal and predictive control will be presented by Mr. Petzke and Mr. Beckenbach.

Invited guest: Didier Henrion talks about Polynomial optimization for dynamical systems

• 2018/05/03:   We are happy to have Prof. Didier Henrion from the LAAS-CNRS, University of Toulouse and the Czech Technical University in Prague as a guest in our lab. He will give a talk on Lasserre's hierarchy in polynomial optimization and special application to differential equations.

New team member: Patrick Schmidt

• 2018/04/09:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new team member, Patrick Schmidt. Patrick studied Engineering Cybernetics and Systems Theory at the Ilmenau University of Technology. His Master thesis was on stochastic optimal control. He will strengthen our team on the research topics: Nonlinear Control and System Identification.

New Course: Complex Systems

• 2018/04/03:   The lab presents its new summer term seminar course on Complex Systems see CSS. Within the course we focus on methods of analysis, control and identification of complex networked systems from selected application areas, e.g. Energy systems, process engineering, automation systems, agricultural engineering and mechatronics.

New Course: Dynamics and Control of Networked Systems

• 2018/04/03:   The lab for Automatic Control and System Dynamics like to announce its new summer term course on the theory of Dynamics and Control of Networked Systems see DCNS. Within the course the state of the art approaches to control networked system and their applications in ongoing research projects e.g. KONSENS will be treated.

Master thesis defense: Control concepts for electric drives by Sutida Kerdsuwan

• 2018/03/13:   Mrs. Sutida Kerdsuwan will defend her master thesis on the topic "Design and implementation of control concepts for multiphase electric drives". The thesis was done at the company BOSCH.

Bachelor thesis defense: Optimal control using barrier functions by Michael Hauck

• 2018/03/13:   Mr. Michael Hauck will defend his bachelor thesis on the topic Zeitkontinuierliche Optimalsteuerung unter Verwendung relaxierter Barrierefunktionen.

New team member: Tim Aschenbruck

• 2018/03/01:   The professorship is happy to welcome its new research associate, Tim Aschenbruck, who has started his work on the research topic "hierarchical model predictive control" in March 2018. Before starting work as a research associate, he previously worked at the professorship, completing a research internship and a masters thesis concerning topics as explicit and hierarchical MPC. Tim Aschenbruck studied Automation Systems at the Chemnitz University of Technolgoy.

New postdoc and team leader: Dr. Willem Esterhuizen

• 2018/03/01:   The professorship is happy to present its new project leader, Dr. Willem Esterhuizen, research topics Hierarchical control systems and set-based methods. Willem grew up in Johannesburg, and earned a B.Sc in Mechatronics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, an M.Sc in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, USA and a Ph.D from the École Des Mines de Paris, France, in 2015. During 2016 and 2017 he conducted research at the University of Johannesburg, and worked as a data scientist at a machine learning start-up in Stellenbosch, South Africa. He joined the ACSD group in March 2018. Currently, he is focusing on using set-based methods to solve problems in power grids (part of the KONSENS project). He is also interested in: investigating optimal control problems that exist in aerospace, addressing problems that exist in hierarchical control theory, and the advancement of the theory of barriers in constrained nonlinear systems.

New project "MORSyFlex": Hierarchical MPC utilizing flexibilities

• 2018/03/01:   Since March 2018, the professorship has been working on the project "MORSyFlex", a research project funded by the ESF. The project deals with control and optimization smart grids to utilize flexibilities of the system to increase efficiency. Application areas which are taken into account are the electric grid and automated manufacturing.

Master thesis defense: New approach for hierarchical MPC by Tim Aschenbruck

• 2018/02/21:   Energy and Automation Systems master student Tim Aschenbruck defends his master's thesis on Error Diffusion in Hierarchical Model Predictive Control.

New project "EiNES": Optimal control and state estimation in agricultural machines

• 2018/02/01:   A new project on energy efficiency and sustainability improvement of food and renewables production using an e-mobility sensor platform started on 1st February 2018. In this project, five university partners and two external research and networking partners work on the concept of a sensor vehicle: a means of real-time identification of ground conditions and digital communication for operator assistance and optimal machine control. EiNES is funded by the Sächsische AufbauBank. See also Uni aktuell .

New Project: Energy Efficient Supermarket

• 2018/01/25:   Successful completion of the project Energy Efficient Supermarket for which the professorship and its partners have been working since march 2017. The project was funded by industrial partners and dealt with the analysis of load profiles of over 200 supermarkets as well as on site experiments to establish a comprehension of load drivers and behavioral load patterns.

New project "KONSENS": Consistent Optimization and Stabilization of Electrical Network Systems

• 2018/01/01:   Since January 1st the project "Consistent Optimization and Stabilization of Electrical Network Systems" (KONSENS), funded by the BMBF, extends our research repertoire on power grid operation. Under the main supervision of Dr. W. Esterhuizen we’ll focus on the transient stability of large power networks and the potential use of inherent flexibilities to increase the robustness and resilience of the overall grid towards contingencies. As a collaboration of several research institutions and industry partners, the overall goal is to develop new methods and algorithms that could help to tackle the projected challenges grid operators will face in the future. More information on KONSENS can be found on our Projects page. See also Uni aktuell .

Visitor: Prof. Florin Stoican (POLITEHNICA Bucharest)

• 2017/11/06 - 2017/11/09:  From November 6th to 9th, Prof. Florin Stoican from Politehnica Bucharest visits or lab. His main research focus is fault tolerant control using set based methods and flat trajectory generation approaches. During his research stay we aim to develop ideas for new collaborations and he will also be available for discussions.

Symposium "SyNErgIt"

• 2017/10/25:   Interdisciplinary exchange of science and practice: Symposium of the Chemnitz junior research group "SyNErgIt" brought together experts on "Synergetic use of energy and information technology" at Chemnitz University of Technology. See also Symposium der Chemnitzer Nachwuchsforschergruppe "SyNErgIt" .

New team member: Murali Padmanabha

• 2017/10/01:   The professorship warmly welcomes its new research associate, Murali Padmanabha, who has started his work on the research topic "Optimal control in closed-loop agricultural systems" from October 2017. Murali studied Embedded Systems at the Chemnitz University of Technology

Project "SERIVF": Optimal control of closed-loop agricultural systems

• 2017/10/01:   The professorship acquired funding for the project SERIVF through the ESF funding program. The project deals with optimization of resource and energy consumption in closed-loop agricultural system.

Research project defense: Optimal scheduling of smart appliances by Ye Yang

• 2017/06/23:   Energy and Automation Systems master student Ye Yang defends her research project titles Reducing the Number of Binary Variables in Optimal Scheduling Problems.

Research project defense: Parametrized explicit MPC by Tim Aschenbruck

• 2017/06/13:   Energy and Automation Systems master student Tim Aschenbruck defends his research project on Parameterized Explicit Distributed MPC.

Exhibition "AGRA 2017"

• 2017/05/04:   The professorship presented its new traction test stand at the Leipzig AGRA fair 2017 on 4-7 May. The test stand is a new promising experimental facility aimed at realizing a great potential of various control algorithms for vehicles. Much attention was attracted from experts in different occupation areas as well as farmers and guests of the fair. The test stand proved its robustness and sustainability via a stable functioning throughout four full days at the fair. The professorship showed great focus on industrial applications and acquired new promising contacts to potential project partners. See also Uni aktuell.

New team member: Grigory Devadze

• 2017/01/01:   The professorship is happy to warmly welcomes its new research associate, Grigory Devadze, who has started his work on various projects as well as dissertation on "Formal verification of control systems" from January 2017. Grigory studied Applied Mathematics at the University of Applied Sciences in Mittweida.

Visitor: Prof. Marcello Farina (Politecnico di Milano)

• 2016/10/03 - 2016/10/07:   From October 3rd to 7th, Prof. Marcello Farina from Politecnico di Milano visits our Lab. His main research focus lies on model predictive control (MPC) for large-scale and multi-agent systems. During his stay he will give a short course on stability and consensus problems in distributed MPC and be available for discussions.

Visitor: Alessandra Parisio (University of Manchester)

• 2016/06/13 - 2016/06/17:  From June 13th to 17th, Prof. Alessandra Parision from the University of Manchester visits our Lab. She will give several talks on her current research topics, which include the control of HVAC systems using model predictive control (MPC), robust scheduling and stochastic MPC of microgrids, as well as demand response for aggregated residential consumers.

Visitors: Prof. Ionela Prodan (INP Grenoble) and Prof. Florin Stoican (POLITEHNICA Bucharest)

• 2016/04/21 - 2016/04/29:  From April 21st to 29th, Prof. Ionela Prodan from INP Grenoble and Prof. Florin Stoican from Politehnica Bucharest visit or lab. Together they work on fault tolerant control of microgrids and in particular robust reserve balancing of batteries. During their stay they will give several talks on set based methods in robust control, mixed integer methods in microgrid operation, and flat trajectory generation.

Organized Workshop and Delivered Keynote: Innovation potentials in the agricultural technology

• 2015/12/14:   The professorship co-organized a regional workshop on Innovations in Saxony's agricultural technology. A keynote on Agriculture 4.0: Opportunities from a scientific perspective was delivered by Prof. Stefan Streif.

Organized Sessions: Optimal Control and Estimation of Uncertain Systems on the ACC'15

• 2015/07/01 - 2015/07/04:  The Lab organized two invited sessions on Control and Estimation of Systems with Uncertainties and on New Directions in Robust and Stochastic Model Predictive Control on the American Control Conference 2015 in Chicago. The session was organized together with Ali Mesbah from the University of California, Berkeley. Also, a paper on Stability for Receding-Horizon Stochastic Model Predictive Control was presented.

Organized Workshop: Estimation, fault diagnosis and control of uncertain nonlinear systems using polynomial chaos on the ADCHEM'15

• 2015/06/07 - 2015/06/10:  The ACSD Lab organized a workshop on Model-based estimation, fault diagnosis and control of uncertain nonlinear systems using polynomial chaos together with Ali Mesbah from the University of California, Berkeley.
  Also three papers on probabilistic and set-based analysis, experiment design and modeling were present at the conference.