inControl

A lively dive into Harry Nyquist's work, the birth of negative feedback, and why stability can suddenly turn to oscillation. The conversation traces historical Bell Labs breakthroughs and the geometric Nyquist plot idea. It highlights practical measurement, robustness measures like gain and phase margins, and modern extensions to nonlinear and multivariable analysis.

A lively tour of the brachistochrone puzzle and why the cycloid mattered for time-optimal paths. A sweep through Euler, Lagrange, Hamilton and the birth of variational thinking. Mid-century leaps to Pontryagin’s maximum principle and Bellman’s dynamic programming are highlighted. Modern threads include LQR, Kalman filtering, model predictive control, games, nonsmooth analysis and reinforcement learning.

Outline00:00 - Intro03:18 - Early days: why control, M. Athans, and IDSS12:21 - What is gain scheduling?33:37 - Paradigm shifts & the ‘90s: Minnesota → Texas → LA 42:19 - Robustness & fundamental limitations of nonlinear systems57:35 - Set-valued control & estimation01:04:52 - Game theory & multi-agent control 01:28:18 - Learning & dissipativity in games & multi agent AI01:45:03 - KAUST: building something new01:53:33 - On human-algorithmic interaction01:59:07 - Advice to future students: control, jiu-jitsu, and chatbots in education2:10:02 - OutroLinksJeff’s website: https://tinyurl.com/52btmmz7CSM interview: https://tinyurl.com/49wh98x7Domain: feedbackcontrol.comM. Athans: https://tinyurl.com/nhbw66waPhD thesis: https://tinyurl.com/5eyxkfm6IDSS: https://tinyurl.com/bdenwy6dResearch on gain scheduling: https://tinyurl.com/55se8zcr Overview of LPV systems: https://tinyurl.com/3ksff58b Åström’s lecture: https://tinyurl.com/33mxkkfe Necessity of the small gain theorem: https://tinyurl.com/mjn9eeb4 Sensitivity reduction for nonlinear plants: https://tinyurl.com/23tej5ypRespect the unstable: https://tinyurl.com/3yww5eds Differential inclusion: https://tinyurl.com/4yvc8vccLectures on game theory: https://tinyurl.com/4z8hh3rnDynamic fictitious play: https://tinyurl.com/yc6wsxjjCooperative control and potential games: https://tinyurl.com/4hbmrt72Dissipativity theory in game theory: https://tinyurl.com/3theyc7xPopulation games, stable games, and passivity: https://tinyurl.com/zxwtzv6wGame theory and control: https://tinyurl.com/yencrwm3Higher-order uncoupled learning: https://tinyurl.com/37Support the showPodcast infoPodcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85jSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3cRSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4yYoutube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolPInstagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4Acknowledgments and sponsorsThis episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.

Outline00:00 - Intro05:01 - Female Influencers in Control — The Backstory08:08 - Sofya Kovalevskaya15:21 - Irmgard Lotz26:16 - A new wave of control influencers34:26 - Some data43:38 - What can one do? 1:00:10 - Exhibition + survey1:05:21 - OutroLinksFemale influencers in control project: https://tinyurl.com/mv879ahfCharlotta Johnsson: https://tinyurl.com/343esbeuEva Westin: https://tinyurl.com/3p6fd5n8Margret Bauer: https://tinyurl.com/47d35xzbSofya Kovalevskaya: https://tinyurl.com/4mmzruwcRemembering Sofya Kovalevskaya: https://tinyurl.com/4cpw7vffIrmgard Lotz: https://tinyurl.com/y2exmndmFlow Computation Pioneer Irmgard Flügge-Lotz (1903–1974): https://tinyurl.com/4cy3xsp3Discontinuous Automatic Control: https://tinyurl.com/yeys5dxxHistorical Female Influencers in Automatic Control: https://tinyurl.com/yxw4bjxeActivity report: https://tinyurl.com/jwzn4z3cSupport the showPodcast infoPodcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85jSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3cRSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4yYoutube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolPInstagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4Acknowledgments and sponsorsThis episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.

Discover the fascinating anatomy of feedback loops and their historical origins, from ancient water clocks to modern AI dynamics. Explore the contrasting roles of negative versus positive feedback in biology, economics, and game design. Learn how feedback impacts stability, causality, and the very arrow of time. Delve into adaptive control and the implications of reinforcement learning in today's technology. Reflect on feedback as a learning tool that shapes our understanding of systems, both natural and artificial.

Dive into the life and legacy of A. M. Lyapunov, exploring his groundbreaking work on stability in motion. Discover how he tackled the challenges of ellipsoidal bodies and developed the direct method using Lyapunov functions. Learn about his contributions to probability, including a proof of the central limit theorem. The podcast also covers his tragic personal life, marked by loss and recognition, culminating in his enduring influence on modern control theory and nonlinear dynamics.

Markos Papageorgiou, Professor Emeritus and pioneer in intelligent transportation systems, shares his insights on the evolution of traffic control. He discusses how traffic control theory has developed from its early days to modern methods, focusing on the dynamic between urban and motorway systems. Markos explains the impact of automation and connectivity on traffic flow, as well as innovative solutions like the Alinea ramp metering system. He also touches upon the future of traffic management, emphasizing the interplay of real-time data and modeling techniques.

Join Cosimo Della Santina, an innovative Associate Professor in Robotics at TU Delft and founder of the Physical Intelligence Lab, as he delves into the fascinating world of soft robotics. He shares insights from his early days with the PISA robotic hand and discusses the complexities of controlling soft robots, emphasizing their natural inspirations. Cosimo also explores the intriguing fusion of robotics and art, alongside the evolution of control systems. His passion for innovation shines through, encouraging future students to embrace unexpected opportunities.

Explore the fascinating world of controllability and observability! Discover how these concepts revolutionized space navigation during the race to the moon. Dive into Kalman's insights on state-space methods and learn about practical tests for engineers. Uncover the applications in complex networks, from optimizing brain stimulation to the challenges of self-driving cars. Plus, hear how these ideas intersect with reinforcement learning in AI. Finally, did you catch the sneak peek into AI-generated voices as a unique observability test?

Outline00:00 - Intro00:42 - “Research should be fun”02:02 - Early steps in research09:00 - Book writing and meeting C. Desoer18:33 - Control synthesis via the factorization approach25:46 - The graph metric 29:27 - Robotics and CAIR36:00 - Randomized algorithms40:41 - On learning44:05 - Neural networks48:40 - Tata, hidden Markov models, and large deviations theory55:48 - Picking problems and role of luck58:07 - Compressed sensing and non-convex optimization01:02:17 - Interplay between control and machine learning01:09:10 - Advice to future students01:13:29 - Future of controlLinksSagar’s website: https://tinyurl.com/4hwruajsHilbert: https://tinyurl.com/ykpdh929Feedback Systems: https://tinyurl.com/2k3jsdatHow to Write Mathematics: https://tinyurl.com/35794bv9Nonlinear systems: https://tinyurl.com/2fdtnjcmC. Desoer: https://tinyurl.com/svhknrenControl Systems Synthesis — A Factorization Approach: https://tinyurl.com/59wdc4svAryabhata: https://tinyurl.com/43x6hfhpA Brief History of the Graph Topology: https://tinyurl.com/49uftzdkRobot Dynamics and Control: https://tinyurl.com/5b4cmt7mCAIR: https://tinyurl.com/rajdtxaxRandomized algorithms for robust controller synthesis using statistical learning theory: https://tinyurl.com/wanpyeucR. Tempo: https://tinyurl.com/jkufdwarVC dimension: https://tinyurl.com/mvwk8afmLearning and Generalisation: https://tinyurl.com/2s3mzh8hAre Analog Neural Networks Better Than Binary Neural Networks? https://tinyurl.com/3fnk27xcHidden Markov Processes: https://tinyurl.com/t5frrvfzAn Introduction to Compressed Sensing: https://tinyurl.com/fc6a8eerSupport the showPodcast infoPodcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85jSpotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3cRSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4yYoutube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolPInstagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4Acknowledgments and sponsorsThis episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.