Research – Ricerca

This page describes a summary of current research activities. Additional information can be found here.

• Current Research Topics:

Guidance, Navigation and Control Issues during Rendezvous in NRHO Cislunar Orbits (ESA sponsor)

The main activity deals with the design of optimal rendezvous trajectories between a chaser vehicle departing the Moon, and a target station orbiting around the L2 Lagrangian point. The research also studies closed loop guidance methods in close proximity using the restricted three body models. Funding for the research are provided by the European Space Agency.

Recent Publications:

1. Dynamics and Control Analysis during Rendezvous in non Keplerian Earth – Moon Orbits, Frontiers in Space Technologies, doi: 10.3389/frspt.2022.929179, September 2022.
2. Fully Safe Rendezvous Strategy in Cis-Lunar Space, Passive and Active Collision Avoidance, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 70, pp. 1 – 28, doi: 10.1007/s40295-022-00339-7, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85138017696, September 2022.
3. Closed Loop Guidance during Close Range Rendezvous with Third Body Perturbation, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 69, pp. 1 – 23, doi: 10.1007/s40295-021-00289-6, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85123489238, January 2022.
4. Bearings-Only Guidance in Cislunar Rendezvous, AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, doi: 10.2514/1.G005978, Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 1862-1874, October 2021, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85117392876.
5. Rendezvous in Cis-lunar Space Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit: Dynamics and Control Issues, MDPI Aerospace Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 3, No. 8, doi: 10.3390/aerospace8030068, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85102918776, March 2021.
6. Phasing Maneuver Analysis from a Low Lunar Orbit to a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit, MDPI Aerospace Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 3, No. 70, doi: 10.3390/aerospace8030070, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85102927998, WOS. , March 2021.
7. Relative Motion Dynamics in Restricted Three-Body Scenarios. AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 56, No. 5, pp. 1322-1337, September-October 2019, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85067409236.
8. Relative Motion Dynamics with Arbitrary Perturbations in the Local-Vertical Local-Horizon Reference Frame.  Journal of Astronautical Sciences,  Vol. 66, Issue 4, pp. 1-15, June 2019, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85067407492.
9. State-Dependent Riccati Equation Control for Spacecraft Formation Flying in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem. 2018 AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, AAS-18-312, Snowbird, Utah, Vol. 162, pp. 2603-2617, Snowbird, Utah, USA, August 2018, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85049358610.

SAIS: Next Generation Smart Active Inceptors System development for Tilt Rotor application (EU 886538- SAIS-H2020-CS2-CFP10-2019-01)

Next Generation of SMARt Active Inceptor for Tilt Rotor Application (EU 864584—SMAR-TeR—H2020-CS2-CFP09-2018-02)

The SMAR-TeR project is aimed at identifying, developing, prototyping and pilot-in-the-loop validating a new class of active inceptors for civil tilt rotor application. The design will focus on inceptors’ mechanical interfaces and ergonomics so that NGCTR FCS augmentation can be further improved.

Recent Publications:

1. A visual – haptic display for human and autonomous system integration.  Springer Verlag: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 9991,  pp. 64-80,  2016,  Scopus: 2-s2.0-84995921646.

High Level Control Management for Drones

The research is directed to the study of guidance and control of SWARMS of drones, which may be cooperative and autonomous.

Recent Publications:

1. A Fuzzy Guidance System for Rendezvous and Pursuit of Moving Targets”, MDPI Robotics Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4, doi: 10.3390/robotics9040110,  Scopus: 2-s2.0-85098945492, WOS:000601820000001 December 2020.
2. Distributed Cooperative Deployment of Heterogeneous Autonomous Agents: A Pareto Suboptimal Approach.  Robotica, Vol. 36, Issue 12, pp. 1943-1962, December 2018, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85053021002.
3. Cooperative Control for Multiple Autonomous Vehicles Using Descriptor Functions.  Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 26-43, January 2014, Scopus: 2-s2.0-84995937594.
4. Cooperative Path Planning and Task Assignment for Unmanned Air Vehicles. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part G, Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol. 224, Issue 2, pp. 121-131, February 2010, Scopus: 2-s2.0-76649108217.
5. Persistent Coverage Control for Teams of Heterogeneous Agents.  57th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Miami, Florida, December 2018,  Scopus: 2-s2.0-85062169216.

• Other Research Topics

Autonomous Systems Guidance, Navigation, and Control

Recent Publications:

1. Visibility Augmented Proportional Navigation.  AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 41, N. 4, pp. 983 – 991, April 2018, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85044005031.
2. Robust Vision Aided Inertial Navigation Algorithm via Entropy Like Relative Pose Estimation. Journal of Gyroscopy and Navigation, Vol. 4,  Issue 1, January 2013, pp. 1-13, Scopus: 2-s2.0-84879545215.
3. A Fuzzy Approach to the Guidance of Unmanned Air Vehicles Tracking moving Targets. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Vol. 16, No. 6, pp. 1125-1137, September 2008, Scopus: 2-s2.0-55349147658.
4. Nonlinear Guidance Techniques for Agile Missiles. Control Engineering Practice, Vol. 9, Issue 10, pp. 1131-1144, October 2001, pp. 1131-1144, Scopus: 2-s2.0-0035478182.

Human Operator in the Loop

Recent Publications:

1. Experimental Comparison of Direct and Indirect Haptic Aids in Support of Obstacle Avoidance for Remotely Piloted Vehicles. Journal of Mechanics Engineering and Automation, David Publishing Company, Vol. 2, pp. 628-637, October 2012, Scopus: 2-s2.0-77955142313.
2. Lateral – Directional Tracking Requirements from Simulation Data. AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 14, Issue 3, pp. 701-703,  May-June 1991, Scopus: 2-s2.0-0026153464.
3. Roll Performance Criteria for Highly Augmented Aircraft. AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 14, Issue 6, pp. 1277-1286, November-December 1991, Scopus: 2-s2.0-0026258751.
4. Optimal Control Model Applications. In: NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Advances in Flying Qualities, Vol. LS-157, p. 7-1-7-17, NATO-AGARD Lecture Series, 1988.

Control Theory (Optimal Control, Nonlinear Control)

Recent Publications:

1. Design of a H_∞ Robust Controller for Steam Turbine Power Generation Applications. Energies,  Vol. 10, Issue 7, pp. 1-31, July 2017, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85026196065.
2. Synchronization Patterns in Networks of Kuramoto Oscillators: A Geometric Approach for Analysis and Control”, 56th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, pp. 481 – 486, Melbourne, Australia, December 2017, ISBN 978-1-5090-2872-6/17, doi: 10.1109/CDC.2017.8263710,  Scopus: 2-s2.0-85046141174.
3. A geometry-based algorithm for the stability of planar switching systems. International Journal of Systems Science,  Vol. 37, pp. 747-761, September 2006, Scopus: 2-s2.0-33747622524.
4. Estimation of the Region of Attraction for SDRE Controllers. AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 29, Issue 6, pp. 1427-1430, November-December 2006, Scopus: 2-s2.0-33845508211.
5. Robustness of a Variable Structure Control System for Maneuverable Flight Vehicles. AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 20, Issue 3, pp. 377-383, March-April 1997,  Scopus: 2-s2.0-0031103801.