Dynamic Systems

Assistant Professor A. P. Schoellig
University of Toronto
Institute for Aerospace Studies
4925 Dufferin St., Ontario, Canada M3H 5T6

Phone: +1-416-667-7518
Fax: +1-416-667-7799
Email: schoellig (at) utias.utoronto.ca
Web: http://schoellig.name/

Education

  • Ph.D. – ETH Zürich
  • M.Sc. – Georgia Tech
  • Dipl. Eng. – University of Stuttgart

Awards and Honours

MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (2017)
Sloan Research Fellowship (2017)
Ministry of Research, Innovation & Science Early Researcher Award (2017)
Connaught New Researcher Award (2015)
MIT Enabling Society Tech Competition First Prize (2015)
Science Leadership Program Fellow (2014)
Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Prize and ETH Medal (for outstanding PhD thesis, 2013)

Research Overview

Welcome to the Dynamic Systems Lab at UTIAS! The group is led by Prof. Angela Schoellig.

We develop learning and adaptation capabilities for mobile robots to facilitate reliable, long-term robot applications. In particular, our research interests are centered around the challenges associated with robots – such as self-driving and self-flying vehicles – operating in increasingly unstructured, uncertain and changing environments, and over long periods of time. These situations challenge current robot designs, which rely on knowing the specifics of the environment and task ahead of time in order to operate safely and efficiently.

We address this problem by drawing ideas from controls, machine learning and optimization. We believe that the next generation of robot algorithms will combine a-priori information about the robot and its environment with data collected during operation. To this end, our contributions are two-fold:

1. we develop novel robot control and learning algorithms that enable single and multi-robot systems to operate safely and effectively in real-world environments, and

2. we work on novel robot applications– often in interdisciplinary teams and together with industrial partners – to enable technology transfer and to understand critical technology gaps.

This produces results with both scientific and practical impact. Ultimately, we aim to build robots that can effectively interact with the physical world and seamlessly integrate into our personal and work environments.

Visit our lab webpage to learn more about the specific projects we are working on. Prospective researchers are welcome to contact us.