UCSB Engineering
Faculty

Roy Smith

Professor

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Roy Smith

Contacts

Department of Electrical Engineering
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9560

tel: 805-893-2967
fax: 805-893-3262
roy@ece.ucsb.edu

Personal web site

Terrestrial Planet Finder mission concept (image courtesy of JPL).

Terrestrial Planet Finder mission concept (image courtesy of JPL).

Precise coordination and control of free flying spacecraft will enable the development of very large aperture instruments capable of detecting and imaging planets in other solar systems.

Research Description

The development of techniques for the modeling, identification and validation of uncertain interacting systems. Control design techniques for systems subject to dynamic perturbations. Cooperative control amongst autonomous agents in uncertain dynamic environments. Distributed estimation and control. Application domains including: chemical process control, magnetically levitated systems, interplanetary spacecraft, spacecraft and other cooperative vehicle formations, motion control, automotive control, human control tasks, and flexible structures.

Biography

Communications, Control, and Signal Processing group: Robust control theory; connection between models and experimental data; control system applications. Professor Smith jointed the faculty at UCSB in 1990, coming from a background in both industrial and government laboratory research. Known as an experimentalist and design engineer as well as a theorist, Dr. Smith's research is broadly based upon feedback control systems. His current interests focus on the identification and control of uncertain systems, particularly the relationship between experimental data and theoretical models; design methodologies for uncertain constrained nonlinear systems; and distributed estimation, communication and control systems. On the applications side, he has applied these ideas to a variety of experimental testbeds including, process control, automotive and marine engine systems, flexible space structures, aeromaneuvering Mars entry vehicles, formation flying of spacecraft, magnetically levitated bearings, and semiconductor fabrication facilities. He has been a long time consultant to the Jet Propulsion laboratory on guidance, navigation and control aspects of interplanetary and deep space science spacecraft. He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, a senior member of IEEE, and a member of SIAM and NZAC.


Awards/Honors

  • Associate Fellow, AIAA, 2008
  • NASA Certificate of Recognition, 1992
  • National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award

Selected Publications

See complete list of publications
  • Closed-loop Dynamics of Cooperative Vehicle Formations with Parallel Estimators and Communication, IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, Vol. 52, No. 8, 2007, 1404 - 1414, Roy S. Smith and Fred Y. Hadaegh, web link
  • Visual control of action without retinal optic flow, Psych. Science, Vol. 17, No. 5, 2006, 214-221, Jack M. Loomis, Andrew C. Beall, Kristen L. Macuga, Jonathan W. Kelly and Roy Smith, web link
  • Adaptive Air Charge Estimation for Turbocharged Diesel Engines without Exhaust Gas Recirculation, ASME J. Dynamic Systems, Measurement & Control, Vol. 126, No. 3, 2004, 633-643, O. Storset, A. Stefanopoulou and R. Smith, web link
  • Magnetic Bearing Measurement Configurations and Associated Robustness and Performance Limitations, ASME J. Dynamic Systems, Measurement & Control, Vol. 124, No. 4, 2002, 589-598, N. Morse Thibeault & R. Smith, web link
  • Closed-loop Identification of Flexible Structures: An Experimental Example, AIAA J. Guidance, Control & Dynamics, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1998, 435-440, Roy S. Smith, web link
  • Continuous-Time Control Model Validation using Finite Experimental Data, IEEE Transactions Automatic Control, Vol. 41, No. 8, 1996, 1094-1105, Roy S. Smith & Geir Dullerud, web link
  • Control of III-V Epitaxy in a Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition Process: Impact of Source Flow Control on Composition and Thickness, J. Crystal Growth, Vol. 167, No. 2, 1996, 8-16, M.S. Gaffney, C.M. Reaves, R.S. Smith, A.L. Holmes, Jr., and S.P. DenBaars, web link
  • Eigenvalue Perturbation Models for Robust Control, IEEE Transactions Automatic Control, Vol. 40, No. 6, 1995, 1063-1066, Roy S. Smith, web link
  • Model Validation for Robust Control: an Experimental Process Control Application, Automatica, Vol. 31, No. 11, 1995, 1637-1647, Roy S. Smith, web link
  • Model Validation: a Connection between Robust Control and Identification,, IEEE Transactions Automatic Control, Vol. 37, No. 7, 1992, 942-952, Roy S. Smith & John Doyle, web link