Sean Andersson
High-speed, real-time feedback-driven single particle tracking with concurrent smFRET
The goal of this project is to establish proof-of-concept for a new high speed, Real-Time Feedback-Driven Single Particle Tracking (RT-FD-SPT) fluorescence microscope with concurrent spectroscopic readout. The project is motivated in large part by open questions in the spatiotemporal dynamics of activated growth factors. The ability to follow individual growth factors moving in their natural […]
Sketching for Efficient and Robust Top-Down Autonomous Navigation
The award supports a research project that introduces a novel approach that robots can use to navigate (individually or as part of a team) in unknown environments in a way that is closer to how humans approach the same task. The main project novelty is represented by the high-level reasoning used by the robots (which […]
DynSyst_Special_Topics: A formal approach to the control of stochastic dynamic systems
The research objective of this award is to establish a theoretical framework for stochastic, complex systems such that given a specification, we can analyze the system to determine the probability that the specification will be achieved and automatically find an input law to maximize this probability. The research approach progresses from the adaptation of existing […]
Decentralized Optimal Control of Cooperating Networked Multi-agent Systems
Multi-agent systems encompass a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from connected autonomous vehicles and the emerging internet of cars, where the spatial domain may be hundreds of miles with time horizons over hours of days, to micro-air vehicles which operate over meter length and minute time scales, and down to nano-manipulation with nanometer spatial microsecond […]
Decentralized optimal control of cooperating networked multi-agent systems
Multi-agent systems encompass a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from connected autonomous vehicles and the emerging internet of cars, where the spatial domain may be hundreds of miles with time horizons over hours of days, to micro-air vehicles which operate over meter length and minute time scales, and down to nano-manipulation with nanometer spatial microsecond […]
Joint Estimation Of Motion Model, Model Parameters, And Particle Trajectories In Single Particle Tracking
Single particle tracking (SPT) is a powerful class of techniques for understanding biomolecular motion at the subcellular level in the crowded environments of the plasma membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus. The basic scheme is to acquire image sequences, typically through wide-field fluorescence imaging, produce trajectories from these images, and finally to estimate motion parameters from the […]
Collaborative Research: Dynamical control and separation of microparticles in fluids using whispering gallery mode optical forces
The objective of this project is to create a new method for selective motion control of micrometer-sized particles suspended in liquids. The method is based on an optical counterpart to “whispering gallery” resonance observed in certain structures, in which a sound made at one point may be heard clearly in certain other special spots, even […]
Closed-loop, tip-directed nanochemistry
The ubiquitous utilization of integrated circuits shows that industry is exceptionally capable of manufacturing ultra-high resolution arrangements of semiconductors, metals and insulators. However, there is a vast disconnect between the methods for patterning these sorts of hard materials and those that exist for patterning soft materials such as chemicals, polymers or biological materials. If it […]
Compressive Robotic Systems: Gaining Efficiency Through Sparsity in Dynamic Environments
This project investigates autonomous control and coordination of a group of robots that are tasked to explore, map, or monitor the environment they are in. The project aims to enhance the capabilities of such a group of robots by integrating Compressive Sensing for data compression. Compressive sensing enables robots to quickly extract information from their […]
Detection and Tracking of Multiple Dynamic Targets with Cooperating Networked Agents
In the multi-agent framework, a team of autonomous agents cooperates in carrying out complex tasks in an environment that is potentially dynamic, hazardous, and even adversarial. In general, the team must seek out and then monitor targets that may also be moving while balancing the monitoring task with continued exploration. This setting, broadly termed persistent […]