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disc field & themes

The research program of DISC consists of fundamental and applied scientific research in the domain of systems and control theory and engineering. The research domain employs modern techniques from information and computer technology to analyse, control and optimize dynamical processes, machines and (high-tech) systems. Modelling tools are essential in analysing and designing optimal control strategies, e.g. by exploiting optimization theory. Mathematical System Theory provides insight in the formulation of mathematical models, in the derivation of mathematical models from experimental data, and in the design of control and feedback signals.

The orientation towards a variety of technological application domains is important for the interplay between theoretical possibilities on the one side, and the urge to advance high-tech applications on the other side, thereby providing a fruitful stimulus for further evolution and development of the scientific area. Research groups within DISC have many interactions with adjacent scientific domains, among which

informatics, embedded systems (UT,TUe)
mechanics, mechatronics, manufacturing and robotics (TUe, TUD, UT)
agricultural sciences, bio- and foodtechnology (WU)
biomedical engineering (TUe, TUD, UT, UM)
physics of microsystems and optics (TUe, TUD, UT)
financial engineering (TU, TUD, UT)
optimization theory, numerical algorithms (TUD, UT,RUG)
information theory, stochastics (CWI, UT, TUD)
(petro)chemical processes (TUe, TUD)
systems biology (CWI,RUG-IWI)
automotive and transportation systems (TUe,TUD)
aerospace systems (TUD)

The research program of DISC

The research program of DISC is divided in three main areas, each of which contains several themes.

System and control theory
- System theory, including behavioral systems, nonlinear, distributed and hybrid systems.
- Control theory for nonlinear, robust, adaptive, optimal control.
Theory and application of system modelling
- System identification, estimation and signal processing;
- Modelling tools: discrete events, hybrid systems, fuzzy logic/neural networks;
Applications of control engineering
- Mechatronics, robotics, precision technology, motion control systems;
- Process control and optimization.

news
Summer School 2012 This year DISC will organize a Summer School on the topic "Optimization in Control Theory". The Summer School is scheduled from Monday June 11 through Thursday June 14, 2012 and will be held in conference Centre "De Baak,... Read more...

A nation-wide institute that links all academic research groups in systems and control theory and engineering in the Netherlands, ranging from the three universities of technology: TUDelft, TUEindhoven and UTwente, to research groups in Amsterdam, Groningen, Maastricht, Tilburg and Wageningen.

disc has a coordinated research programme and provides an international network environment for researchers and PhD students.

A central PhD program is provided for PhD students in systems and control. It consists of a course programme offered in Utrecht, international summer schools and a yearly three-day Benelux Meeting. Since its start in 1987 this PhD program has become a cornerstone of the cooperation among the dutch academic community in this field.

Controlling the positioning and motion of objects with high speed and ultra-high precision (up to nanometers) is crucial in storage equipment as dvd’s, hard disk drives, in IC manufacturing and in scientific imaging instruments as AFM’s. Without feedback control this technology would not exist.

Industrial production processes in (petro)chemical, food and energy industry are dependent on appropriate control technology for designing operations that are economically efficient, safe, with optimal usage of resources and minimal environmental load. Model-based control technology provides the tools for achieving this.

Future automotive systems will show vehicles where comfort and driving conditions are highly automated while they are intelligently supervised to keep optimal distance and to optimize route planning. In this development distributed sensing and control is a key technology.

Guidance and navigation of airplanes and spacecrafts highly depends on automatic control systems. This dependency is even more pronounced when steering unmanned vehicles, e.g. for inspection tasks, or controlling (micro) sattelite formations in space. Aerospace applications have been important drivers for developing advanced and robustly operating control systems.

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