Covariance Steering: From Control, to Robotics, and Generative AI

Abstract:  

Uncertainty propagation and mitigation is at the core of all robotic and control systems. Recent advances from controllability of the covariance of the distribution of the state trajectories provide us with a new tool to control stochastic systems with strict performance guarantees. Borrowing ideas from the classical Optimal Mass Transport (OMT) and the Schrödinger Bridge problems, covariance steering enables control of stochastic systems with strict performance guarantees on the dispersion of the terminal system states regardless of the realization. In this talk, I will review some recent results on covariance and distribution control for stochastic systems subject to probabilistic (chance) constraints, robust and data-driven distributional control, and will demonstrate the application of the theory to solve a diverse set of problems from control, robotics, and generative AI.

Bio:

Dr. Panagiotis Tsiotras is the David and Andrew Lewis Endowed Chair Professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. At Georgia Tech, he is the Director of the Dynamics and Control Systems Laboratory and a former (2016-2024) Associate Director for the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines (IRIM). His current research interests are in optimal, stochastic, and nonlinear control and their connections with AI with applications to aerial, space and ground vehicle autonomy. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Mathematics. He is currently the Chief Editor of the Frontiers of Robotics and AI in the area of Space Robotics and an Associate Editor for Dynamical Games and Applications. Previously, he served on the Editorial Boards of the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, the IEEE Transactions of Automatic Control, the IEEE Control Systems Magazine, and the Journal of Dynamical and Control Systems. He is the recipient of the NSF Career Award, the IEEE Excellence Award in Aerospace Control, the Outstanding Aerospace Engineer award from Purdue, and the Sigma Xi Research Excellence Award. He is a Fellow of AIAA, IEEE, and AAS.