Workshop on Networks, Synchronisation and Control on 31 January

On January 31st, a workshop on 'Networks, Synchronisation and Control' will take place at VU Amsterdam, with speakers from both TU/e and VU Amsterdam.

When: January 31st, 13.30 h - 17 h

Where: NU 6A-52, NU Building, Boelelaan 1111

Schedule and abstracts can be found below. If you are interested in attending, please contact the organisers by e-mail before January 16.

Schedule

Abstracts

Design and analysis of nonlinear coupling functions for efficient network synchronization, Erik Steur and Nathan van de Wouw (TU/e)

Synchronization is omnipresent in the natural and man-made world. Examples include the simultaneous release of action potentials by neurons in the brain, fireflies lighting up in unison, and synchronization of generators in electrical networks. Network synchronization is often studied in a setting in which either linear systems interact via nonlinear couplings, or nonlinear systems are coupled via linear relations.

In this talk, I present a method to design and analyze nonlinear coupling functions that guarantee synchronization in networks of nonlinear systems. The main idea to consider nonlinear coupling functions is that these couplings, contrary to linear couplings, can be designed to be active only at the locations of desynchronizing instabilities. Therefore, compared to linear couplings, our nonlinear couplings can synchronize the network more efficiently with reduced sensitivity to noise. I will give design/analysis conditions for network synchronization in arbitrary undirected connected networks. Furthermore, I will discuss a class of (directed) networks – so-called sequentially decolorable networks – which exploit the full potential of our nonlinear coupling functions for synchronization.

Phase reduction with and without time delay, Chris Bick and Babette de Wolff (VU Amsterdam)

Phase reduction is a method to systematically derive equations for the phases of the oscillator when a description of their dynamics in state space is known. The resulting phase equations are lower dimensional than the original model, which facilitates a further analysis of synchronisation phenomena. 

In this talk, we will discuss a systematic approach to phase reduction, and in particular show that including higher order terms (i.e. terms of order at least 2) in the coupling parameter yields more accurate predictions of synchronisation phenomena. We develop this phase reduction technique both for systems with instantaneous coupling (modelled by ODEs) and with delayed coupling (modelled by DDEs) and discuss examples of phase dynamics in both classes of systems.

Cooperative reactive object manipulation with industrial robots, Alejandro Rodriguez Angeles (TU/e)

A coordinated system consisting of two ABB industrial robots equipped with force sensors, for gripping and manipulation of objects is presented. Both robots have access to all the information of their applied force, desired path of the object and position of the end effector of the other robot, unlike a lider-follower system where only one robot has the information. A force-position hybrid controller based on impedance models is then implemented at each robot, and a coupling controller is introduced to improve object manipulation while diminishing a coupled error related to the object position and the end effectors position. Stability analysis and experimental results show the performance of the integrated cooperative multi robot system.