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Systems Control and Optimization Lab
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The lab researches control and optimization to make swarms of robots behave as intended.
AboutAbout the lab
Making systems behave as intended.
The Systems Control and Optimization Lab studies how to bring systems, meaning collections of interacting elements, closer to a desired behavior.
Anything that changes over time is a target for control, from physical systems such as robots, drones, and automobiles to signal processing of audio and images.
A particular focus is control of groups of autonomous mobile robots, such as platooning of self-driving cars and coordinated flight of multiple drones.
The other pillar is optimization: the lab develops algorithms that efficiently solve problems of finding the "best" solution, such as path planning.
Key terms
- Group of autonomous mobile robots
- A collection of robots in which each unit makes its own decisions and moves. Together they accomplish a single task.
- Sampled-data control system
- A system in which the state of a continuously operating object is measured at fixed time intervals and controlled by a computer.
- Cyber-physical system
- A system that operates real machines and equipment while continually exchanging information with a model of them inside a computer.
NewsLab news
Assistant Professor Akinori Sakaguchi receives the Encouragement Prize (Research) from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Associate Professor Kaoru Yamamoto receives the Top Prize in the Young Female Researcher Category of the Kyushu University Sanae Ito Award
Associate Professor Kaoru Yamamoto is named an IEEE Senior Member
ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts broad research and education on systems control theory and its applications. Its work ranges from control for operating multiple mobile robots together to the development of optimization algorithms that computationally find the best answer.
*Illustrative imageMoving a Swarm of Robots Together
The lab focuses on control of groups of autonomous mobile robots, such as platooning of self-driving cars and coordinated flight of multiple drones. It addresses the problem of how to control the behavior of the whole group when each element can obtain only limited information, such as the states of the elements near it.
*Illustrative imagePrecise Control by Computer
A system in which a computer controls a continuously operating object is called a sampled-data control system, and cyber-physical systems can be regarded as a type of it. Conventional methods lose the information between measurements, so the lab resolves this with a technique called lifting, aiming for high-precision control.
*Illustrative imageFinding the Best Answer Quickly
Every engineering problem can be recast as the problem of minimizing a function. Balancing convergence speed, low computational cost, and breadth of solvable problems, the lab aims to develop efficient algorithms that can be used in a wide range of fields, including control and signal processing.
*Illustrative imageDrones That Change Shape
Drones are highly maneuverable, but they must tilt their bodies to move sideways. The lab develops morphing drones with deformation mechanisms built into the frame, along with controllers that keep them flying stably even when their shape changes greatly, aiming for uses such as gathering information at narrow disaster sites.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Systems Control and Optimization Lab are faculty, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and exchange students.
- Associate ProfessorKaoru Yamamoto
- Associate ProfessorAndreas Themelis
- Assistant ProfessorAkinori Sakaguchi
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Rock balancing (Counter Balance)” Leandro Inocencio / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Moving a Swarm of Robots Together: “Murmuration 11-2025” Skander zarrad / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Precise Control by Computer: “Stepping stones over the River Dove” DJDunsie / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Finding the Best Answer Quickly: “Hedge maze in Parque São Roque da Lameira 4” Joseolgon / CC0 (cropped)
- Drones That Change Shape: “Dragonfly hovering” Michael Palmer / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (高性能計算研究室): “IBM Blue Gene P supercomputer” Argonne National Laboratory's Flickr page / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (システム数理研究室): “An UAV displayed by Vyomik drones at Amaravati Drone summit (01)” iMahesh / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (光通信システム研究室): “NORTEL AA1419001 GBIC Optical Transceiver” Mister rf / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (バーチャルリアリティー・インタラクションデザイン研究室
（荒川 豊） ): “Huawei Smartwatch (Band 4)” TheArchivistMan / CC0 (cropped)
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