Speaker: Dr. Jordan M. Berg, Texas Tech University & US National Science Foundation

Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015 | 3:30 p.m. CST

VIEW RECORDING

Most control designers consider feedback as the only option to change the stability of a dynamic system. However it has long been known that stability can be influenced using periodic open-loop forcing. This idea was formalized in the controls community in the 1980s under the name "vibrational control." Vibrational control is a unique stabilization technique that may succeed where conventional feedback is infeasible. However there are significant practical obstacles to its implementation, including the prohibitively high frequency signals that may be required. This talk will explore the underlying mathematical cause of these difficulties, which are in part due to over-reliance on results from averaging theory. This talk proposes the use of second-order stability maps as an alternative to averaging theory. The potential benefits of the alternative approach are demonstrated on several systems, including the Kapitza pendulum, an electrostatic MEMS comb drives, and ion traps.

Biography

Jordan M. Berg received the BSE and MSE degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1981 and 1984. He worked in the Attitude Control Analysis group at RCA Astro-Electronics in East Windsor, NJ, from 1983 to 1986. He received the PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, and the MS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Drexel University in 1992. He held postdoctoral appointments at the Air Force Research Labs in Dayton, OH, and the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications in Minneapolis, MN.

Since 1996 he has been at Texas Tech University, where he is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Co-Director of the Nano Tech Center. As a Fulbright Scholar in 2008 he held visiting faculty appointments at the University of Ruhuna and University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. He is a Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and a Fellow of the ASME.

His research interests include nonlinear and geometric control, and the modeling, simulation, design, and control of nano- and microsystems. In 2014 he joined the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation Division of the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation under an IPA agreement. He currently serves as a Program Officer for the Dynamics, Control and Systems Diagnostics program and the National Robotics Initiative.