Category: News

• Course on motion planning with prof. Florin Stoican

  1. The use of the flat representation in motion planning:
      – about the theory and usual systems encountered in motion planning (e.g., the Dubins car, simplified UAV dynamics, the quadcopter dynamics)
      – feedback linearization via flat representation (and the associated drawbacks)

  2. Spline parametrizations and their use for trajectory generation
      – B-spline functions and their use for parametrizing flat output representations of robotic platforms
      – B-spline-based formulations for obstacle avoidance /formation control

  3. Control strategies
      – Trajectory tracking via MPC for nonlinear dynamics (a quadcopter application)
      – A potential-based approach with a receding-horizon formulation

  4. Applications
      – simulations and experiments for a quadcopter system
      – discussions

• Course on model reduction by prof. Tudor Ionescu

  – Model reduction introduction: reduced solutions of linear systems; model reduction for dynamical systems – motivation; existing methods

  – Model reduction based on moment matching: notion of moment and moment matching; a parametrization of the family of approximant achieving moment matching; moment matching with pole-zero-derivative placement;

  – Moment matching with complex data: application to loopshaping control

  – Moment matching for Gramians.

• Course on ethics in research by prof. Bogdan Dumitrescu

1. The good. How to ethically manage your work, your data, your papers and your relations with colleagues and PhD advisor. We’ll talk about authorship, intellectual property, ethical implications of your research, data and results.

2. The bad. Everybody makes (honest) mistakes. What should you do if you make one? Everybody can use a little help from his/her friends, including AI. How much help is acceptable? Everybody is sometimes late. What would you compromise to make the deadline?

3. The ugly. We’ll also explore the dark side of research and talk about plagiarism, falsification, fabrication and other mortal sins that can end a researcher’s professional life. They are more frequent than we’d want to and we should be prepared to discover and fight them.

All above issues will be illustrated with examples from real or virtual life and case studies. The most frequent question will be: what would you do in this situation?

• General

  • The SBB App is helpful to check the real-time schedule of transportation in Switzerland and buy tickets. 
  • EPFL campus is a big one and one might easily get lost. Our lab is located at ME C2, which stands for Building ME, Section C, Floor 2. The EPFL App may lead your way properly. You may enter “ME C2 405” in the Map function to see its location. 

• Travel to Lausanne, gare (gare = station in French)

  • Direct train:

    • Visit the official website of SBB or the railway company in your country and select “Lausanne” or “Lausanne, gare” as destination. 

  • Flight + train:

    • The nearest airport nearby Lausanne is in Geneva. Fly to Geneva-Airport first. 
    • After passing through customs in Geneva-Airport, turn to your left and walk through to the end of the building. Go through the revolving door, which will take you straight into the railway station. Buy your ticket for Lausanne at the counter on the opposite side of the hall or at the automatic machine. Check on the departure panel above each track.
    • The journey to Lausanne lasts approx. 45 minutes (all trains stop first at the Geneva Main Station)

• From Lausanne, gare to EPFL

  • Metro:

    • The M2 line of metro station is located just in front of the train station of Lausanne.
    • Buy a ticket for zone 11 and 12 (also called “Grand Lausanne”) and take the metro M2, in the direction called “Croisette”, and get off on the next station (Lausanne-Flon). There, transfer to line  M1. Get off at the stop called EPFL.
    • The journey from the railway station to EPFL takes approx. 25 minutes.

• Accomodation

  • Dates and price:

    • The workshop starts in the morning of March 29 (Wednesday), so it is highly recommended to arrive the night before (March 28, Tuesday). 
    • The workshop ends in the evening of March 31 (Friday).  It might be too late to rush back home and since the weekend will be coming, maybe you want to stay for Friday night. However, this is not at all compulsory. 
    • So in total we recommend to stay for four nights (March 28, 29, 30, 31). If you plan to enjoy Lake Leman and the Alps more, feel free to book the nights during weekend (April 1, 2). 
    • The price level of Switzerland is well-known to be higher than others, so don’t be shocked by the numbers. Early booking will definitely help. 

  • SwissTech:

    • This hotel is just next to the EPFL campus, the EPFL metro station,  grocery and foods, thus very convenient. 
    • We have asked for special rate (130 CHF per night) which will be available until February 14. After the date, there is no guarantee on the price and availability of the room. For booking, email to reception@sthotel.ch with the duration of your stay and a secret code. Instead of publishing directly on this public accessible website, the code will be shared within the fellows soon. 

  • Other choices (without guarantee):

    • Youth hostel (cheaper but needs metro for commuting)
    • Starling hotel (even more expensive due to the lake view but still close to the EPFL campus) 
    • Booking (as always)