- Date & Time: Friday, August 23, 2013; 12:00 PM
Speaker: Dr Cornel Sultan, Virginia Tech Abstract 
Coordinate coupling raises serious numerical, analysis, and control design problems that grow with the size of the system. On the other hand, decoupled dynamic equations facilitate all of the above processes since each equation can be treated independently. Unfortunately, due to the inherent heterogeneity typical of most practical, complex systems, these are not naturally decoupled so developing accurate enough decoupled approximations is of interest.
In this talk the issue of building such accurate decoupled approximations is addressed by leveraging concepts from robust control theory. Specifically, system gains (e.g. energy gain, peak to peak gain) are used to characterize the approximation error. Then some system parameters are selected to minimize this approximation error. The advantage of using system gains is that the decoupling approximation is guaranteed to be accurate over an entire class of signals (e.g. finite energy/finite peak signals). These ideas are illustrated on linearized models of tensegrity structures which are designed to yield accurate decoupled models with respect to all signals of finite energy and finite peak. Further analysis corrects several misconceptions regarding decoupling, system properties, and control design.
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- Date: August 19, 2013
Where: IEEE Signal Processing Magazine
MERL Contact: Ye Wang
Research Area: Information Security
Brief - The article "Secure Biometrics: Concepts, Authentication Architectures & Challenges" by Rane, S., Wang, Y., Draper, S.C. and Ishwar, P. was published in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine.
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- Date: Thursday, August 1, 2013
MERL Contact: Anthony Vetro Brief - Anthony Vetro is Guest Editor for the Special Issue on 3D Representation, Compression & Rendering of the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.
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- Date & Time: Tuesday, July 30, 2013; 12:00 PM
Speaker: Ramon Granell, Oxford University
MERL Host: Daniel N. Nikovski
Research Area: Data Analytics
Abstract 
We show that real electricity-use patterns can be distinguished using a Bayesian nonparametric model based on the Dirichlet Process Mixture Model. By modelling the load profiles as discrete counters we make use of the Dirichlet-Multinomial distribution. Clusters are computed with the Chinese Restaurant Process method and posterior probabilities distributions estimated with a Gibbs sampling algorithm.
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- Date & Time: Tuesday, July 23, 2013; 12:00 PM
Speaker: Dr. Sandipan Mishra, Renssealer Polytechnic Institute
MERL Host: Stefano Di Cairano Abstract 
This talk will present the breadth of research activities in the Intelligent Systems, Automation & Control Laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, ranging from building systems control to additive manufacturing and adaptive optics. In particular, we will focus on the modeling and control design paradigms for intelligent building systems and smart LED lighting systems. Since building systems have substantial variability of occupancy, usage, ambient environment, and physical properties over time, strategies for "model-free" control algorithms for building temperature control will be illustrated. The seminar will also discuss the state-of-the-art in feedback control of lighting systems and demonstrate the efficacy of distributed control and consensus type algorithms for these large-scale lighting systems. Finally, some interesting examples of bio-inspired estimation from blurry images for adaptive optics will be presented.
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- Date: July 21, 2013
Where: IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting
Research Areas: Electric Systems, Signal Processing
Brief - The paper "Fast Frequency and Phase Estimation in Three Phase Power Systems" by Chen, Z., Sahinoglu, Z. and Li, H. was presented at the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting.
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- Date: July 19, 2013
Where: International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognion (MLDM)
MERL Contacts: Hongbo Sun; Daniel N. Nikovski
Research Area: Data Analytics
Brief - The paper "Smart Meter Data Analysis for Power Theft Detection" by Nikovski, D., Wang, Z., Esenther, A., Sun, H., Sugiura, K., Muso, T. and Tsuru, K. was presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning and Data Mining in Pattern Recognion (MLDM).
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- Date & Time: Tuesday, July 16, 2013; 12:00 PM
Speaker: Dr. Michael Tiller, Xogeny Abstract 
Model-based System Engineering has been recognized, for some time, as a way for companies to improve their product development processes. However, change takes time in engineering and we still have only scratched the surface of what is possible. New ideas and technologies are constantly emerging that can improve a model-based approach. In this talk, I will discuss some of my past experiences with model-based system engineering in the automotive industry. I'll also discuss the shifts I see from numerical approaches to more symbolic approaches and how this manifests itself in a shift from imperative representations of engineering models to more declarative ones. I'll cover some of the interesting challenges I've seen trying to model automotive systems and how I think those challenges can be overcome moving forward. Finally, I'll talk about some of the exciting possibilities I see on the horizon for modeling.
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- Date: July 9, 2013
Where: International Journal of Control
MERL Contacts: Stefano Di Cairano; Matthew Brand; Scott A. Bortoff
Research Area: Control
Brief - The article "Projection-free Parallel Quadratic Programming for Linear Model predictive Control" by Di Cairano, S., Brand, M. and Bortoff, S.A. was published in International Journal of Control.
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- Date: July 8, 2013
Where: Signal Processing with Adaptive Sparse Structural Representation (SPARS)
MERL Contact: Petros T. Boufounos Brief - The article "On Embedding the Angles Between Signals" by Boufounos, P.T. was published in Signal Processing with Adaptive Sparse Structural Representation (SPARS).
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- Date: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - Friday, July 5, 2013
Location: Klagenfurt am Worthersee, Austria
MERL Contact: Anthony Vetro Brief - Anthony Vetro is the publicity chair for America of QoMEX 2013, the Fifth International Workshop on Quality of Multimedia Experience, to be held Klagenfurt am Worthersee, Austria, in July 2013.
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- Date: July 1, 2013
Where: International Conference on Sampling Theory and Applications (SampTA)
MERL Contact: Petros T. Boufounos Brief - The paper "Sparse Signal Reconstruction from Phase-only Measurements" by Boufounos, P.T. was presented at the International Conference on Sampling Theory and Applications (SampTA).
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- Date: June 30, 2013
Where: OptoElectronics and Communications Conference and International Conference on Photonics in Switching (OECC/PS)
MERL Contact: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
Research Areas: Communications, Signal Processing
Brief - The paper "A Study on the Effectiveness of Turbo Equalization with FEC for Nonlinearity Compensatin in Coherent WDM Transmissions" by Fujimori, T., Koike-Akino, T., Sugihara, T., Kubo, K., Koguchi, K., Mizuochi, T., Ohshima, C., Nakashima, H. and Hoshida, T. was presented at the OptoElectronics and Communications Conference and International Conference on Photonics in Switching (OECC/PS).
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- Date: June 29, 2013
Where: International Conference on 3DTV-Conference
Research Area: Computer Vision
Brief - The paper "Model-Based Vehicle Pose Estimation and Tracking in Videos Using Random Forests" by Hodlmoser, M., Micusik, B., Pollegeys, M., Liu, M-Y. and Kampel, M. was presented at the International Conference on 3DTV-Conference.
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- Date & Time: Friday, June 28, 2013; 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location: Portland, Oregon
Research Area: Computer Vision
Brief - Amit Agrawal is the co-organizer of the CCD/PROCAMS 2013 Workshop of Computational Cameras and Displays.
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- Date & Time: Wednesday, June 26, 2013; 12:00 PM
Speaker: Gabriel Rodrigues de Campos, Chalmers University Abstract 
In this talk, we consider a scenario where several vehicles have to coordinate among them in order to cross a traffic intersection. Thus, the control problem relies on the optimization of global cost function while guaranteeing collision avoidance and the satisfaction of local constraints. We propose a decentralized solution, where vehicles sequentially solve local optimization problems allowing them to cross, in a safe way, the intersection. Such approach pays a special attention to how quantify the degrees of freedom that each vehicle disposes to avoid a potential collision and lead to an adequate formalism in which collision avoidance is enforced through local state constraints at given time instants. Finally, simulations results on the efficiency, performance and optimality of the proposed approach are presented at the end of the talk.
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- Date: June 23, 2013
Where: IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR)
Research Area: Computer Vision
Brief - The papers "Single Image Calibration of Multi-Axial Imaging Systems" by Agrawal, A. and Ramalingam, S., "Joint Geodesic Upsampling of Depth Images" by Liu, M-Y, Tuzel, O. and Taguchi, Y. and "Manhattan Junction Catalogue for Spatial Reasoning of Indoor Scenes" by Ramalingam, S., Pillai, J.K., Jain, A. and Taguchi, Y. were presented at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR).
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- Date: June 20, 2013
Where: International Conference and Exhibition on Design and Production of Machines/Dies/Molds Brief - The paper "Tool Deflection in Five-Axis Milling" by Layegh, S., Lazoglu, I. and Erdim, H. was presented at the International Conference and Exhibition on Design and Production of Machines/Dies/Molds.
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- Date: June 17, 2013
Where: American Control Conference (ACC)
MERL Contacts: Scott A. Bortoff; Stefano Di Cairano; Yebin Wang; Arvind Raghunathan Brief - The papers "Sub-optimal Control Design of a Semi-active Vibration Reduction System" by Wang, Y. and Utsunomiya, K., "Adaptive Estimation of State of Charge for Lithium-ion Batteries" by Fang, H., Wang, Y., Sahinoglu, Z., Wanda, T. and Hara, S., "Vehicle Yaw Dynamics Control by Torque-based Assist Systems Enforcing Driver's Steering Feel Constraints" by Zafeiropoulos, S. and Di Cairano, S., "Speed Profile Optimization for Optimal Path Tracking" by Zhao, Y. and Tsiotras, P., "Real-Time Energy-Optimal Trajeactory Generatin for a Servo Motor" by Zhao, Y., Wang, Y., Bortoff, S.A. and Ueda, K., "Global Optimization of Multi-period Optimal Power Flow" by Gopalakrishnan, A., Raghunathan, A.U., Nikovski, D., Biegler, L.T. and "Semismooth Equation Approach to Network Utility Maximization (NUM)" by Bai, L. and Raghunathan, A.U. were presented at the American Control Conference (ACC).
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- Date: June 16, 2013
Where: REHVA World Congress (CLIMA)
MERL Contact: Daniel N. Nikovski
Research Area: Control
Brief - The paper "A Method for Computing Optimal Set-Point Schedule for HVAC Systems" by Nikovski, D., Xu, J. and Nonaka, M. was presented at the REHVA World Congress (CLIMA).
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- Date: June 14, 2013
Where: IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology
MERL Contact: Stefano Di Cairano Brief - The article "Vehicle Yaw Stability Control by Coordinated Active Front Steering and Differential Braking in the Tire Sideslip Angles Domain" by Di Cairano, S., Tseng, H.E., Bernardini, D. and Bemporad, A. was published in IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology.
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- Date: June 13, 2013
Where: CIRP Conference on Modeling of Machining Operations (CIRP CMMO)
Research Area: Computer Vision
Brief - The paper "Cutter Workpiece Engagement Calculations for Five-axis Milling using Composite Adaptively Sampled Distance Fields" by Erdim, H. and Sullivan, A. was presented at the CIRP Conference on Modeling of Machining Operations (CIRP CMMO).
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- Date: June 12, 2013
Where: IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
Research Area: Communications
Brief - The article "Hierarchical and High-Girth QC LDPC Codes" by Wang, Y., Draper, S.C. and Yedidia, J.S. was published in IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.
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- Date: June 10, 2013
Where: International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS)
MERL Contact: Daniel N. Nikovski
Research Area: Optimization
Brief - The paper "Operational Planning of Thermal Generators with Factored Markov Decision Process Models" by Nikovski, D. was presented at the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS).
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- Date: June 9, 2013
Where: IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)
MERL Contact: Philip V. Orlik Brief - The papers "Cognitive Multihop Networks in Spectrum Sharing Environment with Multiple Licensed Users" by Kim, K.J., Duong, T.Q., Tsiftsis, T.A. and Bao, V.N.Q., "Opportunistic Relaying for Cognitive Network with Multiple Primary Users over Nakagami-m Fading" by Duong, T.Q., Kim, K.J., Zepernick, H-J and Tellambura, C. and "On Probabilistic Data Association for Achieving Near-Exponential Diversity over Fading Channels" by Yellepeddi, A., Kim, K.J., Duan, C. and Orlik, P. were presented at the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).
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