John Baillieul

Professor Baillieul focuses on robotics, the control of mechanical systems, and mathematical system theory. His work in the late 1980’s led to seminal papers on motion planning for kinematically redundant manipulators. Earlier work on nonlinear optimal control theory foreshadowed much of the current literature on singular Riemannian geometry. Current research focuses on extending and applying principles from nonlinear control theory to complex mechanical systems composed of interconnected rigid and elastic components.

Dr. Baillieul has developed a laboratory system for experiments involving real-time control of mechanical systems, research fundamental to the design of lightweight, high-performance manipulator arms and other advanced robotic devices. He also investigates geometric effects in nonlinear rotational mechanics, with potential applications in stabilization and vibration suppression in rotating machinery, and the theory of control and motion planning for mechanical systems with relatively few actuators for the control of a large number of degrees of freedom.

A Fellow of the IEEE, he is the former editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. He is also affiliated with Boston University’s Center for Information and Systems Engineering (CISE).