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Yoshiaki Kuwata

Address:

4800 Oak Grove Drive
M/S 198-219
Pasadena, CA 91109

Phone:

818.354.4839

Fax:

818.393.5007
FORMER MEMBER

Yoshiaki Kuwata

Technologist

Biography

Yoshiaki Kuwata joined the Advanced Robotic Controls Group in 2008. Prior to joining JPL, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, working on the planning and control systems for the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007. His other project experience includes the development and fabrication of a nano-satellite, robust trajectory optimization using Mixed-integer Linear Programming (MILP), and cooperative control of a team of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Education

Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2007, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
B.Eng. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Professional Experience

2008
- MSL/ALHAT GN&C Field Test: Qt-based GUI
- CUTR (Cluttered Urban Terrain Robotics): RRT-based path planning with many moving obstacles
- Titan navigation: Wind-assisted graph-based path planning for Titan balloons
- MAST (Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology): UKF-based state estimation and monocular vision-based
landing controller; system-level analysis tool
- USSV (Unmanned Sea Surface Vehicle): moving-obstacle avoidance; on-water tests of CARACaS and cameras
2009
- LSOS (Lunar Surface Operation Simulator): Finite-State-Machine based scenario execution; A*-based path planner for long-range traversal of LER on lunar terrain
- FPGA-based rover navigation: Integrate GESTALT with ASAP (ATHLETE System Architecture Platform)
2010
- Mars Sample Return: statistical approach for coupled EDL/surface mobility system trade-off

Research Interests

Motion/path planning for unmanned vehicles in a dynamic and uncertain environment. Robust Model Predictive Control (MPC). Planning over closed-loop dynamics.

Publications

2012
  1. M. Ono, Y. Kuwata, and B. Balaram, "Joint Chance-Constrained Dynamic Programming," IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 01 December 2012.
  2. Y. Kuwata, M. Pavone, and B. Balaram, "A Risk-Constrained Multi-stage Decision Making Approach to the Architectural Analysis of Mars Missions," IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 01 December 2012.
  3. T.M. Howard, A. Morfopoulos, J. Morrison, Y. Kuwata, C. Villalpando, L. Matthies, and M. McHenry, "Enabling Continuous Planetary Rover Navigation through FPGA Stereo and Visual Odometry," in Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 01 January 2012.
2011
  1. Y. Kuwata, M. Wolf, D. Zarzhitsky, and T. Huntsberger, "Safe Maritime Navigation with COLREGS Using Velocity Obstacles," IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems, 01 October 2011.
  2. Y. Kuwata and J. Balaram, "Combined EDL-Mobility Planning for Planetary Missions," Infotech@Aerospace,, AIAA 2011-1404, 01 March 2011.
  3. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Cooperative Distributed Robust Trajectory Optimization using Receding Horizon MILP," IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Vol.19, No.2, pp.423-431, 01 January 2011.
2010
  1. L. Blackmore, Y. Kuwata, M. Wolf, C. Assad, N. Fathpour, C. Newman, and A. Elfes, "Global Reachability and Path Planning for Planetary Exploration with Montgolfiere Balloons," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp.3581-3588, 01 May 2010.
  2. M. Wolf, L. Blackmore, Y. Kuwata, N. Fathpour, C. Newman, and A. Elfes, "Probabilistic Motion Planning of Balloons in Strong, Uncertain Wind Fields," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp.1123-1129, 01 May 2010.
  3. A. Elfes, K. Reh, P. Beauchamp, N. Fathpour, L. Blackmore, C. Newman, Y. Kuwata, M. Wolf, and C. Assad, "Implications of wind-assisted aerial navigation for Titan mission planning and science exploration," IEEE Aerospace Conference, 01 March 2010.
  4. M. Wolf, C. Assad, Y. Kuwata, A. Howard, H. Aghazarian, D. Zhu, T. Lu, A. Trebi-Ollennu, and T. Huntsberger, "360-Degree Visual Detection and Target Tracking on an Autonomous Surface Vehicle," Journal of Field Robotics, Vol.27, No.6, pp.819-833, 01 January 2010.
  5. H. Nayar, A. Jain, J. Balaram, J. Cameron, M. DiCicco, T.M. Howard, Y. Kuwata, C. Lim, R. Mukherjee, S. Myint, A. Palkovic, M. Pomerantz, and S. Wall, "Surface Operations Analyses for Lunar Missions," in Proceedings of the AIAA Space 2010 Conference and Exposition, 01 January 2010.
2009
  1. Y. Kuwata, L. Blackmore, M. Wolf, N. Fathpour, C. Newman, and A. Elfes, "Decomposition Algorithm for Global Reachability Analysis on a Time-varying Graph with an Application to Planetary Exploration," IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems, pp.3955-3960, 01 October 2009.
  2. Y. Kuwata, J. Teo, G. Fiore, S. Karaman, E. Frazzoli, and J. How, "Real-time Motion Planning with Applications to Autonomous Urban Driving," IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Vol.17, No.5, pp.1105-1118, 01 September 2009.
2008
  1. L. Fletcher, S. Teller, E. Olson, D. Moore, Y. Kuwata, J. How, J. Leonard, I. Miller, M. Campbell, D. Huttenlocher, A. Nathan, F. R. Kline, "The MIT - Cornell Collision and Why it Happened," Journal of Field Robotics, Vol.25, No.10, pp.775-807, 01 October 2008.
  2. J. Leonard, J. How, S. Teller, M. Berger, S. Campbell, G. Fiore, L. Fletcher, E. Frazzoli, A. Huang, S. Karaman, O. Koch, Y. Kuwata, D. Moore, E. Olson, S. Peters, J. Teo, R. Truax, M. Walter, D. Barrett, A. Epstein, K. Maheloni, K. Moyer, T. Jones, R. Buckley, M. Antone, R. Galejs, S. Krishnamurthy, J. Williams, "A Perception-Driven Autonomous Urban Vehicle," Journal of Field Robotics, Vol.25, No.10, pp.727-774, 01 October 2008.
  3. Y. Kuwata, G. Fiore, J. Teo, E. Frazzoli, J. How, "Motion Planning for Urban Driving using RRT," IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 1681-1686, 01 September 2008.
  4. Y. Kuwata, J. Teo, S. Karaman, G. Fiore, E. Frazzoli, J. P. How, "Motion Planning in Complex Environments using Closed-loop Prediction," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit, AIAA-2008-7166, 01 August 2008.
  5. Y. Kuwata, A. Elfes, M. Maimone, A. Howard, M. Pivtoraiko, T.M. Howard, and A. Stoica, "Path Planning Challenges for Planetary Robots," IROS Planning, Perception and Navigation for Intelligent Vehicles Workshop, 01 January 2008.
2007
  1. K. Kulligan, M. Valenti, Y. Kuwata, and J. How, "Three-Dimensional Flight Experiments Using On-Line Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Trajectory Optimization," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.5322-5327, 01 July 2007.
  2. Y. Kuwata, A. Richards, and J. How, "Robust Receding Horizon Control using Generalized Constraint Tightening," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.4482-4487, 01 July 2007.
  3. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Robust Cooperative Decentralized Trajectory Optimization using Receding Horizon MILP," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.522-527, 01 July 2007.
  4. Y. Kuwata, A. Richards, T. Schouwenaars, and J. How, "Distributed Robust Receding Horizon Control for Multi-vehicle Guidance," IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Vol.15, No.4, pp.627-641, 01 January 2007.
2006
  1. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Decentralized Cooperative Trajectory Optimization for UAVs with Coupling Constraints," IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, pp.6820-6825, 01 December 2006.
  2. Y. Kuwata, A. Richards, T. Schouwenaars, and J. How, "Decentralized Robust Receding Horizon Control for Multi-vehicle Guidance," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.2047-2052, 01 June 2006.
  3. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Decentralized Cooperative Optimization for Systems Coupled through the Constraints," Edward Elgar Publishing, Cooperative Networks: Control and Optimization, Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Cooperative Control and Optimization, 01 February 2006.
  4. E. King, Y. Kuwata, and J. How, "Experimental Demonstration of Coordinated Control for Multi-vehicle Teams," International Journal of Systems Science, Vol.37, No.6, pp.385-398, 01 January 2006.
2005
  1. Y. Kuwata, A. Richards, T. Schouwenaars, and J. How, "Robust Constrained Receding Horizon Control for Trajectory Planning," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2005-6079, 01 August 2005.
2004
  1. J. How, E. King, and Y. Kuwata, "Flight Demonstrations of Cooperative Control for UAV Teams," AIAA 3rd Unmanned Unlimited Technical Conference, Workshop and Exhibit, AIAA-2004-6490, 01 September 2004.
  2. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Three Dimensional Receding Horizon Control for UAVs," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2004-5144, 01 August 2004.
  3. M. Valenti, T. Schouwenaars, Y. Kuwata, E. Feron, J. How, and J. Paunicka, "Implementation of a Manned Vehicle - UAV Mission System," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2004-5142, 01 August 2004.
  4. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Stable Trajectory Design for Highly Constrained Environments using Receding Horizon Control," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.902-907, 01 June 2004.
  5. E. King, Y. Kuwata, M. Alighanbari, L. Bertuccelli, and J. How, "Coordination and Control Experiments on a Multi-vehicle Testbed," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.5315-5320, 01 June 2004.
2003
  1. Y. Kuwata and J. How, "Decentralized Receding Horizon Control of Multiple UAVs," World Scientific Publishing Company, Theory And Algorithms For Cooperative Systems, Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference on Cooperative Control and Optimization, 01 December 2003.
  2. J. Bellingham, Y. Kuwata, and J. How, "Stable Receding Horizon Trajectory Control for Complex Environments," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2003-5635, 01 August 2003.
  3. A. Richards, Y. Kuwata, and J.P. How, "Experimental Demonstrations of Real-time MILP Control," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2003-5802, 01 August 2003.
  4. B. Mettler, M. Valenti, T. Schouwenaars, Y. Kuwata, J. How, J. Paunicka, and E. Feron, "Autonomous UAV Guidance Build-Up: Flight-Test Demonstration and Evaluation Plan," AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, AIAA-2003-5744, 01 August 2003.
  5. M. Alighanbari, Y. Kuwata, and J. How, "Coordination and Control of Multiple UAVs with Timing Constraints and Loitering," IEEE American Control Conference, pp.5311-5316, 01 June 2003.