Aerospace systems are genuine mechatronic artifacts characterized by the synergistic integration of their mechanical, electromechanical, and electronic components, as well as built-in informational constituents in the form of microcontrollers. Design of such systems is complicated, as the conventional decoupled or loosely-coupled approaches can hardly provide optimal or even sub-optimal solutions. The primary mandate of the Aerospace Mechatronics research thrust is to develop systematic frameworks and modular, hierarchical architectures for the concurrent, detail-level engineering of aerospace systems, from conception to configuration to integration to realization and implementation.
Some of the group’s current research activities include: space systems miniaturization, space debris mitigation and remediation, concurrent base-arm control of free-flying space manipulators, fractionated spacecraft, satellite formation flying, asteroid redirection for exploration and mining, intelligent heterogeneous rover/satellite teams, and reconfigurable manipulators.