I am an associate professor in the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at Boise State University, directing the Robot Control Laboratory (RCL). I hold a Ph.D. (2014) in Electical Engineering and M.Sc. (2013) in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Dallas (USA) and a M.Sc. (2010) and B.Sc. (2008) in Mechatronics Engineering from Sabanci University. I have been a postdoctoral associate at the PRISMA Lab of University of Naples Federico II, in Naples, Italy (2015) and the Robot Locomotion Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA (2016).

My research interests are in robotics, nonlinear control, and machine learning. They encompass motion planning, convex optimization, optimal control, reinforcement learning, geometric mechanics and control, multi-agent cooperative and non-cooperative control, aerial vehicles, and control of robots in contact with the environment and/or humans. I am particularly interested in the difficult problems in robotics where general computational algorithms can find elegant solutions, and in problems where taking advantage of the natural dynamics of the robot yield dramatically improved performance.

Short Biography » CV (PDF)»

Selected Publications All Publications»

• Iinternational Journal of Control "Data-Driven Passivity-Based Control of Underactuated Mechanical Systems via Interconnection and Damping Assignment"", Wankun Sirichotiyakul,Aykut C. Satici, International Journal of Control 2022.
• IEEE Access "Robust Optimal Control of Quadrotor UAVs", Aykut C. Satici, Hasan A. Poonawala, Mark W. Spong IEEE Access'13 , Vol.1, pp. 79-93, 2013.
• International Journal of Control "Intrinsic Dynamics and Total Energy Shaping Control of the Ballbot System", Aykut C. Satici, Alejandro Donaire, Bruno Siciliano, International Journal of Control, Vol. 1, Iss. 14 2016.
• Automatica "Global Swarming with Connectivity Via Lagrange-Poincaré Equations", Aykut C. Satici, Mark W. Spong, Automatica 2016, Vol. 71, pp. 369-380, 2016.
• Springer "A Reconfigurable Ankle Exoskeleton with Series-Elastic Actuation", Ahmetcan Erdogan, Besir Celebi, Aykut C Satici, Volkan Patoglu, Springer Autonomous Robots, Assistive and Rehabilitation Robots, 2015.
• IEEE TCNS "Collision-Free Formation Control with Decentralized Connectivity Preservation for nonholonomic-Wheeled Mobile Robots", Hasan A. Poonawala, Aykut C. Satici, Hazen Eckert, Mark W. Spong, IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems (TCNS'15), Vol. 2, Iss. 2, pp. 122-130.

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Research VideosAll videos»

Courses All Courses»

• ME/ECE 497/597 Optimization Theory and Practice (Spring 2020, Fall 2023)
• ME 478/578 Design and Analysis of Mechatronic Systems (Fall 2022)
• ME/ECE 360 System Modeling and Control (Spring 2022, Spring 2024)
• ME 467/564, ECE 464/564 Robotics and Automated Systems (Spring 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023)
• ME 380 Kinematics and Machine Dynamics (Fall 2017 – 2021)

Selected Awards More »

• NIH COBRE'23 Role of Cellular Mechanotransduction of Low Intensity Vibrations in Regulating Extracellular Matrix Synthesis, NIH COBRE Extension. , Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• Army SBIR'23 Robust Data-Driven Robotic Manipulation via Bayesian Inference and Passivity-Based Control, NSF (#2330794), Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• NSF MRI'23 MRI: Digital Real-Time Simulator to Enhance Research Training in Next-Generation Engineering and Computer Science, NSF (#2320619), Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• Navy SBIR'23 Power Line Perching Drone, US Army, with Pitch Aeronautics, Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• Navy SBIR'23 Compact Touch-Capable Drone for Non-Destructive and Visual Inspection in Elevated and Small Spaces, US Navy, with Pitch Aeronautics, Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• DoE SBIR'23 Drone-Deployable Transmission Sensor Unit for Widespread Phasor, Power Quality, and Environmental Measurement to Increase Grid Throughput, Reliability, and Efficiency, US Department of Energy, with Pitch Aeronautics, Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• USDA SBIR'23 Installation of Multiple Bird-Diverters on Power Lines via Drone, US Department of Agriculture, with Pitch Aeronautics, Boise, ID, USA, 2023.
• NIH'22 Detection of Cellular Fibrous Networks via Machine Learning, NIH INBRE, Boise, ID, USA, 2022.
• NSF ISS'20 3D Bone Marrow Analogs to Determine the Contribution of Mechanical Signals to Aging MSC Function in Microgravity, NSF (#2025505), Boise, ID, USA, 2020.

Advising More »

• PhD (ongoing) Chris Dagher, Computing, Boise State University.
• PhD (ongoing) Farnaz Darghiasi, Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (ongoing) Chandika Silva, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (FT) (ongoing) Yafa Benavidez, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (ongoing) Omor Khan, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (ongoing) Alex Peterson, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
 
• PhD (completed) Nardos Ashenafi, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boise State University.
• PhD (completed) Wankun Sirichotiyakul , Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (completed) Nardos Ashenafi, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (completed) Ryan Montrose, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• MS (completed) Wankun Sirichotiyakul, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.
• BS (completed) Julianna Buzzard, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Boise State University.

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