ep12 - John Doyle, Part I: A Pioneer's Guide to Robust Control - The Past, Present, and Future
05/15/23 • 76 min
1 Listener
In this episode, we sit down with John Doyle, a living legend in the field of robust control, to delve into his incredible journey in control theory. We explore his past at MIT and Honeywell, his time at Berkeley, and his journey through the golden age of robustness. From his groundbreaking work on margins of systems, \mu synthesis, and the H_\infty problem, to his insights on System Level Synthesis (SLS) and modern control architectures, John shares his thoughts on the past, present, and future of robust control. Along the way, we listen to John's fascinating stories, including his astonishing sport records and his thrilling Panamanian adventure.
Outline
00:00 - Intro
03:58 - Selected record-breaking athletics feats
09:47 - The Panamanian adventure
13:41 - Early steps in control: the MIT & Honeywell years
32:24 - The move to Berkeley and the golden age of robustness
46:06 - To H_\infty and beyond
50:47 - DGKF: The solution of the H_\infty problem
1:02:40 - A glimpse of System Level Syntheis (SLS)
1:07:27 - The challenge of our age: a theory of architecture design
1:12:34 - How to fix the theory-practice gap
1:15:05 - Outro
Links
John’s website: https://doyle.caltech.edu/Main_Page
Sport records: https://tinyurl.com/4f7uapjt
The Panamanian adventure: https://tinyurl.com/3zf4x5f7
John’s master thesis: https://tinyurl.com/5c4bt5kk
Paper - Guaranteed margins for LQG: https://tinyurl.com/3pjdvjmk
Paper - Multivariable feedback design: ... https://tinyurl.com/4uv8a6yz
John’s PhD Thesis: https://tinyurl.com/27mew2ku
Paper - Feedback and optimal sensitivity: ... : https://tinyurl.com/2p8a5vbh
Paper - Performance and robustness analysis for structured uncertainty: https://tinyurl.com/mr78ajwx
Paper - State-space solutions to standard H2 and H∞ control problems: https://tinyurl.com/4ru2ssc9
Witsenhausen’s counterexample: https://tinyurl.com/3cavzz9y
Podcast info
Podcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85j
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3c
RSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4y
Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolP
Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4
Acknowledgments and sponsors
This episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.
In this episode, we sit down with John Doyle, a living legend in the field of robust control, to delve into his incredible journey in control theory. We explore his past at MIT and Honeywell, his time at Berkeley, and his journey through the golden age of robustness. From his groundbreaking work on margins of systems, \mu synthesis, and the H_\infty problem, to his insights on System Level Synthesis (SLS) and modern control architectures, John shares his thoughts on the past, present, and future of robust control. Along the way, we listen to John's fascinating stories, including his astonishing sport records and his thrilling Panamanian adventure.
Outline
00:00 - Intro
03:58 - Selected record-breaking athletics feats
09:47 - The Panamanian adventure
13:41 - Early steps in control: the MIT & Honeywell years
32:24 - The move to Berkeley and the golden age of robustness
46:06 - To H_\infty and beyond
50:47 - DGKF: The solution of the H_\infty problem
1:02:40 - A glimpse of System Level Syntheis (SLS)
1:07:27 - The challenge of our age: a theory of architecture design
1:12:34 - How to fix the theory-practice gap
1:15:05 - Outro
Links
John’s website: https://doyle.caltech.edu/Main_Page
Sport records: https://tinyurl.com/4f7uapjt
The Panamanian adventure: https://tinyurl.com/3zf4x5f7
John’s master thesis: https://tinyurl.com/5c4bt5kk
Paper - Guaranteed margins for LQG: https://tinyurl.com/3pjdvjmk
Paper - Multivariable feedback design: ... https://tinyurl.com/4uv8a6yz
John’s PhD Thesis: https://tinyurl.com/27mew2ku
Paper - Feedback and optimal sensitivity: ... : https://tinyurl.com/2p8a5vbh
Paper - Performance and robustness analysis for structured uncertainty: https://tinyurl.com/mr78ajwx
Paper - State-space solutions to standard H2 and H∞ control problems: https://tinyurl.com/4ru2ssc9
Witsenhausen’s counterexample: https://tinyurl.com/3cavzz9y
Podcast info
Podcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85j
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3c
RSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4y
Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolP
Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4
Acknowledgments and sponsors
This episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.
Previous Episode
ep11 - Mustafa Khammash: Cybergenetics
In this episode, our guest is Mustafa Khammash. Mustafa is the director of the Control Theory and Systems Biology Lab at ETH Zürich and guides us in this episode as we explore Cybergenetics - the cutting-edge intersection of control theory and synthetic biology. From biomolecular control to antithetic motifs, we discuss real-world applications and ethical dilemmas. Don't miss it!
Outline
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Cybergenetics
02:22 - Genetics 101
05:07- Where control meets biology
06:49 - Mustafa's early steps in biology: why do dairy cows get milk fever?
12:05 - Systems and synthetic biology
14:34 - History of synthetic biology
17:16 - On biological computing
23:23 - On biomolecular control
29:27 - The birth of the Antithetic motif for molecular feedback control
39:25 - Enabling technologies
48:28 - How the antithetic motif works
57:20 - Model organisms
01:00:45 - Applications of Cybergenetics
01:06:45 - Ethical dilemmas in Cybergenetics
01:10:57 - On the internal model principle
01:16:01 - Advice to future students
01:19:51 - Outro
Links
- Mustafa’s website: https://bsse.ethz.ch/ctsb
- Paper on calcium regulation: https://tinyurl.com/4p9xu8j2
- History of synthetic biology: https://tinyurl.com/2p8ej8fw
- Motifs: https://tinyurl.com/3vcnjvj3
- Paper - In silico feedback for in vivo regulation of a gene expression circuit: https://tinyurl.com/yw98d8k8
- Paper - A universal biomolecular integral feedback controller for robust perfect adaptation: https://tinyurl.com/bddux4x3
- Optogenetics: https://tinyurl.com/r6yw9s37
- About the fluorescent protein: https://tinyurl.com/bdzm37fs
- Electroporation: https://tinyurl.com/3hhjxanp
- Paper - Cybergenetics: Theory and Applications of Genetic Control Systems: https://tinyurl.com/222f8924
- Paper - Universal structural requirements for maximal robust perfect adaptation in biomolecular networks: https://tinyurl.com/3a2bm35f
Podcast info
Podcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85j
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3c
RSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4y
Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolP
Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4
Acknowledgments and sponsors
This episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.
Next Episode
ep13 - John Doyle, Part II: Architectures, Universal laws, Layers, Levels, and Diversity-enabled Sweet Spots
In this episode, we chat again with John Doyle about the frontiers of control theory. Starting from the fascinating interplay between bacteria, physics, and the Internet, we explore the universal laws that govern complex systems. We discuss the inner workings of phenomena like earthquakes, wildfires, and sepsis, emphasizing the vital role of control theory in understanding intrinsic tradeoffs and fragilities. Finally, we discuss the essential components of a full theory of architectures, including universal laws, layers, levels, and diversity-enabled sweet spots.
Outline
00:00 - Intro
03:00 - Complex systems, physics, and the Internet
08:31 - On power laws
13:45 - SBML: Systems Biology Markup Language
18:51 - Layered architectures
21:38 - Earthquakes
26:17 - Wildfires
28:25 - Sepsis
37:18 - Essentials of a theory of architectures
54:10 - Universal laws, layers and levels
1:00:30 - Diversity enabled sweet spots
1:12:49 - Witsenhausen’s counterexample and SLS
1:21:25 - On the internal model principle
1:29:38 - Evolution vs intelligent design
1:33:37 - Fragility and societal implications
1:44:31 - Outro
Links
Highly optimized tolerances and power laws paper: https://tinyurl.com/3yk2mycp
Robust perfect adaptation in bacterial chemotaxis paper: https://tinyurl.com/3fn62a73
SBML: https://sbml.org/
Internet congestion control paper: https://tinyurl.com/4rjcd724
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: https://tinyurl.com/44n9y23u
Wildfires paper: https://tinyurl.com/2dvdh8ap
Turbulence paper: https://tinyurl.com/3sbsf8nj
Sepsis paper: https://tinyurl.com/55wse56f
Distributed LQG with delays paper: https://tinyurl.com/2abjdmb4
Diversity-enabled sweet spots in layered architectures paper: https://tinyurl.com/vvaxvwb8
Mountain biking game: https://tinyurl.com/46yh559r
System-level synthesis paper: https://tinyurl.com/2ez64jev
Internal feedback in biological control paper: https://tinyurl.com/576zdfrx
Podcast info
Podcast website: https://www.incontrolpodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/5n84j85j
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4rwztj3c
RSS: https://tinyurl.com/yc2fcv4y
Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/bdbvhsj6
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/3z24yr43
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IncontrolP
Instagram: https://tinyurl.com/35cu4kr4
Acknowledgments and sponsors
This episode was supported by the National Centre of Competence in Research on «Dependable, ubiquitous automation» and the IFAC Activity fund. The podcast benefits from the help of an incredibly talented and passionate team. Special thanks to L. Seward, E. Cahard, F. Banis, F. Dörfler, J. Lygeros, ETH studio and mirrorlake . Music was composed by A New Element.
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