Research in modern systems science covers a variety of topics, with an emphasis on the intensive use of mathematics and computers in distributed complex dynamical systems which evolve in an environment containing considerable uncertainty and complexity. Consider, for example, the control of a mobile robotic system interacting with a changing environment. The nature of the cooperative interaction is task dependent and may require real-time adjustments to accommodate sensed environmental constraints. The need for good planning and control for nominal performance, as well as proper emergency capability, also complicates the design problem. The system must operate properly in a wide range of operating modes.
Similar issues arise in biomedical control problems, and aerospace guidance and control problems.
All of these designs require fusion of a complicated suite of sensors, computers, and problem dynamics into one integrated system. Again, the wide range of events to which the system is subject create an environment in which the controller must adapt itself to its perception of the operational conditions. As a group, faculty in systems science are involved in virtually all aspects of this problem. Typically, advanced mathematical and computational techniques play a fundamental role in this work. Much of our research is at the interface between mathematics, control theory, and computer science.