This image shows Torbjørn Cunis

Torbjørn Cunis

Dr.

Head of Aerospace Control Systems Theory & Optimization group
Institute for Flight Mechanics and Control

Contact

+49 711 685 66617
 +49 711 685 66670
Business card (VCF)

Pfaffenwaldring 27
70569 Stuttgart
Deutschland
Room: 2.043

Office Hours

  • During lecture periods: Monday 4 to 5 pm and Thursday 12 to 1 pm.
  • Outside of lecture periods by appointment only.

Subject

Nonlinear systems theory, Mathematical optimization, Optimization-based control, Systems theoretical methods for aerospace applications.

Education

2013 B.Sc. Computer Science, University of Würzburg
2014 B.Sc. Aerospace Computer Engineering, University of Würzburg
2016 M.Sc. Automation Engineering, RWTH Aachen University
2019 Dr. Systems & Control, ISAÉ-Supaéro, University of Toulouse

Societies

AIAA, IEEE, VDI

  1. I. Kolmanovsky, T. Cunis, and E. Garone, “Command Governors Based on Bilevel Optimization for Constrained Spacecraft Orbital Transfer,” in AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum, in AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jan. 2024. doi: 10.2514/6.2024-0097.
  2. T. Cunis and H. Pfifer, “A semi-algebraic view on quadratic constraints for polynomial systems,” Automatica, vol. 163, no. 111549, Art. no. 111549, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2024.111549.
  3. T. Cunis and B. Legat, “Sequential sum-of-squares programming for analysis of nonlinear systems,” in 2023 American Control Conference, in 2023 American Control Conference. San Diego, CA, 2023. doi: 10.23919/ACC55779.2023.10156153.
  4. T. Cunis, I. Kolmanovsky, and C. E. S. Cesnik, “Integrating Nonlinear Controllability into a Multidisciplinary Design Process,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 46, no. 6, Art. no. 6, 2023, doi: 10.2514/1.G007067.
  5. T. Cunis and I. Kolmanovsky, “Input-to-State Stability of a Bilevel Proximal Gradient Descent Algorithm,” IFAC-PapersOnLine, vol. 56, no. 2, Art. no. 2, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2023.10.633.
  6. T. Skibik, D. Liao-McPherson, T. Cunis, I. V. Kolmanovsky, and M. M. Nicotra, “A Feasibility Governor for Enlarging the Region of Attraction of Linear Model Predictive Controllers,” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 67, no. 10, Art. no. 10, 2022, doi: 10.1109/TAC.2021.3123224.
  7. R. Schieni, M. Simsek, T. Cunis, O. Bilgen, and L. Burlion, “Control of Bistable Structures Using a Modified Hybrid Position Feedback Controller,” in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022, in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022. San Diego, CA, 2022. doi: 10.2514/6.2022-0922.
  8. T. Cunis, I. Kolmanovsky, and C. E. S. Cesnik, “Control Co-Design Optimization: Integrating nonlinear controllability into a multidisciplinary design process,” in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022, in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022. San Diego, CA, 2022. doi: 10.2514/6.2022-2176.
  9. T. Cunis, “Local Stability Analysis for Sensor-based Inexact Feedback Linearization,” in 6th CEAS Conference on Guidance, Navigation, and Control, in 6th CEAS Conference on Guidance, Navigation, and Control. Berlin, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://eurognc.ceas.org/archive/EuroGNC2022/html/CEAS-GNC-2022-052.html
  10. R. M. Bertolin, G. C. Barbosa, T. Cunis, I. Kolmanovsky, and C. E. S. Cesnik, “Gust Rejection of a Supersonic Aircraft During Final Approach,” in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022, in AIAA SciTech Forum 2022. San Diego, CA, 2022. doi: 10.2514/6.2022-2174.
  11. T. Skibik, D. Liao-McPherson, T. Cunis, I. Kolmanovsky, and M. M. Nicotra, “Feasibility Governor for Linear Model Predictive Control,” in Proceedings of the American Control Conference, in Proceedings of the American Control Conference. New Orleans, LA, 2021, pp. 2329--2335. doi: 10.23919/ACC50511.2021.9483054.
  12. B. Lai, T. Cunis, and L. Burlion, “Nonlinear Trajectory Based Region of Attraction Estimation for Aircraft Dynamics Analysis,” in AIAA Scitech 2021 Forum, in AIAA Scitech 2021 Forum. Virtual, 2021. doi: 10.2514/6.2021-0253.
  13. T. Cunis and I. Kolmanovsky, “Viability, viscosity, and storage functions in model-predictive control with terminal constraints,” Automatica, vol. 131, no. 109748, Art. no. 109748, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2021.109748.
  14. T. Cunis, J.-P. Condomines, L. Burlion, and A. la Cour-Harbo, “Dynamic Stability Analysis of Aircraft Flight in Deep Stall,” Journal of Aircraft, vol. 57, no. 1, Art. no. 1, 2020, doi: 10.2514/1.C035455.
  15. T. Cunis, J.-P. Condomines, and L. Burlion, “Local stability analysis for large polynomial spline systems,” Automatica, vol. 113, p. 108773, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2019.108773.
  16. T. Cunis, J. P. Condomines, and L. Burlion, “Sum-of-squares flight control synthesis for deep-stall recovery,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 43, no. 8, Art. no. 8, 2020, doi: 10.2514/1.G004753.
  17. T. Cunis, D. Liao-McPherson, I. Kolmanovsky, and L. Burlion, “Model-Predictive Spiral and Spin Upset Recovery Control for the Generic Transport Model Simulation,” in 2020 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, in 2020 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications. Montréal, 2020, pp. 1--7. doi: 10.1109/CCTA41146.2020.9206158.
  18. M. Karásek et al., “Accurate position control of a flapping-wing robot enabling free-flight flow visualisation in a wind tunnel,” in International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, in International Journal of Micro Air Vehicles, vol. 11. 2019. doi: 10.1177/1756829319833683.
  19. T. Cunis, L. Burlion, and J.-P. P. Condomines, “Piecewise polynomial modeling for control and analysis of aircraft dynamics beyond stall,” Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 42, no. 4, Art. no. 4, 2019, doi: 10.2514/1.G003618.
  20. T. Cunis, “Modeling, Analysis, and Control for Upset Recovery: From system theory to unmanned aircraft flight,” Doctoral thesis, ISAE-Supaéro, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02555908
  21. T. Cunis, D. Liao-McPherson, J. P. Condomines, L. Burlion, and I. Kolmanovsky, “Economic Model-Predictive Control Strategies for Aircraft Deep-stall Recovery with Stability Guarantees,” in Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, in Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. Nice, 2019, pp. 157--162. doi: 10.1109/CDC40024.2019.9030207.
  22. T. Cunis, T. Leth, L. C. Totu, and A. la Cour-Harbo, “Identification of Thrust, Lift, and Drag for Deep-stall Flight Data of a Fixed-wing Unmanned Aircraft,” in 2018 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, in 2018 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Dallas, TX, 2018, pp. 531--538. doi: 10.1109/ICUAS.2018.8453340.
  23. T. Cunis, L. Burlion, and J.-P. Condomines, “Piece-wise identification and analysis of the aerodynamic coefficients, trim conditions, and safe sets of the generic transport model,” in AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, in AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference. 2018. doi: 10.2514/6.2018-1114.
  24. T. Cunis and E. Baskaya, “Performance of Unmanned Aircrafts in the Event of Loss-of-control,” in 10th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition, in 10th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition. Melbourne, 2018.
  25. T. Cunis, “The pwpfit Toolbox for Polynomial and Piece-wise Polynomial Data Fitting,” IFAC-PapersOnLine, vol. 51, no. 15, Art. no. 15, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.09.204.
  26. T. Cunis, J.-P. Condomines, and L. Burlion, “Full-envelope, six-degrees-of-freedom trim analysis of unmanned aerial systems based on piece-wise polynomial aerodynamic coefficients,” in 2017 Workshop on Research, Education and Development of Unmanned Aerial Systems, in 2017 Workshop on Research, Education and Development of Unmanned Aerial Systems. 2017, pp. 108--113. doi: 10.1109/RED-UAS.2017.8101652.
  27. T. Cunis, L. Burlion, and J.-P. Condomines, “Non-linear Analysis and Control Proposal for In-flight Loss-of-control,” in Preprints of the 20th IFAC World Congress, in Preprints of the 20th IFAC World Congress. Toulouse, 2017, pp. 10681--10685.
  28. T. Cunis, M. Karásek, and G. C. H. E. de Croon, “Precision Position Control of the DelFly II Flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle in a Wind-tunnel,” in 8th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition, in 8th International Micro Air Vehicle Conference and Competition. Beijing, 2016.

In the summer term I offer the lecture Mehrgrößenregelung for Master students of Aerospace Engineering.

In the winter term I offer the course Nonlinear Control Systems together with the seminar Recent Topics Of Systems Theory For Flight Control for Master students of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Cybernetics.

Open topics

If you want to propose an individual topic within nonlinear flight systems and control theory, I’d be happy to discuss your ideas.

Past theses

  • Norm-based region of attraction estimation for AI (MA)
  • Neural network based model-predictive upset recovery control in real-time (BA)
  • Strategies for convergence of region of attraction estimation algorithms (MA)
  • Quantitative stability analysis based on inflight experiments (BA)
  • Real-time optimization of model-predictive control for aircraft upset recovery (MA)
  • A feasibility governor for model-predictive control of an aerial robot (MA)

Dr. Cunis is research associate of the University of Stuttgart, adjunct assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan, and a fellow of the Young ZiF, Centre of Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld.

Education

2013 B.Sc. in Computer Science, University of Würzburg

2014 B.Sc. in Aerospace Computer Engineering, University of Würzburg

2016 M.Sc. in Automation Engineering, RWTH Aachen University

2019 Doctor in Systems & Control, ISAE-Supaéro, University of Toulouse

Research

2019—2021 Research fellow of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2016—2019 Researcher at ONERA – The French Aerospace Lab & the French Civil Aviation School ENAC, Toulouse

Visits

2018 Vehicle Optimization Lab, University of Michigan

2018 Automation & Control Group, Aalborg University

2015/2016 Micro Air Vehicle Lab, Delft University of Technology

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