Erjen Lefeber

About

Erjen Lefeber is a control systems researcher whose work has made significant contributions to the fields of nonholonomic systems, mobile robotics, and autonomous vehicle control. His early research established foundational methods for trajectory tracking and stabilization of nonholonomic mobile robots, with his 2001 paper on saturated stabilization accumulating over 250 citations and his cascaded approach to exponential tracking control earning nearly 150 citations. These works introduced elegant mathematical frameworks — including cascaded systems analysis and chained-form controller design — that became important references in the mobile robotics control community. Lefeber's research later evolved to address modern autonomous driving challenges, particularly vehicle platooning. His 2019 contributions introduced a novel extended look-ahead concept for combined longitudinal and lateral control of car-like platoons, building upon Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control principles to improve practical performance and string stability. He has also advanced observer-based control techniques, developing solutions where full state measurements are unavailable — a critical consideration in real-world robotic applications. His work on adaptive tracking further demonstrates a commitment to handling uncertain system dynamics. Across his career, Lefeber has consistently bridged rigorous nonlinear control theory with practical robotics and automotive applications, making his research valuable to both theorists and engineers.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Saturated stabilization and tracking of a nonholonomic mobile robot

   252 citations · 2001
2. 2
   Exponential Tracking Control of a Mobile Car Using a Cascaded Approach

   146 citations · 1998
3. 3
   Combined Longitudinal and Lateral Control of Car-Like Vehicle Platooning With Extended Look-Ahead

   81 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Linear controllers for exponential tracking of systems in chained-form

   51 citations · 2000
5. 5
   Extended Look-Ahead Tracking Controller With Orientation-Error Observer for Vehicle Platooning

   34 citations · 2019
6. 6
   Observer based kinematic tracking controllers for a unicycle-type mobile robot

   26 citations · 2002
7. 7
   Adaptive tracking control of nonholonomic systems: an example

   14 citations · 2003
8. 8
   Nonlinear Systems

   7 citations · 2016
9. 9
   Adaptive and Filtered Visual Servoing of Planar Robots

   6 citations · 1998

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links