Nikolaos D. Kouvakas

About

Nikolaos D. Kouvakas is a control systems engineer whose research sits at the intersection of robotics, mobile systems, and advanced control theory. His work spans robotic manipulators, differential drive mobile robots, and networked control systems, with a particular emphasis on designing practical, implementable controllers for complex real-world challenges. Among his most recognized contributions is a two-stage control scheme for sloshing suppression during robotic liquid transfer (2007, 15 citations), which elegantly leverages the pendulum-type model to manage fluid dynamics during manipulation — a problem with significant industrial relevance. His sustained interest in mobile robotics has produced influential work on input/output decoupling control strategies, enabling independent management of velocity and orientation in differential drive platforms, including wireless and partially networked implementations that address real-world communication delays. Kouvakas has also tackled demanding defense-related applications, including disturbance rejection for anti-mine robotic manipulators and precision firing control for mobile weapon systems incorporating delayed resonators, demonstrating versatility across both civilian and specialized domains. His more recent investigations into metaheuristic-augmented and nonlinear decoupling controllers reflect a forward-looking integration of optimization methods with classical control design. Collectively accumulating over 55 citations, his body of work offers students and researchers valuable frameworks for tackling delay, redundancy, and nonlinearity in modern robotic systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   A two stage robot control for liquid transfer

   15 citations · 2007
2. 2
   Mobile robots in singular time-delay form – Modeling and control

   11 citations · 2015
3. 3
   Towards remote control of planar redundant robotic manipulators

   7 citations · 2017
4. 4
   Manoeuvring of Differential Drive Mobile Robots on Horizontal Plane through I/O Decoupling

   5 citations · 2022
5. 5
   A Control Scheme Towards Accurate Firing While Moving for a Mobile Robotic Weapon System with Delayed Resonators

   4 citations · 2014
6. 6
   A Two Stage Nonlinear I/O Decoupling and Partially Wireless Controller for Differential Drive Mobile Robots

   4 citations · 2024
7. 7
   On the Remote Control of Differential Drive Mobile Robots through Wireless Networks

   3 citations · 2022
8. 8
   A Common Noninteracting Control Design for Robot Tracked Vehicles

   2 citations · 2022
9. 9
   A Mixed Analytic/Metaheuristic Dual Stage Control Scheme Toward I/O Decoupling for a Differential Drive Mobile Robot

   2 citations · 2024
10. 10
    A disturbance rejection controller for an anti-mine mobile robotic manipulator

    2 citations · 2014

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links