Papers
9
Total Citations
180
H-Index
6
About
Ricardo G. Sanfelice is a leading researcher in hybrid dynamical systems and control theory, with contributions spanning robotics, autonomous vehicles, and nonlinear control design. His work fundamentally advances the mathematical and computational frameworks needed to model and control systems that exhibit both continuous and discrete behaviors — so-called hybrid systems. Sanfelice's most-cited work (47 citations) introduced a principled hybrid systems approach to trajectory tracking for juggling robots, demonstrating how hybrid control architectures can elegantly handle impact-driven, discontinuous dynamics. Complementing this, his hybrid control strategy for robotic contact detection and force regulation (32 citations) offered innovative solutions to the challenging transition between free motion and constrained interaction — a persistent problem in robotics. His 2008 work on supervising families of hybrid controllers (26 citations) delivered robust global asymptotic stabilization methods applicable to broad classes of nonlinear systems. More recently, Sanfelice has extended hybrid systems theory into autonomous vehicle control and motion planning, including a novel RRT-based algorithm tailored specifically for hybrid systems. His 2020 work on forward invariance for hybrid inclusions provides rigorous tools for safe control design. Collectively, his research has shaped modern hybrid control theory and continues influencing both theoretical foundations and practical autonomous systems applications.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2A Hybrid Control Strategy for Robust Contact Detection and Force Regulation32 citations · 2007
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- 5Forward Invariance of Sets for Hybrid Dynamical Systems (Part II)23 citations · 2020
- 69 Passivity-Based Control15 citations · 2019
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