Scott A. Bortoff

About

Scott A. Bortoff is a control systems researcher whose career spans nonlinear control theory, robotics, and advanced motion control. His foundational work in the late 1980s and 1990s established key comparisons between feedback linearization and singular perturbation techniques for flexible joint robots, contributions that remain influential across robotics control design. A recurring theme throughout his research is the application of sophisticated mathematical tools — spline function approximation, pseudo-linearization, and state-feedback linearization — to make nonlinear control practically implementable on real hardware, as demonstrated in his digital signal processing-based controller construction (33 citations) and spline-based approximation methods. Bortoff has made substantial contributions to aerial and parallel robotics, including his widely cited work on the University of Toronto RC helicopter as a nonlinear control benchmark (35 citations), which helped shape how the community evaluates scalability of control results. His sustained focus on Delta robots — spanning dynamic modeling, impedance control, Modelica-based simulation, and robotic assembly — reflects a deep commitment to bridging theory and industrial application. More recently, his work on contact and collision modeling advances precision robotic assembly control. Across these domains, Bortoff exemplifies rigorous, experimentally grounded control engineering research with lasting practical relevance.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   The University of Toronto RC helicopter: a test bed for nonlinear control

   35 citations · 2003
2. 2
   Advanced nonlinear robotic control using digital signal processing

   33 citations · 1994
3. 3
   A Comparison of Feedback Linearization and Singular Perturbation Techniques for the Control of Flexible Joint Robots

   20 citations · 1989
4. 4
   Object-Oriented Modeling and Control of Delta Robots

   11 citations · 2018
5. 5
   A discrete-time observer for flexible-joint manipulators

   11 citations · 2003
6. 6
   Approximate state-feedback linearization using spline functions

   10 citations · 2005
7. 7
   Coordinated Control of a Dual-Stage Positioning System Using Constrained Model Predictive Control

   7 citations · 2014
8. 8
   Impedance Control of a Delta Robot

   5 citations · 2023
9. 9
   Modeling Contact and Collisions for Robotic Assembly Control

   4 citations · 2020
10. 10
    Modelica-Based Control of a Delta Robot

    3 citations · 2020

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links