Title:Harnessing Complex Systems for Control: From Design Challenges to New Opportunities
Abstract:Complex systems present both fundamental challenges and unique opportunities in modern control theory and its applications. While controlling such systems - from swarms of minidrones to cellular populations - has been extensively studied, the potential of harnessing their intrinsic properties for control purposes remains largely unexplored. This talk presents a unified perspective on this two-way interaction between complex systems and control, using the shepherding problem as a paradigmatic case study. In shepherding, a group of active agents (the herders) must control another set of agents (the herd) towards a desired goal region or along a specific trajectory, mirroring scenarios found both in nature and emerging technological applications. Through this lens, we first discuss how to bridge the gap between microscopic agent dynamics and macroscopic collective behavior through continuification-based approaches, allowing effective control design across different scales. We then show how inherent properties of complex systems such as self-organization and emergence can be leveraged to achieve control objectives that would be difficult with traditional approaches. The theoretical framework is illustrated through the shepherding problem and other real-world applications, demonstrating how this dual perspective opens new avenues for control design while addressing fundamental limitations of classical approaches. Special attention is given to cases where standard simplifying assumptions, such as inherent flocking tendencies or limited herder cooperation, are relaxed. We conclude by discussing open problems and future research directions in this emerging field at the intersection of complex systems theory and control engineering.
Biography:Mario di Bernardo (SMIEEE ’06, FIEEE 2012) is Professor of Automatic Control at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy and Visiting Professor of Nonlinear Systems and Control at the University of Bristol, U.K. He currently serves as Rector’s Delegate for Internationalization at the University of Naples Federico II and coordinates the research area and PhD program on Modeling and Engineering Risk and Complexity at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale, a new School of Advanced Studies established by the Italian Government in 2018 in Naples.
He is a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Control Systems Society and its Vice President for Technical Activities for the term 2025-2026. On 28th February 2007, he was awarded the title of Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by the President of Italy in recognition of his scientific achievements. He was elevated to the grade of Fellow of the IEEE in January 2012 for his contributions to the analysis, control, and applications of nonlinear systems and complex networks.
In 2009, he was elected President of the Italian Society for Chaos and Complexity serving two consecutive terms from 2010 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2017. In addition, he was elected to the Board of Governors of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society in 2006 and again in 2009. From 2011 to 2014, he held the position of Vice President for Financial Activities of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society. In 2015, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Control Systems Society.
Prof. di Bernardo's research interests span the analysis, synchronization, and control of complex network systems, piecewise-smooth dynamical systems, nonlinear dynamics, and nonlinear control, with applications in both engineering and computational biology. He has authored or co-authored more than 220 international scientific publications, including over 110 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, a research monograph, and two edited books. As of March 2023, his publications have received more than 11,000 citations with an h-index of 53, according to SCOPUS. In 2017, he was the recipient of the prestigious IEEE George N. Saridis Best Transactions Paper Award for Outstanding Research. He also served as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society for the 2016–2017 term.
Prof. di Bernardo has held numerous editorial roles, serving on the boards of several leading international scientific journals and conferences. From 2017 to 2022, he was Senior Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems and an Associate Editor of the IEEE Control Systems Letters. Previously, he was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems: Regular Papersfrom 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2015. He also served as Associate Editor of Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems, the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers (1999–2002, 2008–2010), and the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Brief Papers (2003–2008). In addition, he is a member of the Conference Editorial Board of both the IEEE Control Systems Society and the European Control Association (EUCA).
Prof. di Bernardo is regularly invited as a plenary speaker at conferences both in Italy and internationally. He served as Program Co-Chair of the European Control Conference in 2019, Publicity Chair of the IEEE ISCAS Conference in 2018, and has organized or co-organized numerous scientific initiatives and events. His research has been supported by funding from several prominent agencies and industries, including the European Union, UK research councils, and the Italian Ministry of Research and University.