Prof. Dr. Knut Graichen

Chair of Automatic Control

Our research focuses on the model & control design, analysis, and optimization of dynamical systems from different domains including robotics and human-machine interaction. It is also important for us to bring control and AI related research into practice by closely cooperating with industry, for instance from the automotive domain, robotics and process automation.

Research projects

  • Cooperative manipulation with dual-arm robots at the payload limit (headed bei Dr. Andreas Völz)
  • Kinesthetic teaching and predictive control of interaction tasks in robotics
  • Distributed model predictive control of nonlinear systems with asynchronous communication

  • Synergy-based model predictive interaction control for robotic hand-arm systems

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader: ,
    Term: 1. January 2026 - 31. December 2028
    Funding source: DFG-Einzelförderung / Sachbeihilfe (EIN-SBH)
  • Distributed model predictive control using sensitivity based primal decomposition

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. January 2026 - 31. December 2028
    Funding source: DFG-Einzelförderung / Sachbeihilfe (EIN-SBH)
  • Control of mobile robot swarms

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. January 2026 - 31. December 2028
    Funding source: Industrie
  • Energy-Efficient Electro-Photonic Integrated Circuits for High-Performance Computing

    (Third Party Funds Group – Overall project)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. April 2025 - 31. March 2028
    Acronym: EPIC4HPC
    Funding source: Bayerische Forschungsstiftung
  • Prototypical development of an Aceton / Isopropanol hydrogen storage system for stationary seasonal energy storage

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader: ,
    Term: 1. February 2025 - 31. March 2028
    Acronym: H2Season
    Funding source: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
  • Advanced monitoring and optimization for robotic strain wave gears

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. November 2024 - 30. April 2026
    Acronym: AMOR
    Funding source: Industrie
  • Optimized Reinforcement Architecture for Complex Energy Management

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. July 2024 - 30. June 2027
    Acronym: ORACLE
    Funding source: Industrie
  • OXO-LOHC: Autotherme und ultratiefe Wasserstoff-Freisetzung aus LOHC

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader: , ,
    Term: 1. November 2023 - 31. October 2028
    Acronym: OXO-Projekt
    Funding source: Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
  • Model predictive flight control

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 1. August 2023 - 31. July 2026
    Funding source: Industrie
  • Robust energy-based control of MMC/HVDC systems

    (Third Party Funds Single)

    Project leader:
    Term: 15. June 2023 - 31. December 2026
    Funding source: Industrie
  • Formulation of dispersed systems via (melt) emulsification: Process design, in situ diagnostics and regulation

    (Third Party Funds Group – Sub project)

    Overall project: Autonome Prozesse in der Partikeltechnik - Erforschung und Erprobung von Konzepten zur modellbasierten Führung partikeltechnischer Prozesse
    Project leader: , ,
    Term: 1. January 2023 - 31. December 2028
    Acronym: SPP 2364
    Funding source: DFG / Schwerpunktprogramm (SPP)

    The aim of this project is the automated production of liquid-liquid disperse systems via melt emulsification, whereby in this process emulsification takes place at elevated temperature. The products obtained after cooling are dispersions of spherical nanoparticles or microparticles. Within the scope of this project, a melt emulsification device for the automated production of product particles with a well-defined particle size distribution (PSD) will be further developed. The PSD has a significant influence on the subsequent product properties, such as flow behavior or drug release kinetics. The PSD of the products is determined by the complex interaction of competing mechanisms. These are, in particular, droplet breakup in a rotor-stator device as a result of shear and elongation stress, as well as coalescence and further ripening, which in turn depend on the system composition, i.e. the emulsifier used (type, concentration) and the dispersion phase (viscosity, volume fraction). 

    Therefore, for a better process understanding and an active process control, possibilities for in situ determination of the PSD are urgently required. In this project, a novel fiber-coupled measurement system based on broadband elastic light scattering is developed for in situ measurement of the PSD. The system will be validated on reference particle systems and applied to the emulsification process. Furthermore, a hybrid process model is developed, which is the basis for the design of a model predictive control of the process. The model predictive control in combination with the in situ measurement will provide the possibility for an active process control and the production of emulsions with predefined properties and a simultaneous optimization of the process time.

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Related Research Fields

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