DECAR
Dynamics, Estimation, and Control in Aerospace and Robotics
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University
Macdonald Engineering Building
817 Sherbrooke St. W
Montreal, QC, H3A 0C3
DECAR conducts fundamental and applied research in navigation, guidance, and control for underwater, ground, and aerial robots. DECAR places equal emphasis on theory and experimentation. Theoretical tools from applied mathematics, optimization, signal processing, probability and statistics, and machine learning are brought to bear on applied robotics problems, with frequent and extensive real-world testing in the field, often in collaboration with industrial partners.
Navigation
Navigation is the process of answering the question "where is the robot" or "what does the world look like and where is the robot in the world" using sensors, such as a stereo camera, LiDAR, and IMU. DECAR is interested in navigation and SLAM in underwater, underground, and other challenging environments.
Control
Control is the process of answering the question "what inputs should be applied to the robot to execute the task," where the inputs could be forces and torques, and the task could be following a path. Guidance, or path planning, can often be posed as a control problem. DECAR is interested in optimal yet robust control methods.
Further detail on the research areas may be found on the projects page. The code behind most of our papers is on GitHub. Research projects are frequently done with an industry partner and supported by NSERC, FRQNT, or Mitacs.
Prospective M.Sc. and Ph.D. students apply through the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Please see the prospective students page for additional details.
McGill University is situated on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. We recognize and respect the Kanien’kehà:ka as the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which we meet today.