Automatic Control (RT)

Automatic control is the art of making technical systems behave as we want.

Photo credit David BrohedeThe activities within the division include a broad spectrum of problems in sensor fusion, system identification, robotics and autonomous systems, optimization for control applications and complex networks, and they aim at a good and productive balance between theoretical developments and industrial applications.

Sensor fusion deals with how to combine information from different sensors in the best way, and system identification concerns data driven modelling of dynamical systems. Within robotics and autonomous systems the focus is on planning and controlling the position and orientation of a system with a minimum of manual interaction. The activities within optimization include algorithm development for model predictive control, and the complex networks area deals with different types of interactions in dynamic networks.

Examples of application areas of industrial importance are modelling and control of industrial robots, sensor fusion and decision support in cars, ships and aerial vehicles, and planning and control of autonomous vehicles.

News

02 September 2025

ISY Day 2025 – sustainability in academia, industry, and society

This years theme for the ISY Day was “Sustainability in Academia, Industry, and Society”, featuring lectures, discussions, and examples of how sustainability can be integrated into research, education, and industrial development.

25 April 2025

Blurred borders between civilian and military

A tense political situation in the world, a war in Europe and an everyday life with increasing threats to our security – what do the researchers do? More than you might think and there will be even more. Defence research is more active than ever.

28 August 2024

PhD Workshop 2024 – A Successful Initiative

For the second time, the Department of Electrical Engineering (ISY) organized a full-day conference for its PhD students – PhD Workshop 2024. A successful initiative with a focus on presenting the department's research.

Research and collaborations in Automatic Control

Research areas

Optimization for Control

The research in optimization for control is focused on optimization modeling, robust control, model predictive control, and applications.

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

This research area encompasses a wide range of applications from industrial robots and automobiles to trucks and airborne vehicles.

System Identification

System identification deals with building a mathematical model of the input-output behavior of a dynamical system from measurements of its input and output signals.

Research projects and collaborations

SEDDIT

SEDDIT is a competence center funded within the framework of Vinnova's initiative in Advanced Digitalization, where universities and companies collaborate to conduct research and education in digital societal transformation.

LINK-SIC - Linköping Center for Sensor Informatics and Control

LINK-SIC is a Vinnova Competence Center for industry-academia cooperation in the general area of control systems and signal processing. The center's operational period was between 2017 and 2023.

WASP - Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program

LiU is home to WASP – Sweden’s largest ever individual research program. The research is financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and focusses on autonomous systems and software development.

Education in Automatic Control

Undergraduate courses

See a list of current undergraduate courses offered at the Division of Automatic Control (RT).

PhD courses

See a list of current PhD courses offered at the Division of Automatic Control (RT).

Contact

Management

Head of Division

Administrator

Director of studies

Faculty

Farnaz Adib Yaghmaie

Assistant Professor, Docent

Associate Professor, Head of Division

Associate Professor, Docent

Johan Löfberg

Associate Professor, Docent

Isaac Skog

Associate Professor

Publications

2026

Lingfei Wang, Yu Xing, Shijie Huang, Claudio Altafini, Karl Henrik Johansson (2026)

Social Power Games for Parallel Friedkin-Johnsen Models IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 71, p. 3074-3089 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TAC.2025.3631717

Joel Wendin, Claudio Altafini (2026)

Gradient Flow Equations for Deep Linear Neural Networks: A Survey from a Network Perspective SIAM Review, Vol. 68, p. 293-345 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1137/24m1715519

Anja Hellander (2026)

Optimization-Based Planning for Task-Motion Integration and Multi-Agent Coordination (Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary)

https://dx.doi.org/10.3384/9789181186062

Jakob Åslund, Fredrik Gustafsson, Gustaf Hendeby (2026)

Marginalized Particle Filter Degeneration IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Vol. 74, p. 1508-1521 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSP.2026.3679016

Jiahao Huo, Mufhumudzi Muthivhi, Terence L. van Zyl, Fredrik Gustafsson (2026)

Nearest-Class Mean and Logits Agreement for Wildlife Open-Set Recognition ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH, SACAIR 2025, p. 316-329 (Conference paper)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-11733-5_20