Title: Predicting, Reaching and Avoiding Conjunction
Time & Venue: December 19, 2025 14:00 – 15:00 hrs IST; Biological Science Auditorium (Department of Biological Sciences, IISc)
Abstract:
Conjunction analysis is often used in space applications to assess collision risk between satellites or of satellites with debris. However, in a more general sense, conjunction analysis is applicable to guidance or path planning of autonomous vehicles where two or more vehicles move in space. Depending on the application, it would be desirable to predict the occurrence of collision, and subsequently devise control strategies to either achieve it, as in problems of docking or interception, or avoid it, as in mobile robotics. In this talk, we will describe the use of the notion of collision cones to carry on conjunction analysis in Euclidean spaces as well as its generalization on spherical manifolds. The applications covered will encompass problems ranging from robotics to astrodynamics.
Speaker Bio:
Prof. Debasish Ghose is presently an honorary professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the Indian Institute of Science, all in Electrical Engineering. He has been a professor at the Indian Institute of Science in both the Aerospace and the Cyberphysical Systems departments. He has also held visiting positions in several universities including the University of California at Los Angeles. His main areas of research is in guidance and control of autonomous vehicles. He has been a member of the editorial boards of several journals and IEEE Transactions. He is a fellow of INAE, NASI, INSA and AAAI and an associate fellow of AIAA.