Speaker: Professor Robert Mahony
FAA, FTSE, FIEEE
The Australian National University,
System Theory and Robotics Group
Date｜Time Sep 1 (Tuesday), 2026｜10:00
Location Room 316-1, Building 133
Abstract
Equivariant Systems Theory is a relatively new field of nonlinear control that studies systems for which there is a transitive equivariant symmetry. The goal is to lift the system to a representation on the symmetry group and use this structure to tackle problems such as state estimation (Equivariant Filter) and control (Equivariant Regulator). In this talk, I present a taxonomy of equivariant systems and discuss the structure of these systems, providing examples and insights into the different systems. I consider linear integrators, invariant systems on groups, linear systems, and group affine systems, and show how these well known systems fit into the equivariant systems structure. I go on to define the class of fundamental systems that is one of the most exciting categories for future work. Finally, I define free equivariant and general equivariant systems to complete the taxonomy. If there is time I will also discuss the equivariant structure of measurements and outputs.
Biography
Robert Mahony is a Professor in the Research School of Engineering at the Australian National University. He received his BSc in 1989 (applied mathematics and geology) and his PhD in 1995 (systems engineering) both from the Australian National University. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and a fellow of the IEEE. He was president of the Australian Robotics Association from 2008-2011. His research interests are in non-linear systems theory with applications in robotics and computer vision. He is known for his work in aerial robotics, geometric observer design, matrix subspace optimisation and image based visual servo control.
