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James Forbes

Title: 
Associate Professor
Academic title(s): 

William Dawson Scholar

James Forbes
Contact Information
Address: 

Macdonald Engineering Building, Room 158

Email address: 
james.richard.forbes [at] mcgill.ca
Degree(s): 

Ph.D. Aerospace Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
M.A.Sc. Aerospace Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
B.A.Sc. Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo

Courses: 

MECH 309: Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering (3 credits)
MECH 412: System Dynamics and Control (3 Credits)
MECH 513: Control Systems (3 Credits)
MECH 672: Navigation and Control of Robotic and Aerospace Systems (4 credits)

Research areas: 
Dynamics and Control
Selected publications: 
  • T. Hitchcox and J. R. Forbes, “Mind the Gap: Norm-Aware Adaptive Robust Loss for Multivariate Least-Squares Problems,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 7116–7123, 2022.
  • F. Ahmed, L. A. Sobiesiak, and J. R. Forbes,“Model Predictive Control of a Tandem-Rotor Helicopter with a Non-Uniformly Spaced Prediction Horizon,” IEEE Control Systems Letters, vol. 6, pp. 2828– 2833, 2022.
  • K. Lee and J. R. Forbes, “Position and Attitude Tracking Control Using CCW and SNI System Theory With Applications to Multi-agent Systems,” Automatica, vol. 139, p. 110203, 2022.
  • T. D. Barfoot, J. R. Forbes, and G. M. D’Eleuterio, “Vectorial Parameterizations of Pose,” Robotica, vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 2409–2427, 2022.
  • Z. C. Gau, V. Korotkine, J. R. Forbes, and T. D. Barfoot, “Koopman Linearization for Data-Driven Batch State Estimation of Control-Affine Systems,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 866–873, 2022.
  • D. Lisus, C. C. Cossette, M. Shalaby, and J. R. Forbes, “Heading Estimation Using Ultra-wideband Received Signal Strength and Gaussian Processes,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 8387–8393, 2021.
  • M. Shalaby, C. C. Cossette, J. R. Forbes, and J. Le Ny, “Relative Position Estimation in Multi- Agent Systems Using Attitude-Coupled Range Measurements,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Let- ters, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 4955–4961, 2021.
  • M. Cohen, K. Abdulrahim, and J. R. Forbes, “Finite-Horizon LQR Control of Quadrotors on SE_2(3),” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 5748–5755, 2020.
  • N. van der Laan, M. Cohen, J. Arsenault, and J. R. Forbes, “The Invariant Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoother,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 5067–5074, 2020.
  • T. D. Barfoot, J. R. Forbes, and D. Yoon, “Exactly Sparse Gaussian Variational Inference with Ap- plication to Derivative-Free Batch Nonlinear State Estimation,” International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 39, no. 13, pp. 1473–1502, 2020.
  • C. C. Cossette, A. Walsh, and J. R. Forbes, “The Complex-Step Derivative Approximation on Matrix Lie Groups," IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 906-913, 2020.
  • D. E. Zlotnik and J. R. Forbes, “Higher-Order Nonlinear Complementary Filtering on Lie Groups,” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 64, no. 5, pp. 1772–1783, 2019.
  • D. E. Zlotnik and J. R. Forbes, “Gradient-Based Observer for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping,” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 63, no. 12, pp. 4338 – 4344, 2018.

 

Current research: 

Navigation, Guidance, and Control

  • Nonlinear state estimation including batch and filtering methods for robot navigation
  • Nonlinear control including Lyapunov approaches, input-output stability, and gain-scheduled control
  • Controller synthesis via numerical optimization and Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs)
  • Data-driven modelling and system identification
  • The application of mathematics, numerical optimization, and machine learning tools to problems found in robotics
     

Robotics Applications

  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
  • Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), including on- and off-road vehicles, rail vehicles
  • Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)
  • SLAM
  • Serial robots
  • Cable-actuated robots
Areas of interest: 

Primary Research Theme: Dynamics and Control

Research Lab/Group: Dynamics Estimation & Control of Aerospace & Robotics Systems

I am interested in navigation, guidance, and control (commonly referred to as “GNC”) techniques for robotic systems. I am interested in fundamental theoretical developments, as well as the application of new and existing theories to practical, real-world problems.

 

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