Christopher Damaren

Professor and Director of Institute for Aerospace Studies, 
University of Toronto
Research Interest: the development of control systems for formation flying spacecraft, the development of robust controllers for (possibly) nonlinear systems, the passivity theorem and small gain theorem, the development of control systems for solar sails.
Speech Title: Low Thrust Trajectory Optimization near L1 in Cislunar Space

Abstract: Hamiltonian methods are used to study the planar circular restricted three-body problem. The use of the Birkhoff normal form is extended to the case of the spacecraft dynamics subject to continuous thrusting. The normal form method produces local orbital elements, namely the canonical action-angle variables. The analog of Gauss's variational equations is  combined with Lyapunov methods to produce low thrust orbital transfers.   The examples treated are transfers in the vicinity of the L1 Lagrangian point of the Earth-Moon system. Given the instability of L1, LQR feedback is embedded in the low-thrust control scheme.

Short-biography: Chris Damaren received the BASc in Engineering Science (Aerospace Option) from the University of Toronto in 1985. He went on to receive the MASc and PhD degrees in 1987 and 1990, respectively, both in aerospace engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). From 1990 to 1995 he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. From 1995 to 1999 he was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Since 1999 he has been at UTIAS and is currently a Professor and the Director. From 2008 to 2013, he served as the Vice-Dean Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. His research interests are in the areas of dynamics and control of space systems.  He is a Fellow of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.