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The Autonomous Robots and Systems Laboratory (ARSL) is part of the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). Our research is in the area of aerospace and ocean vehicle guidance, dynamics, control and path planning.

Research areas of expertise include:
(1) Flight vehicles and marine robotics: novel system designs (including bio-inspired), control/estimation algorithms, and field testing
(2) Vehicles in complex disturbances: modeling, flow estimation, path optimization, and disturbance rejection control
(3) Multi-vehicle control: coordination, control, and automated or adaptive data collection (informative path planning)
(4) Trajectory optimization
: for aerospace and ocean vehicles including optimal-control and sampling-based techniques

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lab director

Artur Wolek is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a resident faculty member of the NC Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Research Center (BATT CAVE), and an affiliate faculty member of the Charlotte Aviation Innovation and Research Institute (Charlotte AIR). Wolek earned the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2010 and 2015. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Acoustics Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (2015-2018), an Adjunct Lecturer in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Catholic University of America (2017-2018), and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute for Systems Research and Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland (2018-2020). Wolek joined UNC Charlotte in 2021 and founded the Autonomous Robots and Systems Laboratory (ARSL). In 2023, Wolek was part of the AFOSR Summer Faculty Fellowship Program collaborating with the Control Science Center at Wright Patterson AFB. Wolek has authored more than 55 journal articles and conference proceedings. His research interests are in the area of dynamics, guidance, estimation, control, and autonomy for flight vehicles and marine vehicles. Wolek’s research group also specializes in path planning, automated/autonomous data collection, and multi-vehicle control and coordination. Wolek teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in engineering dynamics, robotics, estimation, and aerospace engineering. Wolek’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, AFOSR, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the Army STTR Program, Defensewerx, and the Coastal Studies Institute. Wolek is a Senior Member of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an affiliate member of the International Federation for Automatic Control (IFAC), and a member of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).

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Curriculum Vitae

ContacT

Dr. Artur Wolek
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
8415 Phillips Rd, Charlotte, NC 28223
BATT CAVE Research Building, Room 103
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Email: awolek [at] charlotte [dot] edu

Links

North Carolina Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification (BATT CAVE) Research Center
Charlotte Aviation Innovation and Research Institute (Charlotte AIR)
Graduate Robotics and Control Systems (RCS) Seminar at UNC Charlotte
Lab Github Repository
B.S. Aerospace Engineering Concentration at UNC Charlotte
B.S. Honors Engineering Program at UNC Charlotte
AIAA Student Chapter / Design-Build-Fly at UNC Charlotte

Lab locations

Workshop Laboratory: Duke Centennial Hall, Room 370
Water Tank & Student Offices: BATT CAVE Research Building, Room 124
Office: BATT CAVE Research Building, Room 103