Avishai Weiss

- Phone: 617-621-7559
- Email:
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Position:
Research / Technical Staff
Principal Research Scientist -
Education:
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2013 -
Research Areas:
External Links:
Avishai's Quick Links
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Biography
Avishai's doctoral research was on spacecraft orbital and attitude control. Prior to the University of Michigan, he studied at Stanford University, where he received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Avishai's interests are in constrained control, model predictive control, and time-varying systems.
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Recent News & Events
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NEWS MERL's On-Orbit 3D Printing Technology Featured in Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Press Release Date: May 17, 2022
Where: Tokyo, Japan
MERL Contacts: Avishai Weiss; William S. Yerazunis
Research Areas: Applied Physics, CommunicationsBrief- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that the company has developed an on-orbit additive-manufacturing technology that uses photosensitive resin and solar ultraviolet light for the freeform printing of satellite antennas in the vacuum of outer space.
The novel technology makes use of a newly developed liquid resin that was custom formulated for stability in vacuum. The resin enables structures to be fabricated in space using a low-power process that utilizes the sun’s ultraviolet rays for photopolymerization. The technology specifically addresses the challenge of equipping small, inexpensive spacecraft buses with large structures, such as high-gain antenna reflectors, and enables on-orbit fabrication of structures that greatly exceed the dimensions of launch vehicle fairings. Resin-based on-orbit manufacturing is expected to enable spacecraft structures to be made thinner and lighter than conventional designs, which must survive the stresses of launch and orbital insertion, thereby reducing both total satellite weight and launch costs.
Mitsubishi Electric’s resin-based on-orbit manufacturing enables small satellites to have large satellite capability, which reduces launch costs and allows for satellite technology to be used more than ever in applications such as communication and Earth observation. The technology is based on recent research by MERL's Control for Autonomy and Data Analytics groups.
Links:
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Press Release
SatMagazine: UV In The Sky With Resin: A novel, on-orbit manufacturing technique
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that the company has developed an on-orbit additive-manufacturing technology that uses photosensitive resin and solar ultraviolet light for the freeform printing of satellite antennas in the vacuum of outer space.
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NEWS MERL researchers presented 10 papers at American Control Conference (ACC) Date: July 1, 2020 - July 3, 2020
Where: Denver, Colorado (virtual)
MERL Contacts: Mouhacine Benosman; Karl Berntorp; Ankush Chakrabarty; Stefano Di Cairano; Saleh Nabi; Rien Quirynen; Yebin Wang; Avishai Weiss
Research Areas: Control, Machine Learning, OptimizationBrief- At the American Control Conference, MERL presented 10 papers on subjects including autonomous-vehicle decision making and motion planning, nonlinear estimation for thermal-fluid models and GNSS positioning, learning-based reference governors and reference governors for railway vehicles, and fail-safe rendezvous control.
See All News & Events for Avishai -
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MERL Publications
- "UV In The Sky With Resin: A novel, on-orbit manufacturing technique", SatMagazine, April 2022.BibTeX SatMagazine
- @article{Yerazunis2022apr,
- author = {Yerazunis, William S. and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {UV In The Sky With Resin: A novel, on-orbit manufacturing technique},
- journal = {SatMagazine},
- year = 2022,
- edition = {April 2022},
- month = apr,
- url = {http://www.satmagazine.com/story.php?number=774406935}
- }
, - "Abort-safe spacecraft rendezvous under stochastic actuation and navigation uncertainty", IEEE Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), DOI: 10.1109/CDC45484.2021.9683322, December 2021, pp. 6620-6625.BibTeX TR2021-148 PDF
- @inproceedings{Vinod2021dec,
- author = {Vinod, Abraham P. and Weiss, Avishai and Di Cairano, Stefano},
- title = {Abort-safe spacecraft rendezvous under stochastic actuation and navigation uncertainty},
- booktitle = {IEEE Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)},
- year = 2021,
- pages = {6620--6625},
- month = dec,
- doi = {10.1109/CDC45484.2021.9683322},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-148}
- }
, - "Fail-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbits", American Control Conference (ACC), DOI: 10.23919/ACC50511.2021.9483328, May 2021, pp. 2980-2985.BibTeX TR2021-054 PDF
- @inproceedings{AguilarMarsillach2021may,
- author = {Aguilar Marsillach, Daniel and Di Cairano, Stefano and Kalabic, Uros and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {Fail-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbits},
- booktitle = {American Control Conference (ACC)},
- year = 2021,
- pages = {2980--2985},
- month = may,
- publisher = {IEEE},
- doi = {10.23919/ACC50511.2021.9483328},
- issn = {2378-5861},
- isbn = {978-1-6654-4197-1},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-054}
- }
, - "Orbit Verification of Small Sat Constellations", IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC), DOI: 10.1109/ICBC51069.2021.9461065, May 2021.BibTeX TR2021-040 PDF
- @inproceedings{Kalabic2021may,
- author = {Kalabic, Uros and Weiss, Avishai and Chiu, Michael},
- title = {Orbit Verification of Small Sat Constellations},
- booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC)},
- year = 2021,
- month = may,
- doi = {10.1109/ICBC51069.2021.9461065},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-040}
- }
, - "Distributed Small Sat Location Verification", Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference, DOI: 10.1109/ICNS52807.2021.9441603, April 2021.BibTeX TR2021-033 PDF
- @inproceedings{Kalabic2021apr,
- author = {Kalabic, Uros and Weiss, Avishai and Chiu, Michael},
- title = {Distributed Small Sat Location Verification},
- booktitle = {Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference},
- year = 2021,
- month = apr,
- doi = {10.1109/ICNS52807.2021.9441603},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-033}
- }
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- "UV In The Sky With Resin: A novel, on-orbit manufacturing technique", SatMagazine, April 2022.
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Other Publications
- "Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control Using Reaction Wheels", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 1425-1439, 2013.BibTeX
- @Article{Weiss2013,
- author = {Weiss, Avishai and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Bernstein, Dennis S. and Sanyal, Amit},
- title = {Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control Using Reaction Wheels},
- journal = {Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics},
- year = 2013,
- volume = 36,
- number = 5,
- pages = {1425--1439},
- publisher = {American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}
- }
, - "Spacecraft Constrained Maneuver Planning for Moving Debris Avoidance Using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets", Proceedings of the American Control Conference, June 2013.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weissDebris2013,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Baldwin, M. and Petersen, C. and Erwin, R. S. and Kolmanovsky, I.},
- title = {Spacecraft Constrained Maneuver Planning for Moving Debris Avoidance Using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets},
- booktitle = {Proceedings of the American Control Conference},
- year = 2013,
- address = {Washington, DC},
- month = jun
- }
, - "Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control with Control-Moment-Gyro Actuation", Proc. AIAA Guid. Nav. Contr. Conf., August 2012, pp. AIAA-2012-5003-282.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{CMGGNC2012,
- author = {Agarwal, K. and Weiss, A. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Bernstein, D. S.},
- title = {Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control with Control-Moment-Gyro Actuation},
- booktitle = {Proc. AIAA Guid. Nav. Contr. Conf.},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {AIAA--2012--5003--282},
- address = {Minneapolis, MN},
- month = aug,
- note = {AIAA-2012-5003-282}
- }
, - "Inertia-Free Attitude Control Laws Based on Rotation Matrices for Spacecraft with Torquers, Thrusters, and Wheels", Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control, October 2012, pp. 322-391.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{Weiss2012,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Cruz, G. and Agarwal, K. and Rahman, Y. and Medikeri, M. and Xie, A. and Camblor, M. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Bernstein, D. S.},
- title = {Inertia-Free Attitude Control Laws Based on Rotation Matrices for Spacecraft with Torquers, Thrusters, and Wheels},
- booktitle = {Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {322--391},
- address = {Haifa, Israel},
- month = oct
- }
, - "Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Feedback Control of Magnetically Actuated Spacecraft", AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2012, pp. AIAA-2012-5042-137.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{firmag,
- author = {Weiss, Avishai and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Bernstein, Dennis S.},
- title = {Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Feedback Control of Magnetically Actuated Spacecraft},
- booktitle = {AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {AIAA--2012--5042--137}
- }
, - "Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Feedback Control for Spacecraft Rendezvous Maneuvers on Elliptic Orbits", Proc. Conf. Dec. Contr, December 2012, pp. 1752 - 1757.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{forriccdc,
- author = {Weiss, Avishai and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Baldwin, Morgan and Erwin, R. Scott and Bernstein, Dennis S.},
- title = {Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Feedback Control for Spacecraft Rendezvous Maneuvers on Elliptic Orbits},
- booktitle = {Proc. Conf. Dec. Contr},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {1752 -- 1757},
- address = {Maui, HI},
- month = dec
- }
, - "Spacecraft Debris Avoidance using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets", Proceedings of AAS Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, 2012, pp. Paper AAS 12-250.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{ref:baldwin,
- author = {Baldwin, M. and Weiss, A. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Erwin, R. S.},
- title = {Spacecraft Debris Avoidance using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets},
- booktitle = {Proceedings of AAS Space Flight Mechanics Meeting},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {Paper AAS 12--250},
- address = {Charleston, South Carolina}
- }
, - "Spacecraft Constrained Maneuver Planning using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets", Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control, October 2012.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{ref:debrisBarSym,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Baldwin, M. and Erwin, R. S. and Kolmanovsky, I.},
- title = {Spacecraft Constrained Maneuver Planning using Positively Invariant Constraint Admissible Sets},
- booktitle = {Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control},
- year = 2012,
- address = {Haifa, Israel},
- month = oct
- }
, - "Model Predictive Control of Three Dimensional Spacecraft Relative Motion", Proceedings of the American Control Conference, June 2012, pp. 173-178.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weisserwin,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Baldwin, M. and Erwin, R. S.},
- title = {Model Predictive Control of Three Dimensional Spacecraft Relative Motion},
- booktitle = {Proceedings of the American Control Conference},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {173--178},
- address = {Montreal, Canada},
- month = jun
- }
, - "Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Output-Feedback Control of Linear Time-Varying Systems", Proc. Amer. Conf. Contr, June 2012, pp. 6708-6714.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weisskolmbern,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Bernstein, D. S.},
- title = {Forward-Integration Riccati-Based Output-Feedback Control of Linear Time-Varying Systems},
- booktitle = {Proc. Amer. Conf. Contr},
- year = 2012,
- pages = {6708--6714},
- address = {Montreal, Canada},
- month = jun
- }
, - "Reaction Wheel Parameter Identification and Control through Receding Horizon-Based Null Motion Excitation", Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control, October 2012.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weissreaction,
- author = {Weiss, Avishai and Leve, Frederick and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Jah, Moriba},
- title = {Reaction Wheel Parameter Identification and Control through Receding Horizon-Based Null Motion Excitation},
- booktitle = {Proc. Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack Memorial Symposium on Estimation, Navigation, and Spacecraft Control},
- year = 2012,
- address = {Haifa, Israel},
- month = oct
- }
, - "Inertia-Free Attitude Control of Spacecraft with Unknown Time-Varying Mass Distribution", Proc. 62nd IAC, October 2011, pp. IAC-11-C1.5.9.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{AviTVinertiaIAC2011,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Bernstein, D. S.},
- title = {Inertia-Free Attitude Control of Spacecraft with Unknown Time-Varying Mass Distribution},
- booktitle = {Proc. 62nd IAC},
- year = 2011,
- pages = {IAC--11--C1.5.9},
- address = {Cape Town, South Africa},
- month = oct,
- note = {IAC-11-C1.5.9}
- }
, - "Torque-saturated, inertia-free spacecraft attitude control", AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2011, pp. AIAA-2011-6507-816.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{cruz2011torque,
- author = {Cruz, Gerardo and Yang, Xuebo and Weiss, Avishai and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Bernstein, Dennis S.},
- title = {Torque-saturated, inertia-free spacecraft attitude control},
- booktitle = {AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference},
- year = 2011,
- pages = {AIAA--2011--6507--816}
- }
, - "Incorporating Risk into Control Design for Emergency Operation of Turbo-Fan Engines", Proc. AIAA Infotech@Aerospace, 2011, pp. AIAA-2011-1591.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weiss2011incorporating,
- author = {Weiss, Avishai and Kolmanovsky, Ilya and Merrill, Walter},
- title = {Incorporating Risk into Control Design for Emergency Operation of Turbo-Fan Engines},
- booktitle = {Proc. AIAA Infotech@Aerospace},
- year = 2011,
- pages = {AIAA--2011--1591}
- }
, - "Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control with Reaction-Wheel Actuation", AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, 2010, pp. AIAA-2010-8297.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{weiss,
- author = {Weiss, A. and Yang, X. and Kolmanovsky, I. and Bernstein, D. S.},
- title = {Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control with Reaction-Wheel Actuation},
- booktitle = {AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference},
- year = 2010,
- pages = {AIAA--2010--8297}
- }
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- "Inertia-Free Spacecraft Attitude Control Using Reaction Wheels", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 1425-1439, 2013.
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Videos
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MERL Issued Patents
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Title: "Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Coupled Celestial System"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano; Malladi, BharaniPrabha
Patent No.: 11,292,618
Issue Date: Apr 5, 2022 -
Title: "On-Orbit Additive Manufacturing of Parabolic Reflectors via Solar Photopolymerization"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Yerazunis, William S.; Cottrell, Richard
Patent No.: 11,155,723
Issue Date: Oct 26, 2021 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Lateral Motion of Vehicle"
Inventors: Berntorp, Karl; Weiss, Avishai; Danielson, Claus; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,994,729
Issue Date: May 4, 2021 -
Title: "System and Method for GNSS Ambiguity Resolution"
Inventors: Berntorp, Karl; Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,976,444
Issue Date: Apr 13, 2021 -
Title: "MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF SPACECRAFT"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Zlotnik, David; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,967,991
Issue Date: Apr 6, 2021 -
Title: "Model Predictive Control of Spacecraft"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano; Caverly, Ryan
Patent No.: 10,934,025
Issue Date: Mar 2, 2021 -
Title: "Systems and Methods for On-Orbit Fabrication of Structures by 3D Printing"
Inventors: Yerazunis, William S.; Weiss, Avishai; Wang, Bingnan
Patent No.: 10,906,290
Issue Date: Feb 2, 2021 -
Title: "Loose Optical Fiber Tethering Of Multiple Satellites"
Inventors: Parsons, Kieran; Weiss, Avishai; Orlik, Philip V.; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,892,826
Issue Date: Jan 12, 2021 -
Title: "MODEL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF SPACECRAFT"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Zlotnik, David; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,875,669
Issue Date: Dec 29, 2020 -
Title: "Concurrent Station Keeping, Attitude Control, and Momentum Management of Spacecraft"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano; Walsh, Alex
Patent No.: 10,180,686
Issue Date: Jan 15, 2019 -
Title: "Methods and Systems for Path Planning Using a Network of Safe-Sets"
Inventors: Danielson, Claus; Weiss, Avishai; Berntorp, Karl; Di Cairano, Stefano
Patent No.: 10,012,988
Issue Date: Jul 3, 2018 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vehicle using Neural Network"
Inventors: Berntorp, Karl; Liu, Ming-Yu; Weiss, Avishai
Patent No.: 9,989,964
Issue Date: Jun 5, 2018 -
Title: "Model Predictive Control with Uncertainties"
Inventors: Di Cairano, Stefano; Weiss, Avishai
Patent No.: 9,983,554
Issue Date: May 29, 2018 -
Title: "Model Predictive Control of Spacecraft"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano; Kalabic, Uros
Patent No.: 9,874,879
Issue Date: Jan 23, 2018 -
Title: "Model Predictive Control of Spacecraft"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Di Cairano, Stefano; Kalabic, Uros
Patent No.: 9,764,858
Issue Date: Sep 19, 2017
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Title: "Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Coupled Celestial System"