Faculty Directory

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
The Institute for Systems Research
2104A Glenn L. Martin Hall, Building 088

Yancy Diaz-Mercado earned his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016, and his M.S. from the same institution in 2014. He graduated magna cum laude in 2011 with a B.S. from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He is the director of the Collaborative Controls and Robotics Laboratory, whose research focus is on developing collaborative autonomy for multi-agent systems, robotics, and enabling human-swarm interactions.
 
Before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland College Park as an assistant professor in 2018, Dr. Diaz was a senior professional engineer with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and a member of the Advanced Concepts section within the Guidance, Navigation, and Controls group.
 

Dr. Diaz is interested in the control and coordination of multi-agent systems using control theory, optimization, and graph theory. In particular, he is interested in developing theoretically-sound, scalable control solutions that enable effective control of large-scale networked systems, and applying these to facilitate robot swarm manipulation.

 


IEEE Spectrum Spotlight

Your finger on a tablet can control entire swarms of robots.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/georgia-tech-robot-swarm-control

Science Magazine Spotlight

How to control a robot fleet using a smart tablet.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/05/watch-how-control-robot-fleet-using-smart-tablet

WSB-TV (Channel 2 Action News) Interview with Craig Lucie

Georgia tech project could change how rescuers respond to disasters.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/georgia- tech- project- could-change-how-rescuers-res/nmXNC/

Georgia Tech News.

Controlling swarms of robots with a finger.

http://www.news.gatech.edu/2015/05/12/controlling-swarms-robots-finger

Fox News.

Want to control a swarm of robots? Georgia tech has the answer.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/05/12/want-to-control-swarm-robots-georgia-tech-has-answer.html

UPI.

Watch a simple tablet control robot swarm.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/05/12/Watch-a-simple-tablet-control-robot-swarm/7491431455304/

Tech Times.

Control your own robot army with the tip of your finger.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/52512/20150512/control-your-own-robot-armywith-the-tip-of-your-finger.htm

Tech Crunch.

Swarming robots can now follow your fingertips.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/13/swarming-robots-can-now-follow-your-fingertips/

NH Voice.

Researchers program robots to respond to commands issued through tablet device.

http://nhv.us/content/15052449-researchers-program-robots-respond-commands-issued-through

Perfect Science.

Engineers program army of robots to respond to commands issued through tablet.

http://perfscience.com/content/2141778-engineers-program-army-robots-respond-commands-issued-through-tablet

Spring 2020

ENME 462: Vibrations, Controls, and Optimization II

Fall 2019

ENME 808T: Advaced Topics: Network Control Systems

Spring 2019

ENME 361: Vibrations, Controls, and Optimization I

Fall 2018

ENME 462: Vibrations, Controls, and Optimization II

 

PhD Thesis

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Interactions in Multi-Robot Systems

Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016.

Book Chapters

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Lee, Sung G; Egerstedt, Magnus

Human-Swarm Interactions via Coverage of Time-Varying Densities

Wang, Yue; Zhang, Fumin (Ed.): Trends in Control and Decision-Making for Human-Robot Collaboration Systems, Chapter 15, Springer, 2017.

 

Journal Articles

6.

Mair, L O; Liu, X; Dandamudi, B; Jain, K; Chowdhury, S; Weed, J; Diaz-Mercado, Y; Weinberg, I N; Krieger, A

MagnetoSuture: Tetherless Manipulation of Suture Needles

IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 2 (2), pp. 206-215, 2020.

5.

Davydov, Alexander ; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Sparsity Structure and Optimality of Multi-Robot Coverage Control

IEEE Control Systems Letters, 4 (1), pp. 13-18, 2020.

4.

Santos, Maria; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Egerstedt, Magnus

Coverage Control for Multirobot Teams With Heterogeneous Sensing Capabilities

Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), IEEE, 3 (2), pp. 919-925, 2018.

3.

Rivera-Ortiz, Phillip; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

On Guaranteed Capture in Multi-Player Reach-Avoid Games via Coverage Control

Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), IEEE, 2 (4), pp. 767-772, 2018, ISSN: 2475-1456.

2.

Diaz-Mercado, Y; Egerstedt, M

Multirobot Mixing via Braid Groups

Robotics, IEEE Transactions on, PP (99), pp. 1-11, 2017, ISSN: 1552-3098.

1.

Lee, Sung G; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Egerstedt, Magnus

Multi-Robot Control Using Time-Varying Density Functions

Robotics, IEEE Transactions on, 31 (2), pp. 489-493, 2015, ISSN: 1552-3098.

Conference Proceedings

16.

Fan, Matthew; Liu, Xiaolong; Jain, Kamakshi; Lerner, Daniel; Weinberg, Irving N; Mair, Lamar O; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Krieger, Axel

Towards Autonomous Control of Magnetic Suture Needles

Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE International Conference on, Forthcoming, ((Under Review)).

 

15.

Davydov, Alexander ; Yeo, Derrick; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Low-Mobility Atmospheric Sensing via Multi-Vehicle Adaptive Coverage Control

2020 AIAA AVIATION Forum, 2020.

14.

Xu, Xiaotian; Rodríguez-Seda, Erick J; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Persistent Awareness-Based Multi-Robot Coverage Control

Forthcoming, ((Under Review)).

 

13.

Rodríguez-Seda, Erick J; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Decentralized Persistent Area Coverage Control with Loss of Awareness

Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), IEEE Conference on, Forthcoming, ((To Appear)).

 

12.

Rivera-Ortiz, Phillip; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Kobilarov, Marin

Multi-Player Pursuer Coordination for Nonlinear Reach-Avoid Games in Arbitrary Dimensions via Coverage Control

2020 American Controls Conference (ACC), Forthcoming, ((To Appear)).

 

11.

Xu, Xiaotian; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Multi-Robot Control Using Coverage Over Time-Varying Domains

2020 American Controls Conference (ACC), Forthcoming, ((To Appear, Keynote Presentation)).

 

10.

Xu, Xiaotian; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Multi-Robot Control Using Coverage Over Time-Varying Non-Convex Domains

2020 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Forthcoming, ((To Appear)).

 

9.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Jones, Austin; Egerstedt, Magnus; Belta, Calin

Correct-by-Construction Synthesis for Multi-Robot Mixing

Decision and Control (CDC), IEEE 54nd Annual Conference on, 2015.

8.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Lee, Sung G; Egerstedt, Magnus

Distributed Dynamic Density Coverage for Human-Swarm Interactions

American Control Conference (ACC), pp. 353-358, 2015.

7.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Egerstedt, Magnus

Multi-Robot Mixing of Nonholonomic Mobile Robots

Control Applications (CCA), IEEE Conference on, pp. 524-529, 2014.

6.

Lu, Jun; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Egerstedt, Magnus; Zhou, Haomin; Chow, Shui-Nee

Shortest Paths Through 3-Dimensional Cluttered Environments

Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE International Conference on, pp. 6579-6585, 2014.

5.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Egerstedt, Magnus

Multi-Robot Mixing Using Braids

Decision and Control (CDC), IEEE 52nd Annual Conference on, pp. 2001-2005, 2013, ISSN: 0743-1546.

4.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Lee, Sung G; Egerstedt, Magnus; Young, Shih-Yih

Optimal trajectory generation for next generation flight management systems

Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), IEEE/AIAA 32nd, pp. 3C5-1-3C5-10, 2013, ISSN: 2155-7195.

3.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Pabon, Jose; Ortiz-Rivera, Eduardo

Voltage regulation for a thermoelectric generator using a KY-converter

Center for Power Electronic Systems Annual Conference (CPES), 2011.

 

2.

Garcia-Vergara, Sergio; Pabon, Jose; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Ortiz-Rivera, Eduardo

An integrated undergraduate research experience in control, power electronics, and design using a Micromouse

Frontiers in Education, IEEE, 2010.

 

1.

Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Garcia-Vergara, Sergio; Pabon, Jose; Ortiz-Rivera, Eduardo

Maximum power control based on matching dc motor dynamics and fuel cell dynamic behavior

Center for Power Electronic Systems Annual Conference (CPES), 2010.

 

Online Abstracts

3.

Caminita, Mia; Honavar, Sara; Kwon, Hyun Joon; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Hahn, Jin-Oh; Kiemel, Tim; Shim, Jae Kun

Interpersonal and interlimb synergies in handling of a heavy object motor task

01.08.2020, (Under Review).

 

2.

Xu, Xiaotian; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Multi-Robot Control Using Coverage Over Time-Varying Domains: Extended Abstract

01.01.2019.

 

1.

Canal, Gregory; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Rozell, Christopher; Egerstedt, Magnus

Controlling High-Complexity Robotic Swarms with Low-Complexity EEG Brain-Machine Interfaces

Washington, DC, 01.01.2017, (Program No. 147.38).

 

Intellectual Property

2.

Egerstedt, Magnus; Lee, Sung Gun; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy; Chopra, Smriti

Control of Swarming Robots

2015, (US Patent).

1.

Egerstedt, Magnus; Lee, Sung G; Diaz-Mercado, Yancy

Density-Based Manipulation of Teams of Robots

2014, (US Provisional Patent).

 

Three Ph.D. students awarded Amazon Lab126 Fellowships

Sydrak Abdi, Sara Honarvar and Pedro Sandoval-Segura are the Fellowship recipients.

Sara Honarvar Awarded Amazon Lab126 Fellowship for Second Year

Landmark scholarship program aims to foster diversity in the robotics field.

$100,000 investment from Amazon to power Clark School initiatives in diversity, robotics research and education

Beneficiaries include two Ph.D. fellowships in robotics, the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering, a robotics capstone course, the Black Engineers Society and the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers.