Jasmine Terrones

Jasmine Terrones is a graduate student in mechanical engineering investigating how Koopman operator theory enables the use of classical control methods for systems with contact dynamics, such as legged robots. Legged robots—whose governing equations switch depending on which legs touch the ground—resist traditional control approaches. Jasmine develops globally valid linear time-invariant models of these switched nonlinear dynamics, enabling rapid convex optimization through contact modes. She generates simulation data and derives equations of motion symbolically. Once a model is trained, Koopman model predictive control can actuate a legged robot without a predefined contact sequence and find novel control strategies whose benefits are only realized at future contact modes. As a MathWorks Fellow, Jasmine will extend Koopman modeling with uncertainty quantification to improve controller performance. She also plans to develop novel algorithms for handling stiff dynamics. These methods could enable safe and fast control in complex environments where traditional control techniques fundamentally break down.