The Research Center for Systems and Technologies (SYSTEC) sets forth the following key goals:

• Undertake fundamental and applied research and development in systems, control, optimization, estimation, robotics, and their articulation in cyberphysical architectures for networked vehicles and systems, power management, with emphasis in the network integration of renewables and electrical mobility, and advanced production systems, anchored essentially in the core scientific areas of electrical engineering, applied mathematics, and computation sciences (including “data science”). The developments target not only the scientific impact but also the multiple societal challenges in the academic, nature and environment, industry, services, and entrepreneurship.
• Contribute to the valorization and transfer of the generated knowledge and products to society.

SYSTEC is hosted at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade, Universidade do Porto (FEUP) and in the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR). Supported by FEUP in what concerns infrastructures, human (administrative and scientific) resources, and its vast collaborative research network, and by ISR I what concerns the networks of stakeholders, and of institutions addressing the societal challenges, SYSTEC advances its R&D and Innovation agenda to promote: (i) academic excellence, (ii) worldwide networking with institutions and researchers with opportune scientific affinities to ensure the critical mass, (iii) interaction with end-users and stakeholders to promote the tuning with challenge-driven innovation dynamics, (iv) emergence of actors relevant to the evolution of paradigms for the societal impact of science and technology, as well as (iv) integration with advanced formation activities.

To efficiently achieve its goals, SYSTEC is organized in order to stimulate the dialog with stakeholders and endusers by considering the evolving societal challenges in four Intervention Vectors:

• CONTROL: Networked Robotic Vehicles and Systems Technologies. While focused on providing fundamental results on optimal control theory, optimization-based control, application driven control strategies, modeling and estimation, large scale, distributed, and structured systems, the scientific challenges are inspired by challenges from application domains. Another important role is to develop dedicated stand-alone estimation, optimization and control algorithms and prototypes for a wide range of applications, and environments providing not only methods and tools for the other Intervention Vectors, but also in other application fields, of which health care, and agriculture should be emphasized.
• NET: Networked Robotic Vehicles and Systems Technologies. Being highly interdisciplinary – since it combines and exploits key developments in systems and control theory, optimization and optimal control, hybrid systems, verification and reachability, networked control systems, mobile robotics, and computational architectures for consistent information flow and deliberative capabilities – it has the goal of developing, promoting and transferring advanced engineering systems and technologies, with special focus on networked operations of multiple (remotely operated, and autonomous) aerial, surface and underwater robotic vehicles.
• ENERGY: Smart Energy Systems and Technologies. It addresses challenges arising in the emerging concepts and technologies encompassing new renewable generation systems, new electric traction systems, distributed and smart energy systems, incorporating electronic and advanced processing technologies into all energy systems in order to benefit of any primary renewable power source and optimize societal utilization of energy.
• MANUFACTURING: Cyber-Physical Systems for Manufacturing. It is centered in the design, implementation and validation of smart components for advanced manufacturing system that introduce intelligence in industrial processes and contribute to the emergence of the factories of the future, by implementing novel approaches related with cyber-physical Production Systems.

It should be emphasized that, along the Intervention Vectors, challenges from real-world are extracted and give rise to the formulation pertinent scientific and technological research challenges. This bidirectional interaction - (i) research excellence at the service of real-world problems, and (ii) real-world challenges inspiring breakthroughs in fundamental research - promotes the regional smart specialization agenda through cooperation between and companies, particularly SMEs and other societal organizations.

This structure is designed to promote the progress towards a unifying long term vision in which theoretical developments will evolve in such a way as to match the complex requirements of the emerging challenges inherent to the complexity of the real-world systems, notably, the various classes of complex, large scale and structured networked systems.

E-mail:               systec@fe.up.pt

Telephone:          351 22 508 1857 / 22 041 3211

Address:             FEUP, DEEC, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n

Zip code:            4200-465

Location:            Porto