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Lab Director / Car-Lord

J. Christian Gerdes

Lab Director / Car-Lord

Chris Gerdes is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and Director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS). His laboratory studies how cars move, how humans drive cars and how to design future cars that work cooperatively with the driver or drive themselves. When not teaching on campus, he can often be found at the racetrack with students, instrumenting race cars or trying out their latest prototypes for the future. Professor Gerdes and his team have been recognized with a number of awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Ralph Teetor award from SAE International and the Rudolf Kalman Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Industry Experience

Daimler-Benz Research and Technology North America, Senior Research Engineer (1996-1998) Peloton Technology, Founder and Principal Scientist (2011-2016). Board Member (2017-present)

Government Experience

United States Department of Transportation, Chief Innovation Officer (2016-2017)

Publications

Towards Automated Vehicle Control Beyond the Stability Limits: Drifting Along a General Path

From the Racetrack to the Road: Real-time Trajectory Replanning for Autonomous Driving

A Controller for Automated Drifting Along Complex Trajectories

Speed Control for Robust Path-Tracking for Automated Vehicles at the Tire-Road Friction Limit

Tire Modeling to Enable Model Predictive Control of Automated Vehicles From Standstill to the Limits of Handling

Vehicle control synthesis using phase portraits of planar dynamics

Mind Over Motor Mapping: Driver response to changing vehicle dynamics

Value Sensitive Design for Autonomous Vehicle Motion Planning

Neural, physiological, and behavioral correlates of visuomotor cognitive load using functional NIRS

Path-Tracking for Autonomous Vehicles at the Limit of Friction

A Synthetic Input Approach to Slip Angle Based Steering Control for Autonomous Vehicles

Insights into vehicle trajectories at the handling limits: analysing open data from race car drivers

Motor learning affects car-to-driver handover in automated vehicles

Incorporating Ethical Considerations Into Automated Vehicle Control

Simultaneous Stabilization and Tracking of Basic Automobile Drifting Trajectories

A Sequential Two-Step Algorithm for Fast Generation of Vehicle Racing Trajectories

Prescriptive and proscriptive moral regulation for autonomous vehicles in approach and avoidance

Implementable Ethics for Autonomous Vehicles (2016)

Safe driving envelopes for path tracking in autonomous vehicles

Design of Variable Vehicle Handling Characteristics Using Four-Wheel Steer-by-Wire

Design of a Feedback-Feedforward Steering Controller for Accurate Path Tracking and Stability at the Limits of Handling

A Sequential Two-step Algorithm for Fast Generation of Vehicle Racing Trajectories

Path Tracking of Highly Dynamic Autonomous Vehicle Trajectories via Iterative Learning Control

Autonomous Vehicle Control for Emergency Maneuvers: The Effect of Topography

Creating Predictive Haptic Feedback For Obstacle Avoidance Using a Model Predictive Control (MPC) Framework

Optimal tire force allocation for trajectory tracking with an over-actuated vehicle

Implementable Ethics for Autonomous Vehicles (2015)

An Analytical Method for Reducing Combustion Instability in Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engines Through Cycle-to-Cycle Control

The virtual wheel concept for supportive steering feedback during active steering interventions

An autonomous lanekeeping system for vehicle path tracking and stability at the limits of handling

A Controller Framework for Autonomous Drifting: Design, Stability, and Experimental Validation

Designing Steering Feel for Steer-by-Wire Vehicles Using Objective Measures

Incorporating non-linear tire dynamics into a convex approach to shared steering control

Low friction emulation of lateral vehicle dynamics using four-wheel steer-by-wire

Hybrid Model Predictive Control of Exhaust Recompression HCCI

Education

BSE, University of Pennsylvania, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (1990)
BSEcon, University of Pennsylvania, concentration in Entrepreneurial Management (1990)
MSE, University of Pennsylvania, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (1992)
PhD, University of California at Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering (1996)