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About

Kerim Yunt’s research lies at the intersection of optimal control, hybrid mechanical systems, and robotics, with a particular focus on trajectory optimization for complex, structure-variant systems. His work addresses the challenging problem of determining optimal motions for systems that can change their mechanical configuration—such as robots with impactively blockable degrees of freedom or hybrid rigid-body mechanisms. Yunt’s major contributions include the development of a combined continuation and penalty method for solving optimal hybrid mechanical trajectories, a technique that has garnered 13 citations and remains a reference for researchers tackling mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPEC). In his 2007 study on underactuated manipulators, he derived necessary conditions for impulsive time-optimal control using subdifferential calculus and Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle, offering a rigorous framework for controlling robots with sudden mechanical changes. His 2014 report on time-optimal trajectories for differential drive robots further extends these methods to non-holonomic systems. With over 30 total citations across his core papers, Yunt’s work provides foundational tools for engineers designing agile, hybrid robots and for theorists exploring optimal control in nonsmooth mechanical systems.