Plamen Petrov

About

Plamen Petrov is a control systems researcher whose work sits at the intersection of autonomous vehicles, mobile robotics, and nonlinear adaptive control theory. Over nearly two decades of scholarship, he has made sustained contributions to some of the most technically demanding problems in robotic motion control, including autonomous overtaking maneuvers, vehicle convoy coordination, and trajectory tracking for nonholonomic systems. His most influential work, "Modeling and Nonlinear Adaptive Control for Autonomous Vehicle Overtaking" (2014), has accumulated 189 citations and remains a landmark contribution to autonomous driving research. By developing a feedback controller capable of executing three-phase overtaking without reliance on roadway markings or inter-vehicle communication, Petrov addressed a genuinely difficult real-world challenge with elegant mathematical rigor. Beyond autonomous vehicles, Petrov has explored backward path control for articulated mobile robots with off-axle hitching, adaptive velocity control for differential drive platforms, and distance-only measurement-based path tracking — demonstrating a breadth of expertise that spans both wheeled and legged robotic systems. His 2008 work on hexapod target tracking further illustrates his versatility. With continued output through 2024, including exponential trajectory tracking methods, Petrov remains an active and relevant voice in the autonomous systems research community.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Modeling and Nonlinear Adaptive Control for Autonomous Vehicle Overtaking

   189 citations · 2014
2. 2
   A Mathematical Model for Control of an Autonomous Vehicle Convoy

   20 citations · 2008
3. 3
   Nonlinear backward tracking control of an articulated mobile robot with off-axle hitching

   16 citations · 2010
4. 4
   Exponential Trajectory Tracking Control of Nonholonomic Wheeled Mobile Robots

   12 citations · 2024
5. 5
   Nonlinear Adaptive Control of a Two-Vehicle Convoy

   12 citations · 2009
6. 6
   Adaptive Velocity Control for a Differential Drive Mobile Robot

   11 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Modeling and adaptive path control of a differential drive mobile robot

   8 citations · 2010
8. 8
   Active target tracking from a six-legged robot

   7 citations · 2008
9. 9
   Nonlinear adaptive control of a two-vehicle autonomous convoy using a look-ahead approach

   6 citations · 2008
10. 10
    A look-ahead approach to mobile robot path tracking based on distance-only measurements

    5 citations · 2019

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links