Scott A. Bortoff
- Phone: 617-621-7533
- Email:
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Position:
Research / Technical Staff
Chief Scientist -
Education:
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992 -
Research Areas:
External Links:
Scott's Quick Links
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Biography
Scott's research interests are in applications of nonlinear and optimal control theory to motion control, path planning and process control problems. Before joining MERL in 2009, Scott led the Controls Group at the United Technology Research Center and previously was an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.
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MERL Publications
- , "A Dynamic Analysis of Refrigerant Mass in Vapor Compression Cycles", International Modelica Conference, September 2025.BibTeX TR2025-135 PDF
- @inproceedings{Bortoff2025sep,
- author = {Bortoff, Scott A. and Deshpande, Vedang M. and Laughman, Christopher R. and Qiao, Hongtao},
- title = {{A Dynamic Analysis of Refrigerant Mass in Vapor Compression Cycles}},
- booktitle = {International Modelica Conference},
- year = 2025,
- month = sep,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2025-135}
- }
- , "Robust Unfalsified Control of a Heat Pump", IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), August 2025.BibTeX TR2025-128 PDF
- @inproceedings{Bortoff2025aug,
- author = {Bortoff, Scott A. and Tsuji, Kosei},
- title = {{Robust Unfalsified Control of a Heat Pump}},
- booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA)},
- year = 2025,
- month = aug,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2025-128}
- }
- , "Time-Series Generative Networks for Synthesizing Realistic Scenarios in Occupant-Centric Building Simulation", Building Simulation, DOI: 10.1007/s12273-025-1260-8, April 2025.BibTeX TR2025-043 PDF
- @article{Chakrabarty2025apr,
- author = {Chakrabarty, Ankush and Vanfretti, Luigi and Wang, Ye and Mineyuki, Takuma and Zhan, Sicheng and Tang, Wei-Ting and Paulson, Joel A. and Deshpande, Vedang M. and Bortoff, Scott A. and Laughman, Christopher R.},
- title = {{Time-Series Generative Networks for Synthesizing Realistic Scenarios in Occupant-Centric Building Simulation}},
- journal = {Building Simulation},
- year = 2025,
- month = apr,
- doi = {10.1007/s12273-025-1260-8},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2025-043}
- }
- , "Fluid Property Functions in Polar and Parabolic Coordinates", American Modelica Conference, October 2024.BibTeX TR2024-144 PDF
- @inproceedings{Bortoff2024oct,
- author = {Bortoff, Scott A. and Laughman, Christopher R. and Deshpande, Vedang M. and Qiao, Hongtao},
- title = {{Fluid Property Functions in Polar and Parabolic Coordinates}},
- booktitle = {American Modelica Conference},
- year = 2024,
- month = oct,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-144}
- }
- , "Assessing Building Control Performance Using Physics-Based Simulation Models and Deep Generative Networks", IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA) 2024, DOI: 10.1109/CCTA60707.2024.10666585, August 2024.BibTeX TR2024-113 PDF
- @inproceedings{Chakrabarty2024aug,
- author = {Chakrabarty, Ankush and Vanfretti, Luigi and Bortoff, Scott A. and Deshpande, Vedang M. and Wang, Ye and Paulson, Joel A. and Zhan, Sicheng and Laughman, Christopher R.},
- title = {{Assessing Building Control Performance Using Physics-Based Simulation Models and Deep Generative Networks}},
- booktitle = {IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA) 2024},
- year = 2024,
- month = aug,
- doi = {10.1109/CCTA60707.2024.10666585},
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2024-113}
- }
- , "A Dynamic Analysis of Refrigerant Mass in Vapor Compression Cycles", International Modelica Conference, September 2025.
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Software & Data Downloads
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Videos
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MERL Issued Patents
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Title: "System and Method for Controlling a Motion of a Robot"
Inventors: Lin, Chungwei; Wang, Yebin; Quirynen, Rien; Jha, Devesh; Wang, Bingnan; Vetterling, William; Jain, Siddarth; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 12,257,718
Issue Date: Mar 25, 2025 -
Title: "System and Method for Calculation of Thermofluid Properties using Saturation Curve-Aligned Coordinates"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.; Qiao, Hongtao
Patent No.: 11,739,996
Issue Date: Aug 29, 2023 -
Title: "Controlling Vapor Compression System Using Probabilistic Surrogate Model"
Inventors: Chakrabarty, Ankush; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 11,573,023
Issue Date: Feb 7, 2023 -
Title: "Extremum Seeking Control with Stochastic Gradient Estimation"
Inventors: Chakrabarty, Ankush; Danielson, Claus; Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 11,467,544
Issue Date: Oct 11, 2022 -
Title: "System and Method for Power Optimizing Control of Multi-Zone Heat Pumps"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Burns, Daniel J; Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao
Patent No.: 10,895,412
Issue Date: Jan 19, 2021 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Refrigerant in Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,830,515
Issue Date: Nov 10, 2020 -
Title: "System and Method for Thermal Comfort Control"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 10,767,887
Issue Date: Sep 8, 2020 -
Title: "Motion Controller for Real-Time Continuous Curvature Path Planning"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Wang, Yebin; Dai, Jin
Patent No.: 10,591,915
Issue Date: Mar 17, 2020 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Daniel J; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,495,364
Issue Date: Dec 3, 2019 -
Title: "Control of Redundant Laser Processing Machines"
Inventors: Di Cairano, Stefano; Haghighat, Sohrab; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,307,863
Issue Date: Jun 4, 2019 -
Title: "Coordinated Operation of Multiple Space-Conditioning Systems"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Qiao, Hongtao; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 10,234,158
Issue Date: Mar 19, 2019 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Multi-Zone Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Daniel J; Di Cairano, Stefano; Bortoff, Scott A.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 10,174,957
Issue Date: Jan 8, 2019 -
Title: "Method and System for Controlling Angular Speeds of Motors in Speed Sensorless Induction Motors"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,985,563
Issue Date: May 29, 2018 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,915,456
Issue Date: Mar 13, 2018 -
Title: "Control of Processing Machines with Redundant Actuators"
Inventors: Di Cairano, Stefano; Goldsmith, Abraham M.; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,744,620
Issue Date: Aug 29, 2017 -
Title: "System and Method for Calibrating Laser Processing Machines"
Inventors: Goldsmith, Abraham M.; Bortoff, Scott A.; Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Sullivan, Alan; Yerazunis, William S.; Barnwell, John C.
Patent No.: 9,718,146
Issue Date: Aug 1, 2017 -
Title: "Method and System for Computing Reference Signals for Machines with Redundant Positioning"
Inventors: Haghighat, Sohrab; Di Cairano, Stefano; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,696,709
Issue Date: Jul 4, 2017 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling of Vapor Compression System"
Inventors: Burns, Dan; Jain, Neera; Laughman, Christopher; Di Cairano, Stefano; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,625,196
Issue Date: Apr 18, 2017 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Vapor Compression Systems"
Inventors: Burns, Dan; Laughman, Christopher; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,534,820
Issue Date: Jan 3, 2017 -
Title: "Motion-Control System for Performing Different Tasks"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Jiang, Yu; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,529,341
Issue Date: Dec 27, 2016 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Temperature and Humidity in Multiple Spaces using Liquid Desiccant"
Inventors: Laughman, Christopher; Burns, Daniel J; Bortoff, Scott A.; Waters, Richard C.
Patent No.: 9,518,765
Issue Date: Dec 13, 2016 -
Title: "Optimization of System Control Based on Solving Multi-Point Boundary Value Problems"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,378,469
Issue Date: Jun 28, 2016 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Redundant Actuators of a Machine"
Inventors: Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,261,872
Issue Date: Feb 16, 2016 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Semi-Active Actuators Arranged to Minimize Vibration in Elevator Systems"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,242,837
Issue Date: Jan 26, 2016 -
Title: "Determining Trajectories of Redundant Actuators Jointly Tracking Reference Trajectory"
Inventors: Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Brand, Matthew E.; Srikanth, Manohar; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,170,580
Issue Date: Oct 27, 2015 -
Title: "Elevator Rope Sway Estimation"
Inventors: Benosman, Mouhacine; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,096,411
Issue Date: Aug 4, 2015 -
Title: "Method for Determining Trajectory of Multi-Motor Control System Avoiding Obstacle"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Yu, Han; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,076,337
Issue Date: Jul 7, 2015 -
Title: "Elevator Rope Sway Estimation"
Inventors: Benosman, Mouhacine; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 9,045,313
Issue Date: Jun 2, 2015 -
Title: "Cabling Configuration for Railless Elevators"
Inventors: Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Yerazunis, William S.; Barnwell, III, John C.; Bortoff, Scott A.; Katz, Joseph
Patent No.: 8,978,831
Issue Date: Mar 17, 2015 -
Title: "Laser Cutting Machine"
Inventors: Yerazunis, William S.; Barnwell, III, John C.; Bortoff, Scott A.; Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Goldsmith, Abraham M.
Patent No.: 8,921,734
Issue Date: Dec 30, 2014 -
Title: "Controller for Reducing Vibrations in Mechanical Systems"
Inventors: Benosman, Mouhacine; Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 8,855,826
Issue Date: Oct 7, 2014 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Semi-Active Actuators Arranged to Minimize Vibration in Elevator Systems"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 8,849,465
Issue Date: Sep 30, 2014 -
Title: "An Energy Efficient Motion Control System"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Koichiro, Ueda; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 8,816,627
Issue Date: Aug 26, 2014 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Semi-Active Actuators"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 8,768,522
Issue Date: Jul 1, 2014 -
Title: "Method for Generating Trajectories for Motor Controlled Actuators"
Inventors: Wang, Yebin; Bortoff, Scott A.; Zhao, Yiming
Patent No.: 8,700,190
Issue Date: Apr 15, 2014 -
Title: "System and Method for Controlling Operations of Vapor Compression"
Inventors: Bortoff, Scott A.; Burns, Dan J.; Laughman, Christopher
Patent No.: 8,694,131
Issue Date: Apr 8, 2014 -
Title: "Base Vibration Attenuation and Load Tracking in Mechanical System"
Inventors: Shilpiekandula, Vijay; Bortoff, Scott A.
Patent No.: 8,513,906
Issue Date: Aug 20, 2013
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Title: "System and Method for Controlling a Motion of a Robot"
