Purnanand Elango
- Phone: 617-621-7526
- Email:
-
Position:
Research / Technical Staff
Research Scientist -
Education:
Ph.D., University of Washington, 2024 -
Research Areas:
External Links:
Purnanand's Quick Links
-
Biography
Purnanand's research interest is in optimization algorithms for trajectory generation, sensing, and feedback control, with applications to space vehicles and robotic platforms. His doctoral research centered on developing trajectory optimization algorithms that ensure resilience, real-time capability, and convergence guarantees. Purnanand holds a B.Tech and an M.Tech in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
-
Recent News & Events
-
NEWS MERL researchers present 3 papers at AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 Date: January 12, 2026 - January 16, 2026
Where: Orlando, Florida
MERL Contacts: Stefano Di Cairano; Purnanand Elango; Kento Tomita; Abraham P. Vinod; Avishai Weiss
Research Areas: Control, Dynamical Systems, OptimizationBrief- MERL researchers presented 3 papers at the recently concluded AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 in Orlando, Florida. The AIAA SciTech Forum is the flagship conference (more than 6,000 from 48 countries) of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the world's largest professional technical society dedicated to aerospace.
The papers presented by MERL researchers covered 1) a powered descent decision making approach to maximize the probability of safe landing, 2) a set-based robust, optimal, and resilient control architecture for autonomous precision landing, and 3) a continuous-time safe control policy for passively-safe spacecraft rendezvous on a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit using successive convexification.
- MERL researchers presented 3 papers at the recently concluded AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 in Orlando, Florida. The AIAA SciTech Forum is the flagship conference (more than 6,000 from 48 countries) of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the world's largest professional technical society dedicated to aerospace.
-
NEWS MERL researchers present 13 papers at ACC 2025 Date: July 8, 2025 - July 10, 2025
Where: Denver, USA
MERL Contacts: Vedang M. Deshpande; Stefano Di Cairano; Purnanand Elango; Jordan Leung; Saviz Mowlavi; Diego Romeres; Abraham P. Vinod; Yebin Wang; Avishai Weiss
Research Areas: Control, Dynamical Systems, Electric Systems, Machine Learning, Multi-Physical Modeling, RoboticsBrief- MERL researchers presented 13 papers at the recently concluded American Control Conference (ACC) 2025 in Denver, USA. The papers covered a wide range of topics including Bayesian optimization for personalized medicine, machine learning for battery performance in eVTOLs, model predictive control for space and building systems, process systems engineering for sustainability, GNSS-RTK optimization, convex set manipulation, PDE control, servo system modeling, battery fault diagnosis, truck fleet coordination, interactive motion planning, and satellite station keeping. Additionally, MERL researchers (Vedang Deshpande and Ankush Chakrabarty) organized an invited session on design and optimization of energy systems.
As a sponsor of the conference, MERL maintained a booth for open discussions with researchers and students, and hosted a special session to discuss highlights of MERL research and work philosophy.
- MERL researchers presented 13 papers at the recently concluded American Control Conference (ACC) 2025 in Denver, USA. The papers covered a wide range of topics including Bayesian optimization for personalized medicine, machine learning for battery performance in eVTOLs, model predictive control for space and building systems, process systems engineering for sustainability, GNSS-RTK optimization, convex set manipulation, PDE control, servo system modeling, battery fault diagnosis, truck fleet coordination, interactive motion planning, and satellite station keeping. Additionally, MERL researchers (Vedang Deshpande and Ankush Chakrabarty) organized an invited session on design and optimization of energy systems.
-
-
MERL Publications
- , "Continuous-Time Successive Convexification for Passively-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit", AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, January 2026.BibTeX TR2026-016 PDF
- @inproceedings{Elango2026jan,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Vinod, Abraham P. and Kitamura, Kenji and Acikmese, Behcet and {Di Cairano}, Stefano and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {{Continuous-Time Successive Convexification for Passively-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit}},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech Forum 2026},
- year = 2026,
- month = jan,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2026-016}
- }
- , "Powered Descent Decision Making: A Reachability-Steering Approach", AIAA SciTech Forum, January 2026.BibTeX TR2026-014 PDF
- @inproceedings{Kento2026jan,
- author = {Kento, Tomita and Elango, Purnanand and Vinod, Abraham P. and {Di Cairano}, Stefano and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {{Powered Descent Decision Making: A Reachability-Steering Approach}},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech Forum},
- year = 2026,
- month = jan,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2026-014}
- }
- , "Robust Optimal Control for Autonomous Precision Landing via Set-based Dynamic Programming", AIAA SciTech Forum, January 2026.BibTeX TR2026-015 PDF
- @inproceedings{Kamath2026jan,
- author = {Kamath, Abhinav and Vinod, Abraham P. and Elango, Purnanand and {Di Cairano}, Stefano and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {{Robust Optimal Control for Autonomous Precision Landing via Set-based Dynamic Programming}},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech Forum},
- year = 2026,
- month = jan,
- url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2026-015}
- }
- , "Set-based Optimal, Robust, and Resilient Control with Applications to Autonomous Precision Landing", arXiv, December 2025.BibTeX arXiv
- @article{Kamath2025dec,
- author = {Kamath, Abhinav G. and Vinod, Abraham P. and Elango, Purnanand and {Di Cairano}, Stefano and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {{Set-based Optimal, Robust, and Resilient Control with Applications to Autonomous Precision Landing}},
- journal = {arXiv},
- year = 2025,
- month = dec,
- url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.07043}
- }
- , "Successive Convexification for Passively-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit", arXiv, May 2025.BibTeX arXiv
- @article{Elango2025may,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Vinod, Abraham P. and Kitamura, Kenji and Açıkmeşe, Behcet and {Di Cairano}, Stefano and Weiss, Avishai},
- title = {{Successive Convexification for Passively-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit}},
- journal = {arXiv},
- year = 2025,
- month = may,
- url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17251}
- }
- , "Continuous-Time Successive Convexification for Passively-Safe Spacecraft Rendezvous on a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit", AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, January 2026.
-
Other Publications
- , "Fast Monte Carlo Analysis For 6-DoF Powered-Descent Guidance via GPU-Accelerated Sequential Convex Programming", AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024, pp. 1762.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{chari2024fast,
- author = {Chari, Govind M and Kamath, Abhinav G and Elango, Purnanand and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Fast Monte Carlo Analysis For 6-DoF Powered-Descent Guidance via GPU-Accelerated Sequential Convex Programming},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum},
- year = 2024,
- pages = 1762
- }
- , "Successive Convexification for Trajectory Optimization with Continuous-Time Constraint Satisfaction", arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.16826, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{elango2024successive,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Luo, Dayou and Kamath, Abhinav G. and Uzun, Samet and Kim, Taewan and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et},
- title = {Successive Convexification for Trajectory Optimization with Continuous-Time Constraint Satisfaction},
- journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.16826},
- year = 2024
- }
- , "Joint Synthesis of Trajectory and Controlled Invariant Funnel for Discrete-time Systems with Locally Lipschitz Nonlinearities", International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 4157-4176, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{kim2024joint,
- author = {Kim, Taewan and Elango, Purnanand and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Joint Synthesis of Trajectory and Controlled Invariant Funnel for Discrete-time Systems with Locally Lipschitz Nonlinearities},
- journal = {International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control},
- year = 2024,
- volume = 34,
- number = 6,
- pages = {4157--4176},
- publisher = {Wiley}
- }
- , "Remarks on Successive Convexification: A Superlinearly Convergent Algorithm for Non-convex Optimal Control Problems""", arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.00733, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{luo2024remarks,
- author = {Luo, Dayou and Elango, Purnanand and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Remarks on Successive Convexification: A Superlinearly Convergent Algorithm for Non-convex Optimal Control Problems""},
- journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.00733},
- year = 2024
- }
- , "Autorotation-Based Descent with Trajectory Optimization", Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 25-42, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{patnala2024autorotation,
- author = {Patnala, Susmitha and Elango, Purnanand and Mohan, Ranjith and Shamrao},
- title = {Autorotation-Based Descent with Trajectory Optimization},
- journal = {Journal of Aircraft},
- year = 2024,
- volume = 61,
- number = 1,
- pages = {25--42},
- publisher = {American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}
- }
- , "Optimization with Temporal and Logical Specifications via Generalized Mean-based Smooth Robustness Measures", arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.10996, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{uzun2024optimization,
- author = {Uzun, Samet and Elango, Purnanand and Garoche, Pierre-Loic and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Optimization with Temporal and Logical Specifications via Generalized Mean-based Smooth Robustness Measures},
- journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.10996},
- year = 2024
- }
- , "Successive Convexification for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control with Continuous-Time Constraint Satisfaction", arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.00061, 2024.BibTeX
- @Article{uzun2024successive,
- author = {Uzun, Samet and Elango, Purnanand and Kamath, Abhinav G and Kim, Taewan and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Successive Convexification for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control with Continuous-Time Constraint Satisfaction},
- journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.00061},
- year = 2024
- }
- , "Proportional Integral Projected Gradient Method for Real-Time Optimal Control", SIAM Conference on Optimization (OP23), 2023, pp. 102.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{elango2023proportional,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Kamath, Abhinav and Yu, Yue and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Proportional Integral Projected Gradient Method for Real-Time Optimal Control},
- booktitle = {SIAM Conference on Optimization (OP23)},
- year = 2023,
- number = {MS111},
- pages = 102,
- organization = {https://www.siam.org/Portals/0/Conferences/OP/OP23\_ABSTRACTS.pdf}
- }
- , "Customized Real-Time First-Order Methods for Onboard Dual Quaternion-based 6-DoF Powered-Descent Guidance", AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum, 2023, pp. 2003.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{kamath2023customized,
- author = {Kamath, Abhinav G and Elango, Purnanand and Mceowen, Skye and Yu, Yue and Carson, John M and Mesbahi, Mehran and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Customized Real-Time First-Order Methods for Onboard Dual Quaternion-based 6-DoF Powered-Descent Guidance},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum},
- year = 2023,
- pages = 2003
- }
- , "Real-Time Sequential Conic Optimization for Multi-Phase Rocket Landing Guidance", IFAC-PapersOnLine, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 3118-3125, 2023.BibTeX
- @Article{kamath2023real,
- author = {Kamath, Abhinav G and Elango, Purnanand and Yu, Yue and Mceowen, Skye and Chari, Govind M and Carson III, John M and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et},
- title = {Real-Time Sequential Conic Optimization for Multi-Phase Rocket Landing Guidance},
- journal = {IFAC-PapersOnLine},
- year = 2023,
- volume = 56,
- number = 2,
- pages = {3118--3125},
- publisher = {Elsevier}
- }
- , "Optimization-based Constrained Funnel Synthesis for Systems with Lipschitz Nonlinearities via Numerical Optimal Control", IEEE Control Systems Letters, Vol. 7, pp. 2875-2880, 2023.BibTeX
- @Article{kim2023optimization,
- author = {Kim, Taewan and Elango, Purnanand and Reynolds, Taylor P and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et and Mesbahi, Mehran},
- title = {Optimization-based Constrained Funnel Synthesis for Systems with Lipschitz Nonlinearities via Numerical Optimal Control},
- journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters},
- year = 2023,
- volume = 7,
- pages = {2875--2880},
- publisher = {IEEE}
- }
- , "High-Accuracy 3-DoF Hypersonic Reentry Guidance via Sequential Convex Programming", AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum, 2023, pp. 0300.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{mceowen2023high,
- author = {Mceowen, Skye and Kamath, Abhinav G and Elango, Purnanand and Kim, Taewan and Buckner, Sam and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {High-Accuracy 3-DoF Hypersonic Reentry Guidance via Sequential Convex Programming},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2023 Forum},
- year = 2023,
- pages = 0300
- }
- , "A Customized First-Order Solver for Real-Time Powered-Descent Guidance", AIAA SciTech 2022 Forum, 2022.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{elango2022customized,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Kamath, Abhinav G. and Yu, Yue and Acikmese, Behcet and Mesbahi, Mehran and Carson, John M},
- title = {A Customized First-Order Solver for Real-Time Powered-Descent Guidance},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2022 Forum},
- year = 2022,
- organization = {American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}
- }
- , "Deferring Decision in Multi-target Trajectory Optimization", AIAA SciTech 2022 Forum, 2022, pp. 1583.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{elango2022deferring,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Sarsilmaz, Selahattin Burak and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Deferring Decision in Multi-target Trajectory Optimization},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2022 Forum},
- year = 2022,
- pages = 1583
- }
- , "Guided Policy Search using Sequential Convex Programming for Initialization of Trajectory Optimization Algorithms", 2022 American Control Conference (ACC), 2022, pp. 3572-3578.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{kim2022guided,
- author = {Kim, Taewan and Elango, Purnanand and Malyuta, Danylo and Acikmese, Behcet},
- title = {Guided Policy Search using Sequential Convex Programming for Initialization of Trajectory Optimization Algorithms},
- booktitle = {2022 American Control Conference (ACC)},
- year = 2022,
- pages = {3572--3578}
- }
- , "Extrapolated Proportional-Integral Projected Gradient Method for Conic Optimization", IEEE Control Systems Letters, Vol. 7, pp. 73-78, 2022.BibTeX
- @Article{yu2022extrapolated,
- author = {Yu, Yue and Elango, Purnanand and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et and Topcu, Ufuk},
- title = {Extrapolated Proportional-Integral Projected Gradient Method for Conic Optimization},
- journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters},
- year = 2022,
- volume = 7,
- pages = {73--78},
- publisher = {IEEE}
- }
- , "Proportional--integral projected gradient method for conic optimization", Automatica, Vol. 142, pp. 110359, 2022.BibTeX
- @Article{yu2022proportional,
- author = {Yu, Yue and Elango, Purnanand and Topcu, Ufuk and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et},
- title = {Proportional--integral projected gradient method for conic optimization},
- journal = {Automatica},
- year = 2022,
- volume = 142,
- pages = 110359,
- publisher = {Pergamon}
- }
- , "Advances in trajectory optimization for space vehicle control", Annual Reviews in Control, Vol. 52, pp. 282-315, 2021.BibTeX
- @Article{malyuta2021advances,
- author = {Malyuta, Danylo and Yu, Yue and Elango, Purnanand and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et},
- title = {Advances in trajectory optimization for space vehicle control},
- journal = {Annual Reviews in Control},
- year = 2021,
- volume = 52,
- pages = {282--315},
- publisher = {Pergamon}
- }
- , "Fourier Pseudospectral Method for Trajectory Optimization with Stability Requirements", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 43, No. 11, pp. 2073-2090, 2020.BibTeX
- @Article{laad2020fourier,
- author = {Laad, Dhruv and Elango, Purnanand and Mohan, Ranjith},
- title = {Fourier Pseudospectral Method for Trajectory Optimization with Stability Requirements},
- journal = {Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics},
- year = 2020,
- volume = 43,
- number = 11,
- pages = {2073--2090},
- publisher = {American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}
- }
- , "Proportional-integral projected gradient method for model predictive control", IEEE Control Systems Letters, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 2174-2179, 2020.BibTeX
- @Article{yu2020proportional,
- author = {Yu, Yue and Elango, Purnanand and A{\c{c}}{\i}kme{\c{s}}e, Beh{\c{c}}et},
- title = {Proportional-integral projected gradient method for model predictive control},
- journal = {IEEE Control Systems Letters},
- year = 2020,
- volume = 5,
- number = 6,
- pages = {2174--2179},
- publisher = {IEEE}
- }
- , "Periodic Flight of Rotorcraft within Thermal Columns", AIAA SciTech 2019 Forum, 2019.BibTeX
- @Inproceedings{elango2019periodic,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Mohan, Ranjith},
- title = {Periodic Flight of Rotorcraft within Thermal Columns},
- booktitle = {AIAA SciTech 2019 Forum},
- year = 2019,
- organization = {American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics}
- }
- , "Trajectory optimisation of six degree of freedom aircraft using differential flatness", The Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 122, No. 1257, pp. 1788-1810, 2018.BibTeX
- @Article{elango2018trajectory,
- author = {Elango, Purnanand and Mohan, Ranjith},
- title = {Trajectory optimisation of six degree of freedom aircraft using differential flatness},
- journal = {The Aeronautical Journal},
- year = 2018,
- volume = 122,
- number = 1257,
- pages = {1788--1810},
- publisher = {Cambridge University Press}
- }
- , "Fast Monte Carlo Analysis For 6-DoF Powered-Descent Guidance via GPU-Accelerated Sequential Convex Programming", AIAA SciTech 2024 Forum, 2024, pp. 1762.
-
MERL Issued Patents
-
Title: "Eigenmotion Control for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits"
Inventors: Weiss, Avishai; Elango, Purnanand; Di Cairano, Stefano; Kalabic, Uros
Patent No.: 12,286,241
Issue Date: Apr 29, 2025
-
Title: "Eigenmotion Control for Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits"