https://a2r-lab.github.io/tags/neuromorphic/ Recent content in Neuromorphic on A²R Lab Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us © {year} Brian Plancher Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://a2r-lab.github.io/publication/grillothesis/ Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://a2r-lab.github.io/publication/grillothesis/ This thesis investigates how alternative computer architectures can extend the capability of optimizationbased control on constrained robots, with demonstrations on a nano-quadrotor running linear MPC. The primary contribution is a hardware-accelerated linear MPC solver based on a custom FPGA datapath implementation of the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) algorithm, co-designed for reduced-precision arithmetic. We also develop a custom FPGA expansion board for the Crazyflie platform. Through these advances, we demonstrate fully onboard constrained MPC at high control frequencies, achieving approximately 15× lower solver latency and 200× improvement in energy–delay product relative to state-of-the-art baselines. This enables longer horizons, more solver iterations per control step, and more reliable constraint handling. In parallel, a preliminary feasibility analysis of mapping iterative optimization algorithms onto Intel’s Loihi 2 neuromorphic processor is explored as a promising direction toward ultra-low-power implementations in future work. Together, these contributions illustrate how algorithm-hardware co-design can significantly extend the practicality of optimization-based control on resource-constrained robotic platforms.