MYO THANT SIN AUNG, Ph.D.

110 F-block, Yangon Technological University, Gyo-Gone, Insein, Yangon 11012, Myanmar.
email: aung@ctrl.mech.kyushu-u.ac.jp Tel: +95-9785143578
web: http://myothantsinaung.weebly.com/ web: http://icarlab-ytu.weebly.com/

PERSONAL
Nationality: Myanmar Day of birth: June 16, 1985
Place of birth: Tugyi, Ingapu, Myanmar Gender: Male

EDUCATION
Ph.D. (Mechanical), Kyushu University, Japan Sep 2015
Thesis: Friction Compensation and Noise Filtering for Improving the Performance
of Frictional Mechatronic Systems.
Advisor: Prof. Ryo Kikuuwe
M.E. (Mechanical), Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia Aug 2008
Thesis: Effects of Friction of a DC Motor on the Existence of Limit Cycle Oscillations.
Advisor: Prof. Zainal Abidin
GPA: 3.61/4
B.E. (Mechanical), Mandalay Technological University, Myanmar Apr 2006
GPA: 4.41/5
Rank: 9 out of 55

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Position/force control algorithms for mechatronic/robotic applications

• Safe physical human-robot interaction (admittance/impedance control)
• Friction identification, modeling and compensation
• Rehabilitation robotics
• Biomedical and bio-mechatronics applications
• Signal processing (noise-reduction filter using sliding mode concept)

SELECTED ROBOTS/DEVICES/SOFTWARES

MOTOMAN-HP3J
Implemented the kinematics and sliding-mode-based noise reduction filter for use in
inner-loop position controller of the admittance-type force control in real-time OS.
The robot arm in contact with both rigid and compliant environments was tested.
◦ Peroid: 2 years (2013-2015)
◦ Actuator: AC servo with Harmonic Drive gearing
◦ Language: Object oriented C++ programming
◦ OS: ART-Linux
◦ Sensor: Incremental optical encoder and six-axis force sensor
◦ Controller: Proxy-based sliding mode control, admittance-type force control
◦ Filter: Sliding-mode-based noise filter
◦ Role: Graduate researcher

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MATLAB/Simulink
Implemented the dynamics model of friction and PID-controlled DC motor system in
Simulink. Theoretical prediction of limit cycles due to friction is done by Describing
Function analysis and coded in MATLAB.
M.E. Thesis Link: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/index.php/gdl/view/15094
◦ Peroid: 13 years (2006-current)
◦ During four years of teaching control system courses at Yangon Technolgical Uni-
versity, Simulilnk Identification, Control System, Fuzzy Logic and Symbolic Math
Toolboxes were used as the core teaching aids along with Python, Mathematica.

MOVEMASTER Ex
The kinematics, path planning, PID, first order sliding mode position control schemes
and walk-through programming using friction compensation were implemented in real-
time OS.
◦ Peroid: 3 years (2016-current)
◦ Actuator: DC servo with Harmonic Drive gearing
◦ Language: C programming
◦ OS: preempt_rt-Linux
◦ Sensor: Incremental optical encoder
◦ Controller: PID
◦ Filter: Second order linear low-pass
◦ Role: Supervisor of B.E. Thesis

LabVolt Series 5250

The kinematics and path planning were implemented for lead-through programming
using Android phone.
◦ Peroid: 3 years (2016-current)
◦ Actuator: DC servo and conventional gearing
◦ Language: Arduino C++ programming, MIT App Inventor
◦ Sensor: Incremental optical encoder
◦ Controller: PID
◦ Filter: Second order linear low-pass
◦ Role: Supervisor of B.E. Thesis

Quadcopter
Implemented path planning and nonlinear PID algorithm for positioning of the quad-
copter.
◦ Peroid: 3 years (2016-current)
◦ Language: Arduino C++ programming
◦ Sensor: GPS
◦ Controller: Nonlinear PID
◦ Filter: Conventional Kalman
◦ Role: Supervisor of M.E. Thesis

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 1-DoF System
Bilateral teleoperation was implemented in real-time OS.
◦ Peroid: 3 years (2016-current)
◦ Actuator: DC servo and conventional gearing
◦ Language: C programming
◦ OS: preempt_rt-Linux
◦ Sensor: Incremental magnetic encoder
◦ Controller: PID
◦ Filter: Second order linear low-pass
◦ Role: Supervisor of B.E. Thesis

1-DoF Belt-drive System

Force control of ultrasound probe was implemented using real-time OS.
◦ Peroid: 3 years (2016-current)
◦ Actuator: DC servo and conventional gearing
◦ Language: LabVIEW graphical programming
◦ OS: LabVIEW Real-Time Module
◦ Sensor: Incremental magnetic encode, single-axis force sensor
◦ Controller: PID, admittance-type force control
◦ Role: Supervisor of B.E. Thesis

POSITIONS HELD

Director Aug 2016 - present

innovative Control, Automation and Robotics Laboratory
Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Yangon Technological University, Myanmar

Lecturer Jul 2017 - present

Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Yangon Technological University, Myanmar

Visiting Scholar Sep 2016 - Nov 2016

Control Engineering Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan
Supervisor: Prof. Ryo Kikuuwe

Visiting Scholar Nov 2011

Energy Conversion Engineering Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan
Supervisor: Prof. Hideki Yanada

Assistant Lecturer
• Mechatronics Engineering Department, Yangon Technological University, Myanmar Sep 2015 - Jul 2017
• Electronics Engineering Department, Yangon Technological University, Myanmar Jul 2011 - Mar 2012
• Mechatronics Engineering Department, Mandalay Technological University, Myanmar Apr 2010 - Jun 2011
• Mechanical Engineering Department, Pyay Technological University, Myanmar Aug 2009 - Mar 2010
• Mechanical Engineering Department, Technological University (Mandalay), Myanmar Sep 2008 - Jul 2009

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PUBLICATIONS

Journal Article
1. M. T. S. Aung and R. Kikuuwe, “Stability Enhancement of Admittance Control with Acceleration Feedback
and Friction Compensation,” Mechatronics, vol. 45, pp. 110-118, 2017.

2. M. T. S. Aung, Z. Shi and R. Kikuuwe, “A New Parabolic Sliding Mode Filter Augmented by Linear Low-
pass Filter and Its Application to Position Control,” Transactions of ASME: Journal of Dynamic Systems,
Measurement and Control, vol. 140, no. 4, article. 041005, 2017.

3. M. T. S. Aung, R. Kikuuwe, and M. Yamamoto, “Friction compensation of geared actuators with high presliding
stiffness,” Transactions of ASME: Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, vol. 137, no. 1,
article. 011007, 2015.

Reviewed Conference Proceedings

1. Aye Mya Mya Thu, M. T. S. Aung and Tokuji Okada, “Autonomous Stairs Ascending and Descending Al-
gorithm for Tri-star Wheeled Robot,” Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics
and Mechatronics (ICARM), July, 2018 (NUS, Singapore).

2. Ngu Wah and M. T. S. Aung, “Proxy-Based Sliding Mode Control Augmented with Friction Compensator for
Use in 1-DOF Freehand Ultrasound Probe,” Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial
Electronics Society (IECON2017), Oct 29 - Nov 1, 2017 (Beijing, China).

3. Hnin Wai Wai Hlaing and M. T. S. Aung, “Variable Admittance Controller for Physical Human Robot Inter-
action,” Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON), Oct 29
- Nov 1, 2017 (Beijing, China).

4. Soe Lin Paing, M. T. S. Aung, and R. Kikuuwe, “Adaptive Gain Parabolic Sliding Mode Filter Augmented with
Vibration Observer,” Proceedings of the 1st IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA),
August 2017 (Kohala Coast, Hawai’i, USA).

5. M. T. S. Aung, Z. Shi, and R. Kikuuwe, “A new noise reduction filter with sliding mode and low-pass filtering,”
Proceedings of the 23rd IEEE Conference on Control Applications (CCA), pp. 1029-1034, October 2014 (Antibes,
France).

6. M. T. S. Aung and R. Kikuuwe, “Acceleration feedback and friction compensation for improving positioning
performance in systems with friction,” Proceedings of the 2015 American Control Conference (ACC), pp. 4798-
4803, July 2015 (Chicago, IL, USA).

7. M. T. S. Aung and R. Kikuuwe, “Acceleration feedback and friction compensation for improving the stability of
admittance control,” Proceedings of the 10th Asian Control Conference (ASCC), pp. 404-409, May 2015 (Sabah,
Malaysia).

ADVISED Ph.D./M.E./B.E STUDENTS

• Dr. Aye Mya Mya Thu, Yangon Technological University 2017 - 2019
Ph.D. Thesis: Modeling and Control of Tri-star Wheeled Driving Unit for Passing Stairs
Role: Advisor

• Dr. Kaung Khant Ko Ko Han, Yangon Technological University 2015 - 2018

Ph.D. Thesis: Design of The Exoskeleton for Assisting Human Labour in Industry
Role: Advisor
(currently Assistant Engineer with Ministry of Electricity and Energy, Myanmar)

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 • Dr. Ngu Wah, Yangon Technological University 2015 - 2018
Ph.D. Thesis: Design And Implementation of Position Control for 1-DoF Belt Drive Mechanism
Role: Advisor
(currently Assistant Lecturer at Thanlyin Technological University, Myanmar)

• Dr. Hnin Wai Wai Hlaing, Yangon Technological University 2015 - 2018
Ph.D. Thesis: The Case Study of The Variable Admittance Controller for Physical Human Robot Interaction
Role: Advisor
(currently Assistant Lecturer at Thanlyin Technological University, Myanmar)

• Supervised 11 B.E. Theses since 2015 2015 - 2019

• Supervised 14 M.E. Theses since 2015 2015 - 2019

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
• Stability Enhancement of Admittance-type Force Control
Being motivated by a theoretical prediction that PDD2 (proportional, derivative, and second derivative) position
controller and friction compensation enhance the stability of admittance-type force control. Proposed a PDD2
controller using a variable gain D2 term for reducing the acceleration-measurement noise. Further extended to a
new scheme in which PDD2 controller gains are fixed while the sliding-mode-based filter gain is varied. Exper-
imentally validated both proposed control schemes in admittance control of a single link robot arm in contact
with rigid and compliant environments.
◦ Publications: ASCC 2015, Mechatronics 2017

• Force Control for Hand-held Ultrasound Probe

Developed a new type of belt-driven mechanism for force-controlled ultrasound probe and proposed a new algo-
rithm for endpoint avoidance in the limited motion range. A safe and accurate positioning was achieved due to
proxy-based sliding mode controller augmented with friction compensation. The proposed controller was vali-
dated using the new mechanism under admittance-type force control.
◦ Publications: IECON 2017

• PDD2 Position Controller for Achieving Smooth Response

Realized smooth, overdamped response (without overshoot) with PDD2 position controller by using a sliding-
mode-based noise-reduction filter. Tested the combination of the controller and the filter in positioning of a
robotic link under discontinuous desired-position commands. Removed the noise in the actuator and realized the
overdamped positioning response simultaneously.
◦ Publications: ASME JDSMC 2017

• Sliding-mode-based Filter for Noise Attenuation

Proposed a new noise-reduction filter by combining a second order low-pass filter and a sliding-mode-based filter.
Investigated the filter characteristics in frequency domain. Validated the performance of the filter to remove the
noise in the velocity signal obtained by finite difference of angle signal measured by an optical encoder.
◦ Publications: CCA 2014

• Friction Compensation in a Harmonic-Drive Gearing

Identified and compensated friction in Harmonic-Drive gearing of a robotic joint. Developed a physical model
based on experimental observations. Developed a friction compensator algorithm composed of encoder-based

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 dither, rate dependency and viscoelasto-plasticity compensation. Tested the backdrivability and sensitivity to
actuator force experimentally.
◦ Publications: ASME JDSMC 2014

• Variable Admittance Controller for pHRI

Proposed a new technique for inferring human intention using the information from force sensor and proposed a
new variable admittance algorithm that varies the virtual damping according to human intention. Experimentally
validated the proposed admittance control scheme, in both position-based and velocity-based cases, using a single
degree of freedom belt-drive system in pHRI application and evaluated in terms of trade-off between overshoots
and precise motion.
◦ Publications: IECON 2017

• Variable Gain Sliding-mode-based Noise Filter Augmented with Vibration Observer

Proposed a new sliding-mode-based noise filter that varies the gain according to the noise level in the input signal,
which is detected by the vibration observer. Achieved better balance between noise filtering and signal preser-
vation than conventional linear and sliding-mode-based counterparts. Validated the performance experimentally
using single-link robot arm under PDD2 position control for achieving non-overshooting response.
◦ Publications: CCTA 2017

• Variable Gain PDD2 Position Controller for Achieving Accurate and Smooth Response
Realized accurate trajectory tracking and overdamped response simultaneously by combining PDD2 controller
with variable D2 gain, sliding-mode-based noise filter and friction compensator. Validated the proposed con-
troller in positioning of a robotic link under discontinuous desired-position commands. Removed the noise in the
actuator and achieved positioning improvement under disturbance.
◦ Publications: ACC 2015

• Prediction of Limit Cycles due to Friction in a Positioning System

Predicted the occurrence of limit cycles due to the friction in a position controlled DC motor by using the De-
scribing Function approximation. Simulated the limit cycles using a very simple and conventional friction model
and validated the theoretical predictions.
◦ Publications: M.E. Thesis

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Lecturer, Control Engineering, 4th yr B.E., Yangon Technological University 2015 - present
• Lecturer, Advanced Control Engineering, 5th yr B.E., Yangon Technological University 2015 - present

• Lecturer, Mechanisms for Robotics, 5th yr B.E., Yangon Technological University 2016 - present

• Lecturer, Nonlinear Control Systems, M.E., Yangon Technological University 2016 - present

FUNDING
• Sensorless Force Estimation and Control for Walk-through Programming
Amount $5000 Funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency Project for Enhancement of Engineering
Higher Education in Myanmar (EEHE), Yangon Technological University
◦ Role: PI ◦ Period: 2018-2019

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 • A Framework for Robotic Real-time OS Development for Factories in Myanmar
Amount $2000 Funded by U Nyi Hla Nge Foundation, Yangon Technological University
◦ Role: PI ◦ Period: 2017-2018

• Experimental Investigation on Autonomous Stairs Ascending and Descending of a Tri-Star Wheeled

Robot
Amount $5000 Funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency Project for Enhancement of Engineering
Higher Education in Myanmar (EEHE), Yangon Technological University
◦ Role: Co-PI ◦ Period: 2017-2018

• A New Sliding Mode Observer for Estimation of External Force Acting on Robot Manipulators
Amount $1000 Funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency Project for Enhancement of Engineering
Higher Education in Myanmar (EEHE), Yangon Technological University
◦ Role: PI ◦ Period: 2016-2017

• A new high-precision position controller for Seeding Machine in In-house Agriculture

Amount $1000 Funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency Project for Enhancement of Engineering
Higher Education in Myanmar (EEHE), Yangon Technological University
◦ Role: PI ◦ Period: 2016-2017

SERVICE

Secretary of the Technical Committee:

• 2016 National Conference on Science and Engineering, Yangon Technological University, Yangon, Myanmar
• 2017 National Conference on Science and Engineering, Yangon Technological University, Yangon, Myanmar
• 2018 National Conference on Science and Engineering, Yangon Technological University, Yangon, Myanmar

Reviewer for Journals/Transactions:

• Asian Journal of Control
• International Journal of Control
• IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
• IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics
• Proceedings of IMechE, Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering
• IEEE Access

Reviewer for Conference Proceedings:

• IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2016.
• IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), 2017.
• IEEE Annual Conference of the Industrial Electronics Society (IECON), 2017.
• IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (ICARM), 2018.
• IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), 2018.
• IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2018.
• IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018.
• IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2019.

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INVITED TALKS/TRAININGS IN MYANMAR

• Challenges for Teachers in Future Myanmar Education, Keynote Speaker, University Conference on
Science, Engineering and Research, Technological University (Kyaukse), 2019.
• Training for Teachers on Modern Control Systems and Applications, Electronics Engineering Depart-
ment, Mandalay Technological University, 2019.
• Training for Teachers on Modern Control Systems and Applications, Mechatronics Engineering De-
partment, Technological University (Monywa), 2019.
• Training for Teachers on Modern Control Systems and Applications, Mechanical Engineering Depart-
ment, Technological University (Mandalay), 2019.
• Research in A Nut Shell, Technological University(Meikhtila), 2019.
• The Art of Manuscript Writing, Technological University (Mhawbi), 2019.
• The Art of Manuscript Writing, Technological University (Kyaukse), 2019.
• The Art of Manuscript Writing, Technological University (Monywa), 2019.
• The Art of Manuscript Writing, West Yangon Technological University, 2019.

AWARDS AND HONORS

• Best Paper Award in Automation, 12th National Conference on Science and Engineering, (NCSE2017),
Yangon, Myanmar.
• Outstanding Researcher Award, selected by U Nyi Hla Nge Foundation, Yangon Technological University,
Yangon, Myanmar.
• Scholarship from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), Japan, Aug 2006 - Aug 2008.
• Scholarship from The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, Apr 2012 - Sep
2015.

SKILLS

Software: MATLAB/Simulink, C/C++, Python, Mathematica, LabVIEW, MS Office

Operating System: Windows, ART-Linux, prempt-RT
Languages: Native in Burmese; Fluent in English; Elementary in Japanese and Indonesian

REFERENCES

Ryo Kikuuwe, Professor Motoji Yamamoto, Professor

Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hiroshima University Kyushu University
1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku,
Hiroshima 739-8527, Japan Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
phone: +81-82-424-7573 phone: +81-92-802-3173
fax: +81-82-422-7193 fax: +81-92-802-0001
email: kikuuwe@hiroshima-u.ac.jp email: yama@mech.kyushu-u.ac.jp