Background

Dr. Vitzilaios’ research interests are in the broad area of Autonomous Unmanned Systems and include Robotics, Intelligent Systems, Mechatronics, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), perception and autonomous navigation of mobile robots, operational autonomy, field robotics, robot teams, automation, control systems, and machine learning.

Education

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece, 2010
• M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece, 2005
• B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Greece, 2004

Experience 

•  Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, USA, 2017-Present
• Senior Lecturer, School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Kingston University London, UK, 2016-2017
• Lecturer, Department of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, Kingston University London, UK, 2016
• Research Scientist, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Denver, USA, 2012-2015
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, 2011-2012

Selected Publications

• Jessica Alvarenga, Nikolaos I. Vitzilaios, Matthew J. Rutherford, and Kimon P. Valavanis. “Modeling and Frequency-Domain Parameter Identification of a Small-Scale Flybarless Unmanned Helicopter”, Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering: UAS, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2016.
• Visakha Nanayakkara, Ahmad Ataka, Demetrios Venetsanos, Olga Duran, Nikolaos Vitzilaios, Thrishantha Nanayakkara, and Necip Sahinkaya. “Kinematic Analysis of the Human Thumb with Foldable Palm”, 17th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS-16), Sheffield, UK, June 28–30, 2016.
• Jessica Alvarenga, Nikolaos I. Vitzilaios, Kimon P. Valavanis, and Matthew J. Rutherford. “Survey of Unmanned Helicopter Model-Based Navigation and Control Techniques”, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 80(1):87–138, 2015.
• Jessica Alvarenga, Nikolaos I. Vitzilaios, Kimon P. Valavanis, and Matthew J. Rutherford. “Scaled Control Performance Benchmarks and Maneuvers for Small-Scale Unmanned Helicopters”, 54th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), Osaka, Japan, December 15–18, 2015.
• Stephen Conyers, Nikolaos Vitzilaios, Matthew Rutherford, and Kimon Valavanis. “A Mobile Self-Leveling Landing Platform for the Extended Operation of Autonomous UAVs in Remote Locations”, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), Seattle, WA, USA, May 26–30, 2015.
• Konstantinos Kanistras, Pranith Chander Saka, Kimon P. Valavanis, Nikolaos I. Vitzilaios, and Matthew J. Rutherford. “Low Speed Wind Tunnel Investigation of a Circulation Control Wing for Enhanced Lift”, AIAA Aviation Conference, Dallas, TX, USA, June 22–26, 2015.
• Bryan Godbolt, Nikolaos I. Vitzilaios, and Alan F. Lynch. “Experimental Validation of a Helicopter Autopilot Design using Model-Based PID Control”, Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 70(1-4):385–399, 2013.
• Nikos I. Vitzilaios, and Nikos C. Tsourveloudis. “Safe Test Flights for Small Rotorcrafts”, Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics [Springer Series: Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering (LNEE)], 37:153–166, 2009.

Honors and Awards

• Fellow: Higher Education Academy, UK (2016)