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Coffee and Control

Lucy Hodgins
Control Theory
Model Predictive Control
Robust Control
Quantum Control
Autonomous Vehicles
Game Theory
Biological Systems
Reinforcement Learning
European Control Conference
Behavioral Systems Theory
Control Engineering
Adaptive Cruise Control
River Systems
Machine Learning
Nextcom
Resource Allocation
Generative Adversarial Networks
Data-Driven Control
Artificial Intelligence
Integral Quadratic Constraints

Podcast in which I interview fascinating people from within the world of control theory/ control engineering. Primarily aimed at PhD/masters students but can hopefully be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in control. New episodes released monthly

PublishesMonthlyEpisodes29Founded2 years ago
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MathematicsScience

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Artwork for Coffee and Control

Latest Episodes

In this episode I got to chat with the incredibly wonderful Dr Keyan Miao about the fascinating work she’s done on neural ODEs. We discuss applying control theoretic tools to optimise neural ODEs, as well as their use for both controller and observer... more

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In this episode I take you with me to the 2026 IFAC World Congress in Busan, South Korea, where I got to talk to a bunch of wonderful control researchers about their work. We cover a wide range of fascinating research areas, including observer design... more

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In this episode I had the pleasure of talking to the fantastic Francesca Boem about her work on monitoring networked systems, approaches to detecting faults and cyber attacks, as well as her new start-up helping to ensure the security of wireless hea... more

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In this episode I have the pleasure of attending the CONTROL2026 conference, and bring you along with me! This conference was the largest gatheringof control engineers in the UK recent years, co-organized by the ACE network and UK Automatic Control C... more

YouTube

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Recent Guests

Keyan Miao
EFIELD candidate who recently passed her viva at University of Oxford
University of Oxford
Episode: Keyan Miao (Interfacing Control with Neural ODEs)
Francesca Boem
Associate Professor in Control Systems at UCL
University College London
Episode: Francesca Boem (Distributed Monitoring and Attack Detection)
Pramod Khargonekar
Professor at UC Irvine, long-time control theorist
University of California, Irvine
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Daniel Coca
Professor at Newcastle University, Director of ACE Network
Newcastle University
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Francesca Boam
Associate Professor in Control Systems, ACE Network executive
University College London
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Salma Iraky
Undergraduate student presenting on Taylor-Motto Enabled Reachability Analysis
Lancaster University
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Mohammad Abdulla
PhD student researching receding horizon planning for motorcycles
Loughborough University
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Luke Rickard
Postdoc focusing on coalition-based energy management in buildings
University of East London
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)
Will Road
Final year PhD student in agriculture robotics
University of Cambridge
Episode: CONTROL 2026 (ACE Network/ UKACC Conference Special)

Host

Lucy Hodgins
Host of Coffee and Control

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 9 ratings
  • Unlistenable

    Unlistenable. High pitched screeching.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    PrivateJoker911
    United Kingdom5 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Guests often bring deep subject-matter expertise and real-world experience.
Listeners appreciate the accessible breakdown of hard theory into practical takeaways.
Some episodes skew heavily academic, which can be dense for casual listeners.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Keyan Miao (Interfacing Control with Neural ODEs)
Q: How is safety enforced in neural ODE-based control frameworks?
Safety is enforced using a differentiable optimization layer that incorporates Control Barrier Functions during the optimization, ensuring that the resulting controller satisfies safety constraints both during training and at inference time.
Keyan Miao (Interfacing Control with Neural ODEs)
Q: What are the main challenges in training and inference for neural ODEs, and how does your work address them?
A key challenge is determining how deep to run the dynamics; too long an integration wastes resources, while too short may fail to reach the target. The approach casts depth as a minimum time problem and also optimizes the terminal time jointly with the network, speeding up training and inference while maintaining accuracy.
Francesca Boem (Distributed Monitoring and Attack Detection)
Q: What are microgrids? Why are they useful?
Microgrids are small-scale power systems with generation, storage, and loads that can improve resilience and integrate distributed energy sources, reducing strain on the main grid and enabling local generation and demand management.
Carmen Amo Alonso: Part 1 (Distributed and Localized Model Predictive Control)
Q: Why is a data-driven approach relevant for large-scale networks in this framework?
Because accurate models are often unavailable for large, complex systems; leveraging past trajectories and Willems lemma allows replacing strict model-based constraints with data-driven predictions, maintaining performance without perfect models.
Carmen Amo Alonso: Part 1 (Distributed and Localized Model Predictive Control)
Q: How do open-loop MPC and closed-loop MPC differ in practice?
Open-loop MPC optimizes a sequence of future inputs directly, while closed-loop MPC optimizes over a class of policies or controllers, enabling feedback and potentially reducing conservatism when disturbances exist.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee and Control

What is Coffee and Control about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show features in-depth conversations with researchers and practitioners who sit at the intersection of control theory, robotics, AI, and systems engineering. Episodes often explore how theoretical concepts translate into real-world applications, from distributed control and MPC to AI-assisted design and education in engineering. A recurring strength is connecting hard theory with practical workflows, mentoring, and industry context, making it useful for graduate students, early-career researchers, and engineers seeking broader perspectives on control systems. A notable edge is the guest roster—primarily academic experts and seasoned industry practitioners—whose experiences span academia, conferences, and applied projects in AI, automati... more

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2. Huberman Lab

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Coffee and Control launched 2 years ago and published 29 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Coffee and Control?

Recent guests on Coffee and Control include:

1. Keyan Miao
2. Francesca Boem
3. Pramod Khargonekar
4. Daniel Coca
5. Francesca Boam
6. Salma Iraky
7. Mohammad Abdulla
8. Luke Rickard

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