Short CV

Between April 2022 and July 2026, Dr.-Ing. Hannes Homburger was an external Ph.D. student at the University of Freiburg associated with HTWG Konstanz under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Moritz Diehl and Prof. Dr. Johannes Reuter. On June 18, 2026, he successfully defended his dissertation at the University of Freiburg with summa cum laude [Article]. 

Research interests:
- Zero-order and second-order optimization methods for model predictive control and trajectory optimization of nonlinear systems
- Numerical optimal control for efficient operation of vessels and mobile robots

Background:
In September 2017, Hannes Homburger received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from DHBW Stuttgart. Subsequently, he gained experience working for 2.5 years as a control specialist for machine tool drives at Siemens AG Stuttgart. In September 2021, he graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering from HTWG Konstanz, where he is now a research associate at the Institute of System Dynamics. In recent years, Hannes Homburger held several teaching appointments in the field of control engineering at the DHBW Stuttgart and HTWG Konstanz.

Teaching

• 2019 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2019 winter semester lecture Actuators and Drive Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2021 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2022 summer semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2022 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2023 summer semester lecture Optimal Control with Applications in Robotics at HTWG Konstanz
• 2023 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2023 winter semester lecture Nonlinear Systems at HTWG Konstanz
• 2024 summer semester lecture Optimal Control with Applications in Robotics at HTWG Konstanz
• 2024 summer semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2024 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2025 summer semester lecture Optimal Control with Applications in Robotics at HTWG Konstanz
• 2025 summer semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2025 winter semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart
• 2026 summer semester lecture Optimal Control with Applications in Robotics at HTWG Konstanz
• 2026 summer semester lecture Control Systems at DHBW Stuttgart

Selected Invited Talks and Guest Lectures

• June 2026: Contribution to the OS Numerical Optimization, 
  Invited Talk at Chair for Numerical Optimization (Prof. Volkwein), 
  Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Konstanz.
   
• January 2026:  Optimal Control for Efficient Vessel Operation: From Theory to Real World Applications, 
  Invited Talk at Research Group Distributed Control in Interconnected Systems (Prof. Rauh), 
  Department of Computing Science, University of Oldenburg.
   
• June 2025: MPPI: A Sampling-Based Optimal Control Alternative Bridging Theory and Robotics Practice, 
  Invited Talk at Robotics and Perception Group (Prof. Scaramuzza), 
  University of Zürich.
   
• May 2025: ODEs zum Anfassen: Die Dynamik des Solgenia Modells, 
  Invited Guest Lecture at Control Bachelors course (Prof. Diehl), 
  University of Freiburg.
   
• October 2023: Lecture 10: Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) Control, 
  Invited Guest Lecture at Summer School: Model Predictive Control and Reinforcement Learning 2023,
  (Prof. Diehl, Prof. Gros, and Prof. Bödecker), University of Freiburg.

Publications

2026

• Hannes Homburger, “Optimal Control for Efficient Vessel Operation: From Theory to Real-World Applications”, Dissertation, Technische Fakultät, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (2026), doi:10.6094/UNIFR/284230, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Bastian Jäckl, Stefan Wirtensohn, Christian Stopp, Maximilian T. Fischer, Moritz Diehl, Daniel A. Keim, and Johannes Reuter, “Toward a Decision Support System for Energy-Efficient Ferry Operation on Lake Constance based on Optimal Control”, accepted to the European Control Conference (ECC) (2026), arXiv preprint: [Link].
• Patrick Halder, Lothar Kiltz, Hannes Homburger, Johannes Reuter, Matthias Althoff, “Lexicographic Minimum-Violation Motion Planning using Signal Temporal Logic”, IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems (2026), doi:10.1109/OJITS.2026.3726082, early access: [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Katrin Baumgärtner, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Gauss-Newton accelerated MPPI control“, accepted to the IFAC World Congress (2026), arXiv preprint: [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Jonathan Frey, Stefan Wirtensohn,Moritz Diehl, and Johannes Reuter, “Millisecond NMPC for Swing-Up and Stabilization of the Furuta Pendulum in Real-World”, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (2026), doi:10.1109/TCST.2025.3616367, [Link].

2025

• Patrick Halder*, Hannes Homburger*, Lothar Kiltz, Johannes Reuter, and Matthias Althoff, "Trajectory Planning with Signal Temporal Logic Costs using Deterministic Path Integral Optimization“,IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA), Atlanta, USA, 2025, [arXiv].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Tim Baur, Patrick Hoher, Dennis Grießer, Moritz Diehl, and Johannes Reuter, "Solgenia - A Test Vessel Toward Energy-Efficient Autonomous Water Taxi Applications", Ocean Engineering 328 (2025), 121011, [DOI].
• Hannes Homburger, Florian Messerer, Moritz Diehl, and Johannes Reuter, “Optimality and Suboptimality of MPPI Control in Stochastic and Deterministic Settings”, IEEE Control Systems Letters 9 (2025), pp. 763–768, [Link].

2024

• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Energy-Optimal Planning and Shrinking Horizon MPC for Vessel Docking in River Current Fields“, in Proceedings of the 22nd European Control Conference (ECC), Stockholm, Sweden, 2024, [DOI].
• Hannes Homburger, Katrin Baumgärtner, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Iterative Learning-Based Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of an Underactuated Autonomous Surface Vessel in Current Fields“, in Proceedings of the 63rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Milan, Itlay, 2024, [DOI].

2023

• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn and Johannes Reuter, "MPPI Control of a Self-Balancing Vehicle Employing Subordinated Control Loops", in Proceedings of the 21st European Control Conference (ECC), Bucharest, Romania, 2023, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Comparison of Data-Driven Modeling and Identification Approaches for a Self-Balancing Vehicle“, in Proceedings of the 22nd World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control, Yokohama, Japan, 2023, [DOI].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn and Johannes Reuter, "Efficient Nonlinear Model Predictive Path Integral Control for Stochastic Systems considering Input Constraints", in Proceedings of the 21st European Control Conference (ECC), Bucharest, Romania, 2023, [Link].

2022

• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn and Johannes Reuter, "Docking Control of a Fully-Actuated Autonomous Vessel using Model Predictive Path Integral Control", in Proceedings of the 20th European Control Conference (ECC), London, United Kingdom, 2022, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn and Johannes Reuter, "Swinging Up and Stabilization Control of the Furuta Pendulum using Model Predictive Path Integral Control", in Proceedings of the 30th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), Athens, Greece, 2022, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Feature-Based Proposal Density Optimization for Nonlinear Model Predictive Path Integral Control", in Proceedings of the 6th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), Trieste, Italy, 2022, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Comparison of Advanced Modeling Approaches for Autonomous Docking of Fully Actuated Vessel", in Proceedings of the 14th IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems, Robotics and Vehicles (CAMS), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, 2022, [Link].
• Hannes Homburger, Stefan Wirtensohn, Moritz Diehl and Johannes Reuter, "Feature-Based MPPI Control with Applications to Maritime Systems". Machines 2022, 10, 900. [doi].

2021

• Stefan Wirtensohn, Oliver Hamburger, Hannes Homburger, Leticia Mayumi Kinjo, Johannes Reuter. Comparison of Advanced Control Strategies for Automated Docking. 13th IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems, Robotics, and Vehicles (IFAC CAMS 2021), Oldenburg, Germany, 2021.