32) X. Zhu, J. Reis, and C. Silvestre, “Nonlinear trajectory tracking control of a towed vessel by a single autonomous tug,” Rob. Auton. Syst., no. 105829, p. 105829, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.robot.2026.105829. (in press)
Macau, China- University of Macau
- Github
- Google Scholar
- ORCID
Curriculum Vitae
Teaching Experience
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Robotics, University of Macau, 2024 - Present
Project List - Principal Investigator
| Reference No. | Project Title | Approved Amount | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRG2024-00012-FST | Dynamic-model-free controller design for underwater vehicle manipulator systems (UVMSs) | MOP 150,000.00 | 2024-02-21 | 2027-02-20 |
| 0059/2024/RIA1 | MANEUVER - Methodologies for autonomous surface craft navigating in unknown environments | MOP 857,000.00 | 2024-09-22 | 2027-09-21 |
| UMDF-TISF/2025/007/FST | SEABED - Sonar Enhanced Autonomous Bottom-following for EfficientData collection | MOP 150,000.00 | 2025-01-01 | 2027-12-31 |
| 0021/2025/ASJ | HYDRA - Hybrid Control and Navigation Strategies for Disturbance Rejection in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles | MOP 1,104,000.00 | 2026-01-18 | 2029-01-17 |
Education
- Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Macau, 2019
- M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, 2013
- B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, 2011
Awards and Recognition
- 2024 IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering's Outstanding Reviewer
- 2022 FDCT Funding Scheme for Postdoctoral Researchers of Higher Education Institutions
- Macau, China
- Awarded a post-doctoral fellowship for a period of 24 months
- 2020 First Zhuhai Wanshan International Intelligent Vessel Competition
- Zhuhai, China
- Winner of Sailing Race Project - Development of a path following controller for an unmanned surface vessel
- 2020 Macau Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT)
- Macau, China
- Recipient of Scientific and Technological R&D Award for Postgraduates
Work experience
- 2022–2024 University of Macau: Post-doctoral Fellow
- Funded by the FDCT Funding Scheme for Postdoctoral Researchers of Higher Education Institutions of the UM Macao Talent Programme
- Period of two years dedicated to the practical development and testing of prototypes for autonomous aerial and underwater vehicles
- 2019–2021 Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau: Research Assistant
- Involved in UM Funded projects STEALTH (STate EstimAtion in Large neTworks with Heterogenous agents) and SECANTS (Self-triggered and Event-triggered Control of Autonomous NeTworked Systems, and in FDCT funded project SLOTMAV (Slung Load Transportation by Multiple Aerial Vehicles)
- 2012–2014 Institute for Systems and Robotics, Lisbon: Fellow Researcher
- Worked in the Project MAST/AM: Advanced Tracking and Telemetry Methodologies to Study Marine Animals, which was funded by FCT —Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. Main work consisted in programming a Digital Signal Processor C6713 from Texas Instruments that served as the backbone of an ultra-short baseline acoustic positioning system
Skills
- Matlab
- Python, C/C++
- ROS
- Git
- Linux, macOS, Windows
- SolidWorks
- LaTeX
Professional Service
- Journal Reviewer
- IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
- IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics
- IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics
- IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
- IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
- IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems
- IEEE Sensors Journal
- IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
- Automatica
- Asian Journal of Control
- The International Journal of Robotic Research
- Ocean Engineering
- Conference Reviewer
- IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
- IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
- The International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS)
Publications
in Journals
31) J. P. Silvestre, J. Reis, P. Casau, and P. Oliveira, “Event-triggered neural network adaptive hybrid attitude control,” Nonlinear Anal. Hybrid Syst., vol. 63, no. 101812, p. 101812, Feb. 2027, doi: 10.1016/j.nahs.2026.101812.
30) P. Santos, J. Reis, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “QuadRocket: an aerial robotic testbed for adaptive thrust-vector control of rocket-like vehicles,” IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst., vol. 62, pp. 13567–13583, 2026, doi: 10.1109/taes.2026.3706328.
29) P. Santos, J. Reis, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Geometric reduced-attitude tracking under a time-varying conic constraint via smooth reference-shaping,” IEEE Control Syst. Lett., vol. 10, pp. 1639–1644, 2026, doi: 10.1109/lcsys.2026.3707149.
28) J. Reis and C. Silvestre, “Attitude estimation on SO(3) under biased, scaled, and misaligned rate gyro measurements,” IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr., vol. 71, no. 10, pp. 6888–6894, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.1109/tac.2026.3690053.
27) M. Khodaverdian, J. Reis, and C. Silvestre, “Koopman-based discrete-time controller design for nonlinear flexible spacecraft dynamics,” IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst., vol. 62, pp. 7256–7271, 2026, doi: 10.1109/taes.2026.3671765.
26) J. Reis and C. Silvestre, “Bottom-following control of AUVs using multibeam forward-looking sonar,” Control Eng. Pract., vol. 172, no. 106874, p. 106874, Jul. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.conengprac.2026.106874.
25) L. Kong, J. Reis, W. He, and C. Silvestre, “Hybrid triggering adaptive prescribed performance control of underactuated UAVs,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 73, no. 7, pp. 10242–10253, Jul. 2026, doi: 10.1109/tie.2026.3658643.
24) W. Yang, J. Reis, G. Yu, L. Kong, and C. Silvestre, “Trajectory generation and extended high-gain observer-based output feedback control for an underactuated flying inverted pendulum,” IEEE Trans. Autom. Sci. Eng., vol. 23, pp. 2440–2453, 2026, doi: 10.1109/tase.2025.3649559.
23) W. Yang, J. Reis, G. Yu, and C. Silvestre, “Output feedback control of an underactuated flying inverted pendulum,” Control Eng. Pract., vol. 164, no. 106474, p. 106474, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.conengprac.2025.106474.
22) L. Kong, J. Reis, W. He, and C. Silvestre, “Event-triggered prescribed-time tracking control for UAVs using polynomial error trajectories,” IEEE Trans. Autom. Sci. Eng., vol. 22, pp. 16476–16486, 2025, doi: 10.1109/tase.2025.3574809.
21) Y. Ju, J. Reis, Y. Sun, and C. Silvestre, “On the asymptotic stability of 2-D linear inhomogeneous systems,” IEEE Trans. Automat. Contr., vol. 70, no. 8, pp. 5546–5552, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.1109/tac.2025.3549346.
20) J. Reis and C. Silvestre, “Kinematics-informed neural network control on SO(3),” Automatica (Oxf.), vol. 174, no. 112172, p. 112172, Apr. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112172.
19) L. Kong, J. Reis, W. He, X. Yu, and C. Silvestre, “On dynamic performance control for a quadrotor-slung-load system with unknown load mass,” Automatica (Oxf.), vol. 162, no. 111516, p. 111516, Apr. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2024.111516.
18) W. Yang, G. Yu, J. Reis, and C. Silvestre, “Robust nonlinear 3D control of an inverted pendulum balanced on a quadrotor,” Automatica (Oxf.), vol. 159, no. 111336, p. 111336, Jan. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2023.111336.
17) L. Kong, J. Reis, W. He, and C. Silvestre, “Experimental validation of a robust prescribed performance nonlinear controller for an unmanned aerial vehicle with unknown mass,” IEEE ASME Trans. Mechatron., vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 301–312, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1109/tmech.2023.3282782.
16) L. Kong, J. Reis, W. He, and C. Silvestre, “Comprehensive nonlinear control strategy for VTOL-UAVs with windowed output constraints,” IEEE Trans. Control Syst. Technol., vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 2673–2684, Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1109/tcst.2023.3286044.
15) J. Reis, G. Yu, and C. Silvestre, “Kalman-based velocity-free trajectory tracking control of an underactuated aerial vehicle with unknown system dynamics,” Automatica (Oxf.), vol. 155, no. 111148, p. 111148, Sep. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2023.111148.
14) G. Yu, J. Reis, D. Cabecinhas, R. Cunha, and C. Silvestre, “Reduced-complexity active disturbance rejection controller for quadrotor-slung-load transportation,” IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Syst., vol. 53, no. 8, pp. 5248–5259, Aug. 2023, doi: 10.1109/tsmc.2023.3263881.
13) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Discrete-time Kalman filter for heave motion estimation,” Ocean Eng., vol. 277, no. 114240, p. 114240, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.114240.
12) G. Yu, J. Reis, and C. Silvestre, “Quadrotor neural network adaptive control: Design and experimental validation,” IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett., vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 2574–2581, May 2023, doi: 10.1109/lra.2023.3254450.
11) J. Reis, W. Xie, D. Cabecinhas, and C. Silvestre, “Nonlinear backstepping controller for an underactuated ASV with model parametric uncertainty: Design and experimental validation,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Veh., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 2514–2526, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1109/tiv.2022.3221739.
10) J. Reis, G. Yu, D. Cabecinhas, and C. Silvestre, “High‐performance quadrotor slung load transportation with damped oscillations,” Int. J. Robust Nonlinear Control, Aug. 2022, doi: 10.1002/rnc.6306.
9) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Earth velocity and rigid-body attitude estimation on SO(3) using biased measurements,” IEEE ASME Trans. Mechatron., vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 4246–4257, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1109/tmech.2022.3152220.
8) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Attitude, body-fixed Earth rotation rate, and sensor bias estimation using single observations of direction of gravitational field,” Automatica (Oxf.), vol. 125, no. 109475, p. 109475, Mar. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.automatica.2020.109475.
7) W. Xie, J. Reis, D. Cabecinhas, and C. Silvestre, “Design and experimental validation of a nonlinear controller for underactuated surface vessels,” Nonlinear Dyn., vol. 102, no. 4, pp. 2563–2581, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s11071-020-06058-8.
6) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Kalman filter cascade for attitude estimation on rotating earth,” IEEE ASME Trans. Mechatron., vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 327–338, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1109/tmech.2019.2959080.
5) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Attitude estimation using high-grade gyroscopes,” Control Eng. Pract., vol. 92, no. 104134, p. 104134, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.conengprac.2019.104134.
4) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Calibration of high-grade inertial measurement units using a rate table,” IEEE Sens. Lett., vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 1–4, Apr. 2019, doi: 10.1109/lsens.2019.2906569.
3) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Nonlinear observer on SO(3) for attitude estimation on rotating earth using single vector measurements,” IEEE Control Syst. Lett., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 392–397, Apr. 2019, doi: 10.1109/lcsys.2018.2886740.
2) J. O. Reis, P. T. M. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Source localization based on acoustic single direction measurements,” IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst., vol. 54, no. 6, pp. 2837–2852, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1109/taes.2018.2831118.
1) J. Reis, M. Morgado, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Design and experimental validation of a USBL underwater acoustic positioning system,” Sensors (Basel), vol. 16, no. 9, p. E1491, Sep. 2016, doi: 10.3390/s16091491.
in Conferences
6) J. Reis and C. Silvestre, “Bottom-following control of AUVs using multibeam forward-looking sonar,” Control Eng. Pract., vol. 172, no. 106874, p. 106874, Jul. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.conengprac.2026.106874.
5) J. Reis and C. Silvestre, “Kalman filter as observer and smoother for rigid-body motion control applications,” IFAC-PapersOnLine, vol. 58, no. 16, pp. 95–100, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2024.08.468.
4) P. Casau, J. Reis, and C. Silvestre, “Event-triggered trajectory tracking control of an underactuated autonomous surface vessel,” in 2022 American Control Conference (ACC), IEEE, Jun. 2022. doi: 10.23919/acc53348.2022.9867657.
3) J. Reis, C. Silvestre, P. Batista, and P. Oliveira, “Attitude observers aided by implicit measurements of the Earth angular velocity,” in 2020 59th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), IEEE, Dec. 2020. doi: 10.1109/cdc42340.2020.9304161.
2) J. Reis, P. Batista, P. Oliveira, and C. Silvestre, “Nonlinear attitude observer on SO(3) based on single body-vector measurements,” in 2018 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA), IEEE, Aug. 2018. doi: 10.1109/ccta.2018.8511381.
1) J. Reis, P. Oliveira, P. Batista, and C. Silvestre, “Filter design for localization aided by direction and Doppler measurements,” in 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, May 2014. doi: 10.1109/icra.2014.6907285.