Model rockets can get by with only simple passive stability (i.e. keeping the CG in front of the CP). While this is potentially true with High Power rockets, it is a waste of a vehicle’s potential to simply let it wander wherever it will while burning off those thousands of Newton-seconds of impulse. A straight, vertical flight is essential for obtaining maximum altitude, a goal not just for the rocketeer’s bragging rights but sometimes required when flying scientific payloads. Vertical trajectory systems (a term coined by Dave Ketchledge, see The Next Shuttle and Rocket Science) are a class of active guidance systems whose job it is to keep a rocket going completely vertical regardless of outside disturbances. In its densely packed pages, Steve Ainsworth covers guidance detection (how to know which way “up” is) and control (how to actively change your trajectory). He covers the basics of analytical system design so you know what needs to be done, and then the iterative hardware design process to build the equipment to do it. This is not a book for beginners! A solid understanding of hobby rocket dynamics of at least the level found in the Stine Handbook is a prerequisite. Then again, you wouldn’t be looking for a book like this if you weren’t already there.

By the dawn of the new millennium, robotics has undergone a major tra- formation in scope and dimensions. This expansion has been brought about bythematurityofthe?eldandtheadvancesinitsrelatedtechnologies.From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenges of the human world. The new generation of robots is expected to safely and dependably co-habitat with humans in homes, workplaces, and communities,providingsupportinservices,entertainment,education,heal- care, manufacturing, and assistance. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge robotics has produced is revealing a much wider range of applications reaching across - verse research areas and scienti?c disciplines, such as: biomechanics, haptics, neurosciences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of the new emerging areas are pr- ing an abundant source of stimulation and insights for the ?eld of robotics. It is indeed at the intersection of disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The goal of the series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their signi?cance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing ?eld.

This monograph presents theoretical methods involving the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman formalism in conjunction with set-valued techniques of nonlinear analysis to solve significant problems in dynamics and control. The emphasis is on issues of reachability, feedback control synthesis under complex state constraints, hard or double bounds on controls, and performance in finite time. Guaranteed state estimation, output feedback control, and hybrid dynamics are also discussed. Although the focus is on systems with linear structure, the authors indicate how to apply each approach to nonlinear and nonconvex systems. The main theoretical results lead to computational schemes based on extensions of ellipsoidal calculus that provide complete solutions to the problems. These computational schemes in turn yield software tools that can be applied effectively to high-dimensional systems. Ellipsoidal Techniques for Problems of Dynamics and Control: Theory and Computation will interest graduate and senior undergraduate students, as well as researchers and practitioners interested in control theory, its applications, and its computational realizations.

This book presents the most recent research advances in the theory, design, control and application of robotic systems, which are intended for a variety of purposes such as manipulation, manufacturing, automation, surgery, locomotion and biomechanics.

Publication of a research work to Rudolf Steiner's statements and scetches on the planets' lemniscatory paths. For the first time in almost a hundred years, Rudolf Steiner's statements and sketches on the subject of the "Lemniscatory paths of the planets", distributed over several lecture cycles, have been brought into a larger context and examined for the consequences of this. Steiner's suggestions for a new consideration of the planetary movement were taken up and tried to develop them further in the given sense. The work "The Lemniscatory Path System" arose from this. The treatise comprises 192 pages with 253 mostly coloured illustrations.

"This introductory, algebra-based, two-semester college physics book is grounded with real-world examples, illustrations, and explanations to help students grasp key, fundamental physics concepts. ... This online, fully editable and customizable title includes learning objectives, concept questions, links to labs and simulations, and ample practice opportunities to solve traditional physics application problems."--Website of book.

Comprehensive Remote Sensing, Nine Volume Set covers all aspects of the topic, with each volume edited by well-known scientists and contributed to by frontier researchers. It is a comprehensive resource that will benefit both students and researchers who want to further their understanding in this discipline. The field of remote sensing has quadrupled in size in the past two decades, and increasingly draws in individuals working in a diverse set of disciplines ranging from geographers, oceanographers, and meteorologists, to physicists and computer scientists. Researchers from a variety of backgrounds are now accessing remote sensing data, creating an urgent need for a one-stop reference work that can comprehensively document the development of remote sensing, from the basic principles, modeling and practical algorithms, to various applications. Fully comprehensive coverage of this rapidly growing discipline, giving readers a detailed overview of all aspects of Remote Sensing principles and applications Contains ‘Layered content’, with each article beginning with the basics and then moving on to more complex concepts Ideal for advanced undergraduates and academic researchers Includes case studies that illustrate the practical application of remote sensing principles, further enhancing understanding

A revised and updated edition of this student introductory textbook, it has new diagrams and illustrations, with updated hardware examples. A new concluding chapter on graphical user interfaces is added. There is also more emphasis on client-server systems.