teaching

Modeling, navigation, and control of robotic and aerospace systems that rotate and translate in three-dimensional space. Kinematic and dynamic models. Nonlinear state-estimation strategies for navigation. Nonlinear control strategies.

Variational methods. Hamilton’s principle and equations of motion of engineering systems. Lagrangian formulations for discrete systems. Methods of discretizing continuous systems. Rigid body dynamics. Dynamic behaviour of linear and nonlinear systems. Response of engineering systems to deterministic inputs by classical methods. Stability of linear and nonlinear systems.

State-space modelling and related linear algebra. Controllability and observability of linear time-invariant systems and corresponding tests, system realizations. Stability including bounded-Input-Bounded-Output (BIBO), internal, and Lyapunov stability. Linear state feedback control, state observers, optimal control, optimal estimation, and robust control.

Modelling of physical linear time-invariant systems using transfer functions. Transient and steady-state response specifications. State space representation of systems. Frequency-response characterization. Stability. Feedback control systems. PID controller design. Frequency response design methods. Lead, lag and PID compensators.

Numerical techniques for problems commonly encountered in Mechanical Engineering including systems of linear equations, eigenvalue problems, least-squares estimation, optimization, ordinary differential equations, and interpolation. The emphasis is on understanding the underlying numerical methods and their application to engineering problems.

Dynamics of particles and rigid bodies in planar and three-dimensional motion. Kinematics; coordinate systems, rotating frames of reference, rotational kinematics of rigid bodies, relative and absolute motion analyses. Kinetics; equations of motion, impulse-momentum principles and conservation of momentum, principle of work and energy and conservation of energy.