This book is an outcome of the lecturesdelivered by the author for engineering students at KyushuUniversity, Japan, Korea Advanced Institute of Science andTechnology, South Korea, and Ryerson University, Canada. The textstarted when the author was at Kyushu University, Japan. Theauthor has been doing research on the subject of sensors andactuators for aerospace systems for the last fifteen years. Duringthe course of research and teaching this subject, the authorrealized that there is an earnest need of a text which may providebasic understanding of inherent complexity in modelling avionicssystems. This text fulfils this goal through a step by stepapproach that explains each concept in a simple way withmathematical details and simple notations.This textbook is written for engineers and students pursuing studyor research on the dynamics and control of aircraft or spacesystems. The author has used all contents of this textbook in acore course on Avionics and Systems (one semester, four hours aweek). This text assumes that the reader is well acquainted withelementary calculus and linear algebra. Enough care has been takenso that the reader may attempt different types of problems. Eachconcept has been discussed with sufficient mathematical backgroundsupported by examples. A complete set of problems has been addedto the end of every chapter. This textbook provides the practicalaspects of designing aerospace systems with a focus on sensors andactuators.In writing this textbook, I have tried my best to provide the bestrelevant materials on the subject. I encourage and welcome allcomments and suggestions to make this book more relevant to thecontents of your course or research study. Please address yourcomments to kdkumar@ryerson.ca.
Dr. Krishna Dev Kumar is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Space Systems, Director of Space Systems Dynamics and Control (SSDC) Laboratory and Space Electronics Test and Integration (SETI) at Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ryerson University, Canada (www.ryerson.ca/ kdkumar). His experience in academia spans more than 20 years at various premier institutions in Canada and abroad (including Ryerson University, Canada; National Aerospace Laboratory, Japan; Kyushu University, Japan; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea; Defence Research and Development Organization, India; and Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani, India). He is one of the most prolific and highly respected researchers in the areas of system dynamics and control, miniature satellite design, micro/nano-sensors and actuators, fault diagnosis and prognosis, wireless monitoring systems, and intelligent control. Dr. Kumar has made significant contributions with major impact in these areas leading to new theoretical results and novel technologies for spacecraft control, formation flying, fault tolerant control and miniature wireless systems. His research has been well funded through several research grants in collaborations with high-tech industries and government agencies in Canada and abroad; these include Canadian Space Agency, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Bombardier Transportation Canada Inc., Messier Dowty Inc., CSR+ Vermicast Industries Inc., SpaceQuest Ltd., CANEUS NPS Inc., NSERC, MITACS Inc. and Ontario Center of Excellence. Dr. Kumar has made significant research contributions with over 180 publications in high-ranking journals (71 papers) and conference proceedings (110), 5 books, 11 intellectual properties, and four patents (two granted and two applied). Dr. Kumar's research is widely recognized nationally and internationally with several awards that include Canada Research Chair (2005-2010; 2010-2015), Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar award (2015), Associate Fellow and Life Member of AIAA (2012), Ontario Early Researcher Award (2006-2011), NSERC Discovery Grant (2007-2012; 2012-2017), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship (2001-2003), and Science and Technology Agency (STA) Fellowship (1998-2000). He has been chosen as the co-editor of Acta Astronautica (2014-2017), a prestigious journal in the areas of spacecraft design, dynamics and control.
