IEEE Control Systems

We introduced some of the basic principles, techniques, and key design issues common to ISPs used in many diverse scientific, military, and commercial applications, and we touched on some of the less intuitive effects that must be dealt with. Many of these effects can influence the initial configuration of the system as well as design details later in the design process. The successful design of a... View full abstract»

Optical imaging sensors, such as television or infrared cameras, collect information about targets or target regions. It is thus necessary to control the sensor's line-of-sight (LOS) to achieve accurate pointing. Maintaining sensor orientation toward a target is particularly challenging when the imaging sensor is carried on a mobile vehicle or when the target is highly dynamic. Controlling an opti... View full abstract»

This article provides an overview of the technical challenges and solutions for ISP designers for strategic inertial navigation systems (INSs). The design descriptions herein are mostly generic, with occasional references to existing or past strategic systems. The article discusses four primary topics, namely, system design options, environments and mitigation techniques, preflight calibration and... View full abstract»

This article answers a query on programmable logic controllers. We also have a response by Dennis Bernstein about the meaning of inertial space. The main purpose of a PLC is to control industrial processes, which are usually sequential or discrete processes. Although PLCs are real-time systems, they run on a scan cycle instead of a fixed sample time. View full abstract»

Presents interviews with James Royalty of Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida, and Steven Griffin of Boeing-SVS in Albuquerque, New Mexico. View full abstract»

Mobile VSAT satcom antenna systems are available on the market today but are just in their infancy. All observers of the satellite industry see great growth potential for this market. Press releases announcing a new product offering are now common, and an Internet search for "satcom on-the-move" produces tens of thousands of hits. Already one can find examples of delayed or failed products that su... View full abstract»