Launched in 2013, the journal Unmanned Systems has published more than 200 articles reporting on the state-of-art development in the field. This review volume has selected the 14 best articles of the journal to mark its 10-year anniversary as well as the progress achieved in the field of unmanned systems in the last decade.The articles selected in this celebratory volume cover all subjects related to the development of automatic machine systems in unmanned hardware platforms (aerial, ground, underwater and unconventional platforms), unmanned software systems, energy systems, modelling and control, communications systems, computer vision systems, sensing and information processing, navigation and path planning, computing, information fusion, multi-agent systems, mission management, machine intelligence, artificial intelligence, and innovative application case studies.An analytical review that examines the selected articles under the human cognitive perceptual cycle, to perceive, learn, remember, and think about information is also included in this collection.

Includes MATLAB-based computational and design algorithms utilizing the "Linear Systems Toolkit."

All results and case studies presented in both the continuous- and discrete-time settings.

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that is equipped with necessary data processing units, sensors, automatic control and communications systems, and is capable of performing autonomously flight missions without a human pilot. Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems provides a complete treatment of the design of fully autonomous miniature rotorcraft UAVs. It is an integration of advanced technologies developed in communications, computing and control areas. In particular, it focuses on:

the systematic hardware construction;

software systems integration;

aerodynamic modeling; and

automatic flight control system design.

Emphasis is extended to the cooperative control and flight formation of multiple UAVs, and vision-based ground target tracking and landing on moving platforms. Other issues such as the development of GPSless indoor micro aerial vehicles and vision-based navigation are also highlighted.

The proposed monograph aims to explore the research and development of fully functional miniature UAV (unmanned-aerial-vehicle) rotorcraft. This consists of a small-scale basic rotorcraft with all necessary accessories onboard, and a ground station. The unmanned system is an integration of advanced technologies developed in communications, computing and control areas. It is an excellent testing ground for trialing and implementing modern control techniques. It is however a highly challenging process. The aerodynamics of a small-scale rotorcraft such as a hobby helicopter are similar to its full-scale counterpart but has some unique characteristics, such as the utilization of stabilizer bar and higher main/tail rotors rotation speed. Besides these, the strict limitation on payload also increases the difficulty on upgrading a small-scale rotorcraft to a UAV with full capacities. Based on its various characteristics and limitations, a light-weight but effective onboard computer system with corresponding onboard/ground software should be carefully designed to realize the system identification and automatic flight requirements. These issues will be addressed in detail in this monograph. Research on the following will be detailed:

utilizing the vision-based system for accomplishing ground target tracking;

attacking and landing;

cooperative control and flight formation of muitiple unmanned rotorcraft;

future research directions on the related areas.

The book will be a good reference for researchers and students working on the related subjects. Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems will be of great value to practicing engineers in rotorcraft industries and to researchers in areas related to the development of unmanned systems in general. It may be used as a reference for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in aeronautics and astrinautics, electrical and mechanical engineering."

H-infinity control theory deals with the minimization of the H-infinity-norm of the transfer matrix from an exogenous disturbance to a pertinent controlled output of a given plant. Robust and H-infinity Control examines both the theoretical and practical aspects of H-infinity control from the angle of the structural properties of linear systems.

Constructive algorithms are provided for finding solutions to:

a [ general singular H-infinity control problems;

a [ general H-infinity almost disturbance decoupling problems;

a [ robust and perfect tracking problems.

The theory presented in the earlier chapters of the text are also subsequently applied to real-life problems with actual implementations: gyro-stabilized mirror targeting; hard-disk-drive servo control and control of a piezoelectric actuator.

Robust and H-infinity Control can be used for graduate courses in robust control and as a reference for academic researchers; the reader should have completed first-year graduate courses in linear systems and multivariable control. It will also be of great value to engineers practising in the process, electronics and aerospace industries.

Remote web-based experimentation, enabling students and researchers to access the laboratory anytime via the Internet, is becoming an increasingly attractive way to complement or even replace traditional laboratory sessions. Placing a video camera & microphone before the equipment and apparatus to capture what is actually happening in the laboratory allows the images and audio data to be streamed to the client side. Researchers in different countries can share equipment and conduct research cooperatively and remotely. The authors summarise their research and discuss the development of the 5 web-based laboratories launched from the National University of Singapore. The principles, structure, and technologies required for the creation of Internet remote experimentation systems are discussed with particular emphasis on the integration of hardware and software systems. Also highlighted is the design and development of interfaces and components for use in typical web-based laboratories or similar web-control applications.

The second edition of this monograph provides a systematic treatment of the design of modern hard disk drive servo systems updated with the latest research results to reflect recent improvements in spindle speed and bit density and other changes in this fast-moving field. In particular, it focuses on the applications of some newly developed results in control theory, i.e., robust and perfect tracking control and composite non-linear feedback control which are suitable for track following and seeking respectively. Emphasis is placed on hard disk drive servo systems with single- or dual-stage actuation using a voice-coil-motor actuator enhanced in the latter case by the addition of a micro-actuator providing faster responses and therefore higher bandwidth in track following. Other issues such as modeling and compensation of nonlinearities and friction in microdrives, disturbance rejection and resonance compensation are also addressed.

The techniques and applications involved include:

• time- and frequency domain methods for system identification;
• physical effect approaches for parameter identification;
• linear systems tools;
• linear control techniques (PID, H2, H-infinity, and other robust control methods);
• classical nonlinear control techniques (time-optimal, proximate time-optimal, and mode switching control);
• composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control;
• complete single- and dual-stage hard disk drive servo systems;
• time- and frequency domain properties of hard disk drive servo systems;
• design of piezoelectric actuator systems;
• modeling and compensation of nonlinearities and friction inmicrodrives.

Hard Disk Drive Servo Systems will be of great value to practicing engineers in the hard disk and CD-ROM drive industries and to researchers in areas related to servo systems. The Linear Systems and CNF MATLABA(R) toolkits used to develop many of the results in this book can be downloaded from Professor Chena (TM)s website.

Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems explores the research and development of fully-functional miniature UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) rotorcraft, and provides a complete treatment of the design of autonomous miniature rotorcraft UAVs. The unmanned system is an integration of advanced technologies developed in communications, computing, and control areas, and is an excellent testing ground for trialing and implementing modern control techniques. Included are detailed expositions of systematic hardware construction, software systems integration, aerodynamic modeling; and automatic flight control system design. Emphasis is placed on the cooperative control and flight formation of multiple UAVs, vision-based ground target tracking, and landing on moving platforms. Other issues such as the development of GPS-less indoor micro aerial vehicles and vision-based navigation are also discussed in depth: utilizing the vision-based system for accomplishing ground target tracking, attacking and landing, cooperative control and flight formation of multiple unmanned rotorcraft; and future research directions on the related areas.

Covers the transmission of real-time video and audio for internet experimentation. Provides detailed descriptions of how the various hardware and software systems can be seamlessly integrated for a complete internet remote experimentation system. Contains examples of real working experiments that are currently running.

Stock Market Modeling and Forecasting translates experience in system adaptation gained in an engineering context to the modeling of financial markets with a view to improving the capture and understanding of market dynamics. The modeling process is considered as identifying a dynamic system in which a real stock market is treated as an unknown plant and the identification model proposed is tuned by feedback of the matching error. Like a physical system, a financial market exhibits fast and slow dynamics corresponding to external (such as company value and profitability) and internal forces (such as investor sentiment and commodity prices) respectively. The framework presented here, consisting of an internal model and an adaptive filter, is successful at considering both fast and slow market dynamics. A double selection method is efficacious in identifying input factors influential in market movements, revealing them to be both frequency- and market-dependent. The authors present work on both developed and developing markets in the shape of the US, Hong Kong, Chinese and Singaporean stock markets. Results from all these sources demonstrate the efficiency of the model framework in identifying significant influences and the quality of its predictive ability; promising results are also obtained by applying the model framework to the forecasting of major market-turning periods. Having shown that system-theoretic ideas can form the core of a novel and effective basis for stock market analysis, the book is completed by an indication of possible and likely future expansions of the research in this area.

Loop Transfer Recovery (LTR) is part of the Communications and Control Engineering Series (CCES) edited by Professors B.W. Dickinson, E.D. Sontag, M. Thoma, A. Fettweis, J.L. Massey and J.W. Modestino. Loop Transfer Recovery deals with several issues of analysis and design of the Loop Transfer Recovery (LTR) problem. It discusses when and how an LTR is possible and outlines different controller structures and the available design freedom. An explanation of the actual design methods for accomplishing an LTR is given. Besides dealing with observer based measurement feedback controllers, which are commonly used for LTR, a new controller with a different architecture which out performs observer based controllers is presented. This publication will be of benefit to anyone who has completed a first graduate course in linear systems and state-space methods, together with an elementary knowledge of Linear Quadratic Control.

Includes MATLAB-based computational and design algorithms utilizing the "Linear Systems Toolkit." All results and case studies presented in both the continuous- and discrete-time settings.

H-infinity control theory deals with the minimization of the H-norm of the transfer matrix from an exogenous disturbance to a pertinent controlled output of a given plant. This comprehensive book examines both the theoretical and practical aspects of H-infinity control from the angle of the structural properties of linear systems.

The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology has an impact on all areas of the control discipline. New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies , new challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports, feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial control for wider and rapid dissemination. Hard disk drive systems are ubiquitous in today's computer systems and the technology is still evolving. There is a review of hard disk drive technology and construction in the early pages of this monograph that looks at the characteristics of the disks and there it can be read that: "bit density... continues to increase at an amazing rate", "spindle speed... the move to faster and faster spindle speeds continue", "form factors... the trend...is downward... to smaller and smaller drives", "performance... factors are improving", "redundant arrays of inexpensive disks... becoming increasingly common, and is now seen in consumer desktop machines", "reliability... is improving slowly... it is very hard to improve the reliability of a product when it is changing rapidly" and finally "interfaces... continue to create new and improved standards... to match the increase in performance of the hard disks themselves".

H... control theory is a subject that deals with the minimisation of the H... norm of the transfer matrix from an exogenous disturbance to a pertinent controlled output of a given plant. H... Control and Its Applications examines both the theoretical and practical aspects of H... control from the angle of the structural properties of linear systems. Constructive algorithms for finding solutions to general singular H... control problems are presented, as well as solutions to general H... almost disturbance decoupling problems, and the applications of the theory to real-life problems with actual implementations is also presented. The book deals with all such issues for general continuous - and discrete-time systems. The book can be used in graduate courses in departments of aeronautics and astronautics, applied mathematics, chemical engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. It is also invaluable for practising engineers in industry.