Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate the free-stream flow of the fluid,and the interaction of the fluid with surfaces defined by boundary conditions. With high-speed supercomputers,better solutions can be achieved,and are often required to solve the largest and most complex problems. Ongoing research yields software that improves the accuracy and speed of complex simulation scenarios such as transonic or turbulent flows. Initial validation of such software is typically performed using experimental apparatus such as wind tunnels. In addition,previously performed analytical or empirical analysis of a particular problem can be used for comparison. A final validation is often performed using full-scale testing,such as flight tests.
Bio-inspired computing,short for biologically inspired computing,is a field of study which seeks to solve computer science problems using models of biology. It relates to connectionism,social behavior,and emergence. Within computer science,bio-inspired computing relates to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Bio-inspired computing is a major subset of natural computation.
Neuromorphic computing is an approach to computing that is inspired by the structure and function of the human brain. A neuromorphic computer/chip is any device that uses physical artificial neurons to do computations. In recent times,the term neuromorphic has been used to describe analog,digital,mixed-mode analog/digital VLSI,and software systems that implement models of neural systems. The implementation of neuromorphic computing on the hardware level can be realized by oxide-based memristors,spintronic memories,threshold switches,transistors,among others. Training software-based neuromorphic systems of spiking neural networks can be achieved using error backpropagation,e.g.,using Python based frameworks such as snnTorch,or using canonical learning rules from the biological learning literature,e.g.,using BindsNet.
A neural network can refer to either a neural circuit of biological neurons,or a network of artificial neurons or nodes in the case of an artificial neural network. Artificial neural networks are used for solving artificial intelligence (AI) problems;they model connections of biological neurons as weights between nodes. A positive weight reflects an excitatory connection,while negative values mean inhibitory connections. All inputs are modified by a weight and summed. This activity is referred to as a linear combination. Finally,an activation function controls the amplitude of the output. For example,an acceptable range of output is usually between 0 and 1,or it could be −1 and 1.
Neuroinformatics is the field that combines informatics and neuroscience. Neuroinformatics is related with neuroscience data and information processing by artificial neural networks. There are three main directions where neuroinformatics has to be applied:
Bram van Leer is Arthur B. Modine Emeritus Professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan,in Ann Arbor. He specializes in Computational fluid dynamics (CFD),fluid dynamics,and numerical analysis. His most influential work lies in CFD,a field he helped modernize from 1970 onwards. An appraisal of his early work has been given by C. Hirsch (1979)
Neurorobotics is the combined study of neuroscience,robotics,and artificial intelligence. It is the science and technology of embodied autonomous neural systems. Neural systems include brain-inspired algorithms,computational models of biological neural networks and actual biological systems. Such neural systems can be embodied in machines with mechanic or any other forms of physical actuation. This includes robots,prosthetic or wearable systems but also,at smaller scale,micro-machines and,at the larger scales,furniture and infrastructures.
Pseudospectral optimal control is a joint theoretical-computational method for solving optimal control problems. It combines pseudospectral (PS) theory with optimal control theory to produce PS optimal control theory. PS optimal control theory has been used in ground and flight systems in military and industrial applications. The techniques have been extensively used to solve a wide range of problems such as those arising in UAV trajectory generation,missile guidance,control of robotic arms,vibration damping,lunar guidance,magnetic control,swing-up and stabilization of an inverted pendulum,orbit transfers,tether libration control,ascent guidance and quantum control.
DIDO is a MATLAB optimal control toolbox for solving general-purpose optimal control problems. It is widely used in academia,industry,and NASA. Hailed as a breakthrough software,DIDO is based on the pseudospectral optimal control theory of Ross and Fahroo. The latest enhancements to DIDO are described in Ross.
Wei ShyyJP is an aerospace engineer who served as the 4th President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) from 2018 to 2022 with his acting presidency starting from 1 February 2018. He also holds a concurrent appointment as Chair Professor of Mechanical &Aerospace Engineering. He first joined HKUST in August 2010 as Provost.
Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe,informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession,in which the central notion is transformation of information. In other countries,the term "informatics" is used with a different meaning in the context of library science,in which case it is synonymous with data storage and retrieval.
Ramesh K. Agarwal is the William Palm Professor of Engineering in the department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of Aerospace Engineering Program,Aerospace Research and Education Center and Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at WUSTL. From 1994 to 1996,he was the Sam Bloomfield Distinguished Professor and Chair of Aerospace Engineering department at Wichita State University in Wichita,Kansas. From 1996 to 2001,he was the Bloomfield Distinguished Professor and the executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. Agarwal received Ph.D in Aeronautical Sciences from Stanford University in 1975,M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1969 and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology,Kharagpur,India in 1968.
Andres Jaramillo-Botero is a Colombian-American scientist and professor,working in computational chemical physics,known for his contributions to first-principles based modeling,design and characterization of nanoscale materials and devices.
A blade vortex interaction (BVI) is an unsteady phenomenon of three-dimensional nature,which occurs when a rotor blade passes within a close proximity of the shed tip vortices from a previous blade. The aerodynamic interactions represent an important topic of investigation in rotorcraft research field due to the adverse influence produced on rotor noise,particularly in low speed descending flight condition or maneuver,which generates high amplitude impulsive noise.
Guru Guruswamy is an American engineer working as Principal Scientist at Ames Research Center since 1988. He pioneered research in the area of computational aeroelasticity that involves Unsteady Aerodynamics,Finite Element Methods,Computational Fluid Dynamics,Parallel Computing and Problem Solving Environment. His innovative research was utilized in the first commercial 3-D computational aeroelasticity software developed by a major aerospace industry. The aeroelasticity legend Holt Ashley extensively referred to Guruswamy's research in his classical review paper. In 1988 he demonstrated the unique use of Transonic Small Perturbation based CFD for designing active controls to increase the safety of aircraft. It was followed by a break through development of Euler flow equations based Computational Aeroelasticy. It was cited by another Aeroelasticity legend John Dugundji of MIT as an important milestone in Aeroelasticity. A google search shows about 150 researchers took advantage Guruswamy's work based on the Euler equations for follow-up developments.
Silvia Ferrari is an American aerospace engineer. She is John Brancaccio Professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University and also the director of the Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Control (LISC) at the same university.
Subrata Roy is an Indian-born American inventor,educator,and scientist known for his work in plasma-based flow control and plasma-based self-sterilizing technology. He is a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida and the founding director of the Applied Physics Research Group at the University of Florida.
A synthetic air data system (SADS) is an alternative air data system that can produce synthetic air data quantities without directly measuring the air data. It uses other information such as GPS,wind information,the aircraft's attitude,and aerodynamic properties to estimate or infer the air data quantities. Though air data includes altitude,airspeed,pressures,air temperature,Mach number,and flow angles,existing known SADS primarily focuses on estimating airspeed,Angle of Attack,and Angle of sideslip. SADS is used to monitor the primary air data system if there is an anomaly due to sensor faults or system faults. It can also be potentially used as a backup to provide air data estimates for any aerial vehicle.
Carlos E. S. Cesnik is a Brazilian-American aerospace engineer,academic,and author. He is the Clarence L. (Kelly) Johnson Collegiate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and the founding Director of the Active Aeroelasticity and Structures Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. He also directs the Airbus-Michigan Center for Aero-Servo-Elasticity of Very Flexible Aircraft (CASE-VFA).
