“How can we make a location history using past velocities?”
Making a location history can be very difficult. Having to make active GPS measurements for a cycle of intervals is very taxing on resources. However, is there a way that we could circumvent this and make a new less resource intense system? Well, let’s start off by thinking back to basic physics. We know that velocity multiplied by time equals a change in distance. So what if were to start off with an initial GPS location and then build an array of all of the measured velocities after that? Well, this is the fundamental ideas behind a technique known as Dead Reckoning and is commonly implemented in control systems and machines that are equipped to go into no-GPS locations.
“What houses the controls for cyber-physical systems?”
Mechatronic systems require controls software in order to function correctly. However, how is this implemented physically into the system? Well, let’s use our engineering mindset to find out. We know that microcontrollers can perform simple controls tasks. So what if we were to hook a number of them together and program them with software to make a controls unit focused on one task? Well, this piece of technology is known as an embedded system and can be found in electro-mechanical operations worldwide. Examples of embedded systems include braking systems in vehicles, thermostats, and the motors on NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover!
If you read last night’s episode of Isaac’s daily science lecture, you would have learned that Scientists and Engineers often use computational models to simulate complex systems. Tonight we will discuss the application to physics, often called Computational physics. Officially, Computational physics is defined as the study and implementation of numerical models to simulate complex physical problems. Computational physics as emerged as an entire methodology in it’s own right, with applications ranging from the simulation of the Nbody problem.
As we have discussed about complex systems before, much of the natural world can not be predicted using simple mechanistic equations, but requires more complex theories instead. Now one may ask, how is it possible for scientists to utilize such complex theories? The answer lies in the fact that many scientists now a days use something called a simulation to control those systems. By recreating the theories as a computer model, scientists can be granted real time control of a particular situation. Simulations permeate every field of science, weather it be solar systems for astrophysics or earth systems in geology.
Isaac's Science Blog 