Robert F. Stengel
Robert Stengel is a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. His current interests focus on aircraft and spaceflight dynamics, control system design, and biodynamic systems. A second edition of his book Flight Dynamics (Princeton University Press) was published in November 2022.
Prior to joining the Princeton faculty in 1977, Dr. Stengel was with
The Analytic Sciences Corporation, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, the US Air Force, and NASA. At the Draper Laboratory (1968-73), he was principal designer of the
Apollo Project Lunar Module manual control logic used for all moon landings, and he created a preliminary design for the Space Shuttle atmospheric flight control system. There, he also initiated a project to develop a Bedside Biomedical Computer for the analysis of cardiovascular data, a precursor to today's computer-based EKG machines. His work at TASC (1973-77) included modeling of pilot/aircraft interactions, fuel-optimal flight of jet transports, digital control of high-performance aircraft and helicopters, submarine dynamics and control, and statistical assessment of the effects of electric powerplant waste water on biologically indigenous populations. While serving as an Air Force lieutenant (1960-63), he was a Range Safety Officer at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.
From 1994 to 1997, he served as the Engineering School's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. During that time, he initiated new programs of graduate study and undergraduate computer education, and he developed an innovative approach to teaching engineering freshman seminars. In 1998, he founded Princeton's Certificate Program in Robotics and Intelligent Systems. During his 20 years as director of the program, over 350 students were awarded the certificate at graduation. As Director of Princeton's Flight Research Laboratory from 1977 to 1983, Stengel, his students, and staff conducted pioneering experimental research on digital flight control systems, flight computer networking via fiber-optics, aircraft flying qualities, and aerodynamic system identification. This research used Princeton's two fly-by-wire, variable-stability aircraft and a specially instrumented sailplane. He also has investigated immune system dynamics and control.
Dr. Stengel received the S.B. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from M.I.T (1960) and M.S.E., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University (1965, 1966, 1968). He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a Life Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has received the AIAA G. Edward Pendray Aerospace Literature Award (2012), the John R. Ragazzini Education Award of the American Automatic Control Council (2002) and the AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award (2000). He is a co-recipient of the FAA's first Excellence in Aviation Award.
Selected Publications and Presentations
Books
- OPTIMAL CONTROL AND ESTIMATION, Dover Publications, New York, 1994. (originally published as STOCHASTIC OPTIMAL CONTROL; Theory and Application, J. Wiley & Sons, New York, 1986.)
- FLIGHT DYNAMICS, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, First Edition, 2004, Second Edition, 2022.
- Robotics and Intelligent Systems: A Virtual Reference Book, https://stengel.mycpanel.princeton.edu/RISVirText.html, 2017.
- Introduction to Aircraft Flight Dynamics: A Virtual Reference Book, https://stengel.mycpanel.princeton.edu/AFDVirTex.html, 2024.
Open Courseware
Selected Journal Papers
- Optimal Control of Innate Immune Response (pdf), Optimal Control Applications & Methods, Vol. 23, Mar-Apr 2002, pp. 91-104 (with R. Ghigliazza, N. Kulkarni, and O. Laplace).
- Robust Control of Nonlinear Systems with Parametric Uncertainty (pdf), Automatica, Vol. 38, Sept 2002, pp. 1591-1599 (with Q. Wang).
- Optimal Enhancement of Immune Response (pdf), Bioinformatics, Vol. 18, No. 9, Sept 2002, pp. 1227-1235 (with R. Ghigliazza and N. Kulkarni).
- On-Line Adaptive Critic Flight Control (pdf), J. Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 27, No. 5, Sep-Oct 2004, pp. 777-786 (with S. Ferrari).
- Stochastic Optimal Enhancement of Immune Response (pdf), Mathematical Biosciences, Vol. 191, Oct 2004, pp. 123-142 (with R. Ghigliazza).
- Model-based Adaptive Critic Designs (pdf), in Learning and Approximate Dynamic Programming, J. Si, A. Barto, W. Powell, and D. Wunsch, ed., J. Wiley & Sons, New York, 2004 (with S. Ferrari).
- Smooth Function Approximation Using Neural Networks (pdf), IEEE Trans. Neural Networks, Vol. 16, No. 1, Jan 2005, pp. 24-38 (with S. Ferrari).
- Robust Nonlinear Flight Control of a High-Performance Aircraft (pdf), IEEE Trans. Control Systems Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, Jan 2005, pp. 15-26 (with Q. Wang).
- Probabilistic Control of Nonlinear Uncertain Dynamic Systems (pdf), in Probabilistic and Randomized Methods for Design under Uncertainty, G. Calafiore and F. Dabbene, ed., Springer, New York, 2006, pp. 381-414 (with Q. Wang).
- Relationship of Gene Expression and Chromosomal Abnormalities in Colorectal Cancer (pdf), Cancer Research, Vol. 66, No. 4, 2006, pp. 2129-2137 (with D. Tsafrir, M. Bacalod, Z. Selvanayagam, I. Tsafrir, J. Shia, Z. Zeng, H. Liu, C. Krier, F. Barany, W. Gerald, P. Paty, E. Domany, and D. Notterman).
- The Signatures of Autozygosity Among Patients with Colorectal Cancer, Cancer Research, Vol. 68, No. 8, Apr 15, 2008, pp. 2610-2621 (with M. Bacolod, G. Schemmann, S. Wang, R. Shattock, S. Giardina, Z. Zeng, J. Shia, N. Gerry, J. Hoh, T. Kirchoff, B. Gold, M. Christman, K. Offit, W. Gerald, D. Notterman, J. Ott, P. Paty, and F. Barany).
- Mutation and Control of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Mathematical Biosciences, Vol. 213, No. 2, June 2008, pp. 93-102.
- Dynamics of a Cytokine Storm, PLOS ONE, Vol. 7, No. 10, e45027, Oct 2012, pp. 1-15 (with H. Yiu and A. Graham).
- Book Review: Morphing Aerospace Vehicles and Structures, J. Valasek, ed., Journal of Guidance, Dynamics, and Control, Vol. 36, No. 5, Sep-Oct 2013, pp. 1562-1563.
- Unsteady High-Angle-of-Attack Aerodynamic Models of a Generic Jet Transport, Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 52, No. 3, May-June 2015, pp. 890-895 (with D. Luchtenburg, C. Rowley, M. Lohry, and L. Martinelli).
Selected Conference Papers
- Integration of UAV in Flight and Ground Operations, AIAA-2013-4575, AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2013 Conference, Boston, MA, Aug 2013 (with A. Dixit, J. Falusi, S. Kim, and G. Savit).
- Flight Testing a UAV in Simulated Controlled Airspace, AIAA-2013-4701, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, Boston, MA, Aug 2013 (with A. Dixit, J. Falusi, S. Kim, and G. Savit).
- Development of an iPhone-controlled UAV, AIAA-2013-5007, AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference, Boston, MA, Aug 2013 (with A. Dixit, J. Falusi, S. Kim, and G. Savit).
- Autonomous Control of Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles in Heavily Trafficked Military Airspace, 14th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition 2014, Atlanta, GA, June 2014 (with K. Smith).
- A General Method for Kinematic Retargeting: Adapting Poses Between Humans and Robots, IMECE2014-37700, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Toronto, Canada, Nov 2014 (with T. Tosun and R. Mead).
- Prototype for an Asteroid Exploratory Robot Using
Multi-Phalanx Microspine Grippers, AIAA SPACE 2015, Pasadena, Sep 2015 (with A. Boohene, D. Newill-Smith, and T. Trieu).
Selected Talks
- Lunar Voyages, Various, 2024.
- Perspectives on Computation and Flight Control, Aerospace Control and Guidance Systems Committee, 2023.
- Flight to the Moon, MIT IAP 16.S585, 2021.
- Project Apollo: Origins, Missions, and the Legacy, Boothbay Harbor Public Library, 2019.
- Project Apollo: Origins, Missions, and the Legacy (ppsx Download), Princeton Public Library, 2019.
- The 737 MAX, Princeton University, 2019.
- From the Earth to the Moon, Alumni Day Lecture, Princeton University, 2014.
- Dynamics of a Cytokine Storm, Princeton University, 2012, and Duke University, 2013.
- Battling the Cancer Insurgency, Princeton University, 2010.
- Neural-Adaptive Control of Dynamic Systems, George Washington University, 2007.
- Multiclass Analysis of Gene Expression Data, Institute for Advanced Study, 2006.
- Air Transportation After September 11th, Princeton University, 2002.
Articles
- People in Control (pdf), IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 3, June 2009, pp. 24-27.
- Robo Shop, Princeton Alumni Weekly, Vol. 112, No. 4, November 11, 2011, pp. 30-32.
- The People, Hack the Moon, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, 2019.
Course Descriptions
Publications
- Telephone: (609) 258-5103
- E-mail: stengel at princeton.edu
- Address:
Princeton University
D-202 Engineering Quadrangle
Princeton, NJ 08544
