Nathan Weir

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  • nweir3 at illinois.edu
  • Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering
  • M.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Purdue University
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Purdue University
  • Research Interests: Dynamic Modeling and Simulation, System Identification, Precision Motion Control, Active and Passive Vibration Isolation

 

Current Work

My research focuses on the development of precision motion control strategies for inertially stabilized pointing systems. Precision pointing systems are used to aim and stabilize sensitive instrument or sensor payloads for a variety of applications including photography, videography, astronomy, remote sensing, and communications. The jitter requirements for future systems grow more demanding as higher resolution sensors become available. Pointing systems that require a large field of regard and high precision are often limited in performance with conventional bearing technologies. This research seeks to advance the state of the art of precision stabilization systems through the design, analysis, and experimental evaluation of a novel hybrid flexure bearing concept to minimize the effects of nonlinear friction that typically degrade jitter performance in systems with conventional ball bearing joints.