Jack B. Kuipers Collection, 1953-2006 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Jack B. Kuipers Collection, 1953-2006

ID: COLL/160

Primary Creator: Jack B. Kuipers (1921-)

Extent: 12.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Professor of mathematics at Calvin College and pioneer in virtual reality technology. The collection details applied aerospace dynamics, conventional matrix methods, and quaternion algebra; “SPASYN” (a patented space synchronizer); and other patented products. The collection includes correspondence, reports, papers, articles, Quaternions and Rotation Sequences: A Primer with Applications book chapter drafts, patent materials, book reviews, presentation photo slides, and biographical information.

Biographical Note

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jack B. Kuipers (1921- ) was the oldest of eight children born to Berend and Grace (née Werkeman) Kuipers. He majored in mathematics and physics at Calvin College and earned a BS in electrical engineering and MS in automatic control engineering from the University of Michigan, and studied radar technology at MIT and Harvard University.

He served with the US Army Signal Corps during WW II and worked for various contractors in the aerospace industry during the 1950s and on the staff of the University of Michigan in the 1960s teaching courses in control and information theory. He joined the faculty of Calvin College Mathematics Department in 1967 and was appointed professor emeritus at Calvin in 1986.

The focus of his research has been on guidance systems, particularly SPASYN (an acronym for space synchronizer) which used radio signals to determine the relationship between two objects moving through three-dimensional space. This technology has been adapted to guidance and targeting systems, air traffic control, and virtual reality. He authored Quaternions and Rotation Sequences: A Primer with Applications to Orbits, Aerospace, and Virtual Reality that has gone through many printings and became the standard reference for aerospace engineering.

He also consulted for numerous companies. For his work, Kuipers earned eight patents in the United States and nine in other countries. In 2002, he was named a distinguished alumnus by Calvin College.

Kuipers married Lois Belle Holtrop (1925- ), the daughter of Corneal and Jennie (née Kruizenga) Holtrop. They have five children: Benjamin, Emily, Joel, Alison, and Lynne.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal],
[Series 2: Papers by Jack B. Kuipers],
[Series 3: SPASYN Research],
[Series 4: Patents -- Jack B. Kuipers],
[Series 5: Patents-Other],
[Series 6: Consulting Projects],
[Series 7: Research Material],
[Series 8: Patent Law Suits],
[Series 9: Presentations],
[Series 10: Miscellaneous],
[Series 11: Papers],
[All]

Series 2: Papers by Jack B. Kuipers

Box 1

Folder 13: "Aircraft Kinematics" --- 1986
Folder 14: "Attitude Control of Satellites and Space Vehicles" --- 1963
Folder 15: "Coordinate Transformation Sensor" and Associated Patent --- 1971-1975
Folder 16: "Design a Strap down Attitude and Heading Reference System" --- undated
Folder 17: "The Distribution of End-To-End Distances in Polymer Molecules" --- undated
Folder 18: "An Electromagnetic Field Distortion Measurement System" --- 1978

Box 2

Folder 1: "An Electromagnetic Relative Position Tracking System" --- 1978

Folder 2: "The "Fifth Wheel" Automatic Brake Control System" --- 1961

Folder 3: "The Generalized Spasyn" --- 2000

Folder 4: "A Helicopter Landing Aid Twoway V-Offset Guidance" --- 1977

Folder 5: "A Navigation and Guidance System for Offshore Technology Operations" --- 1978

Folder 6: "A New Processing Strategy for Helmet Mounted Sight and Collision Avoidance System" --- 2002

Folder 7: "A Quaternion Process for Precise Electromagnetic Field Measurements" --- 1984

Folder 8: "Quaternion Algebra" --- 1986

Folder 9: "Quaternions and Rotation Sequences", (Given at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) --- 1999

Folder 10: "Quaternions and their Geometrical Interpretation" --- undated

Folder 11: "Solution and Simulation of Certain Kinematics and Dynamic Problems Using Resolvers" --- 1967

Folder 12

Item 1: "A Transfer Function for a Vertical Gyro" --- 1975
Item 2: "A Pendulous Vertical Gyro"

Folder 13: "A Vertical Gyro Error" --- 1973

Folder 14: "Two Way a Position and Orientation Measurement System" --- 1977

Folder 15: "A View into the Nature of the Solution Space of Ordinary Differential Equations" --- 1973

Folder 16: "Why do We Believe in Electrons but not in Fairies?" --- 2005