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 7: Research Material

Box 6

Folder 1: The Analysis and Design of Nonlinear Control Systems --- 1964
Folder 2: Analytical Mechanics Stability of Motion Celestial Ballistics --- 1968
Folder 3: "Animating Rotation and Quaternion Curves" --- 1986
Folder 4: "Application of Statistical Filtering" and "Estimation of a Satellites Ephemeris" --- 1964
Folder 5: "Charge Image Generator: Theory of Operation and Author Language Support" --- 1975
Folder 6: "Control System Analysis and Design via 2nd Method of Lyapunov" --- 1959
Folder 7: "The Detection of Radar Echoes in Noise I and II" --- 1960
Folder 8: "Control Theory", E.G. Gilbert --- undated
Folder 9: "Controllability and Observability in Multivariable Control Systems" --- 1963
Folder 10: "A Design for High Performance Aircraft Stability Augmentation Systems" --- undated
Folder 11: "Design Considerations for SPASYN Low Frequency Positioning Systems" --- 1977
Folder 12: "Design of Linear Flight Control Systems" --- 1964
Folder 13: "Design of Linear Flight Control Systems Using Optimal Control Theory" --- 1964
Folder 14: "Detection Theory" --- undated

Box 7

Folder 1: "Development of Manufacturing Methods for Production of Dual Axis Rate Transducers" --- 1966
Folder 2: "Digital Computer Program for a Generalized Inertial Guidance System" --- 1959
Folder 3-4: Dynamics of Flight --- 1958
Folder 5: "Electromagnetic Head Tracking- (SPA-SYN-COM) --- 1979
Folder 6: "Elements of Space and Reentry Vehicles" --- undated
Folder 7: "Engineering the Enterprise" --- 1999
Folder 8: Extension of Linear Constant-Coefficient Analysis Methods to Time-Varying Systems --- 1964
Folder 9: "Factored Complex Quaternions" --- 1981
Folder 10: "Fundamentals of Numerical Control" --- undated
Folder 11: "General Equations of Motion of a Satellite in Gravitational Gradient Field" --- 1959
Folder 12: "Generalization of Farfield SPASYN" --- 1983

Box 8

Folder 1: "Generation and Display of Geometric Fractals in 3-D --- 1982
Folder 2-3: "Guidance Design Analysis for Military Space Operations" --- 1964
Folder 4: "Installation and Operations Guide" for "The Bird" (Ascension Technology Corporation) --- 1990
Folder 5: "An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics" --- 1961
Folder 6: "An Introduction to the Principles of Infrared Physics" --- 1956
Folder 7-8: Lie Methods for Non-Linear Dynamics with Applications to Accelerator Physics --- 1999
Folder 9: "Magnetic Position and Orientation Tracking System" --- 1979
Folder 10: "The Mathematics of Computer Graphics" --- 1978
Folder 11: "Matrices and Linear Transformations" --- 1957
Folder 12: "Minimum Effort Control Systems" --- 1962
Folder 13

Box 9

Folder 1: "New Approach to General Minimum Energy Problem" --- undated
Folder 2: "Notes on Sampled-Data Systems" --- 1965
Folder 3: "The Optimal Control of Some Attitude Control Systems" --- 1962
Folder 4: "Optimal Programming Problems with Inequality Constraints" --- undated
Folder 5: "Optimum Linear Prediction and Filtering" --- undated
Folder 6: "Passive Aerodynamic Attitude Stability of Near Earth Satellites" --- 1961
Folder 7: "Problems in Nonlinear Control Systems" --- 1960
Folder 8: "A Satellite Method for Pressure and Temperature below 24 Kilometers" --- 1965
Folder 9: "Spacecraft Attitude, Rotations, and Quaternions" --- 1984
Folder 10: "A Space Synchro Helmet-Mounted Sight Flightworthy System" --- 1975
Folder 11: "Space Vehicle Trajectories" --- 1961
Folder 12-13: "Stability/ Attitude Signal Computation from Body Mounted Sensors" --- 1970
Folder 14: "Statistics of Orbit Determination" --- 1961

Box 10

Folder 1: "Symposium on Visually Coupled Systems" --- 1972
Folder 2: "Trajectory Synthesis Study and Related Material" --- 1962
Folder 3: "The Transit Navigational Satellite System" --- 1961
Folder 4: "Trigonometrics" --- 2001
Folder 5: "Two Gyros Stabilizing a Single Axis" --- 1957