Professor Zuyev’s research activity at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Donetsk National University is concentrated on the modeling and analysis of complex mechanical systems. The Department of Mechanics in Donetsk has been focusing on problems of multibody system dynamics and mathematical control theory for more than four decades. Our regular contacts with engineers from the State Space Agency of Ukraine have stimulated the development of new control design schemes for remote sensing satellites, in particular, for the “Sich-2” satellite. A particular outcome of this activity, published in a paper on the stabilization of a model with a pair of flexible beams, was awarded an honorable mention at the 15th IFAC World Congress in Barcelona, 2002. His collaboration with the group of Prof. Oliver Sawodny (currently at the University of Stuttgart), supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since 2004, has resulted in several publications on the modeling and control of flexible-link manipulators (such as IVECO turntable ladders).
An academic viewpoint on similar problems, presented in the monograph, should be useful for the reader interested in the theory of distributed parameter control systems.