Eric Butcher

Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Associate Department Head for Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Studies
Professor, Applied Mathematics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program

Degrees

  • PhD Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University
  • MS Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado
  • MS Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University
  • BS Engineering Physics, University of Oklahoma
  • BMA Musical Arts, University of Oklahoma

Work Experience

  • Associate Professor and Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2014 - Ongoing)
  • Associate Professor, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico (2007 - 2013)
  • Assistant and Associate Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks (1998 - 2006)
  • Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratory (1997 - 1998)

Awards

  • UA Academic Leadership Fellow, 2018
  • AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020
  • Best Paper Award, 12th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control, 2016
  • Fulbright Scholar, 2020-21

Work Experience

  • University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2014 - Ongoing)
  • New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico (2007 - 2013)
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks (1998 - 2006)
  • Sandia National Laboratory (1997 - 1998)

Interests

Teaching

AME 457/557 Orbital Mechanics and Spaceflight, AME 429/529 Interplanetary Mission Design, AME 454/554 Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Controls, AME 521 Spacecraft Optimal Estimation, AME 559 Advanced Astrodynamics, AME 558 Introduction to Advanced Control Theory, AME 460 Mechanical Vibrations, AME 560 Advanced Vibrations, AME 352 Dynamics of Machines
 

Research

Dynamics and control in nonlinear, time-periodic, time-delayed, stochastic, and fractional order systems; chaos identification and control; multi-agent consensus control and estimation; spacecraft guidance, navigation and control; estimation and control of spacecraft attitude and relative motion dynamics; coupled orbit/attitude dynamics; Coulomb formation flying; interplanetary, interstellar and libration point transfers; nonlinear vibrations; order reduction; regenerative chatter in machining; vibration-based damage detection in structural and rotordynamic systems.

Courses

Independent Study

AME 199 (Fall 2021)
AME 599 (Fall 2017)
AME 599 (Fall 2016)
AME 699 (Spring 2017)
APPL 599 (Fall 2023)
 

Dynamics Of Machines

AME 352 (Spring 2024)
AME 352 (Spring 2023)
AME 352 (Spring 2020)
AME 352 (Fall 2018)
 

Interplanetary Mission Design

AME 429 (Spring 2019)
AME 529 (Spring 2019)
 

Spacecraft Attitude Dyn/Contrl

AME 454 (Spring 2023)
AME 454 (Fall 2019)
AME 454 (Spring 2018)
AME 554 (Spring 2023)
AME 554 (Fall 2019)
AME 554 (Spring 2018)
 

Orbit Mech+Space Flight

AME 457 (Fall 2024)
AME 457 (Fall 2022)
AME 457 (Fall 2021)
AME 457 (Fall 2020)
 

Mechanical Vibrations

AME 460 (Spring 2024)
AME 460 (Spring 2023)
AME 460 (Spring 2022)
AME 460 (Spring 2021)
AME 460 (Spring 2020)
AME 460 (Fall 2019)
AME 460 (Fall 2017)
 

Spacecraft Optimal Estimation

AME 521 (Fall 2023)
AME 521 (Fall 2020)
AME 521 (Spring 2018)
 

Orbit Mech/Space Flight

AME 557 (Fall 2024)
AME 557 (Fall 2022)
AME 557 (Fall 2021)
AME 557 (Fall 2020)
 

Intro Adv Linear Control Thry

AME 558 (Fall 2016)
 

Advanced Astrodynamics

AME 559 (Spring 2016)
 

Advanced Vibration

AME 560 (Fall 2021)
AME 560 (Spring 2017)
 

Research

AME 900 (Spring 2023)
AME 900 (Spring 2021)
AME 900 (Fall 2020)
AME 900 (Spring 2020)
AME 900 (Fall 2019)
AME 900 (Spring 2019)
AME 900 (Fall 2018)
AME 900 (Spring 2018)
AME 900 (Fall 2017)
AME 900 (Spring 2017)
AME 900 (Fall 2016)
AME 900 (Spring 2016)
 

Master's Report

AME 909 (Spring 2024)
AME 909 (Fall 2021)
AME 909 (Spring 2020)
 

Thesis

AME 910 (Fall 2023)
AME 910 (Spring 2022)
AME 910 (Fall 2021)
AME 910 (Fall 2018)
AME 910 (Spring 2018)
AME 910 (Fall 2017)
AME 910 (Spring 2017)
AME 910 (Fall 2016)
AME 910 (Spring 2016)
 

Dissertation

AME 920 (Spring 2021)
AME 920 (Fall 2020)
AME 920 (Spring 2020)
AME 920 (Fall 2019)
AME 920 (Spring 2019)
AME 920 (Fall 2018)
AME 920 (Spring 2018)
AME 920 (Fall 2017)
AME 920 (Spring 2017)
AME 920 (Fall 2016)
AME 920 (Spring 2016)

Selected Publications

Chapters

  • Butcher, E., Dabiri, A., & Nazari, M. (2017). Stability and Control of Fractional Periodic Time-Delayed Systems. In Time Delay Systems: Theory, Numerics, Applications, and Experiments (Advances in Delays and Dynamics Vol. 7)(pp 107-126). New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-53426-8

Journals/Publications

  • Mathavaraj, S., & Butcher, E. (2023). Rigid Body Attitude Control, Synchronization, and Bipartite Consensus using Feedback Reshaping. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 46(6), 1095-1111. doi:doi: 10.2514/1.G007111
  • Nazari, M., Canales, D., McCann, B., Butcher, E., & Howell, K. (2023). Framework for the Full N-Body Problem in SE(3) and its Reduction to the Circular Restricted Full Three-Body Problem. Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy. doi:10.1007/s10569-023-10156-1
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2022). Consensus Control of Rigid Body Spacecraft in Orbital Relative Motion using TSE(3) and Exponential Coordinates. Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, 69, 801-828. doi:doi: 10.1007/s40295-022-00322-2
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2022). Pose Consensus Control of Multi-Agent Rigid Body Systems with Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Communication Delays. International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 32(6), 3714-3746. doi:10.1002/rnc.5992
  • Mathavaraj, S., & Butcher, E. (2022). SE(3)-Constrained Extended Kalman Filtering for Rigid Body Pose Estimation. Transactions of Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 58, 2482-2492. doi:10.1109/TAES.2021.3139291
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2021). 6-DOF Consensus Control of Multi-Agent Rigid Body Systems using Rotation Matrices. International Journal of Control. doi:10.1080/00207179.2021.1928291
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2021). Consensus Stability in Multi-Agent Systems with Periodically Switched Communication Topology using Floquet Theory. Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control, 43(5), 1239–1254. doi:10.1177/0142331220969055
  • Malladi, B., Sanfelice, R., & Butcher, E. (2021). Robust Hybrid Supervisory Control for Spacecraft Close Proximity Missions. Annual Reviews in Control, 52, 316-329. doi:doi: 10.1016/j.arcontrol.2021.11.001
  • Mathavaraj, S., & Butcher, E. (2022). SE(3)-Constrained Extended Kalman Filtering for Rigid Body Pose Estimation. Transactions of Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 58, 2482-2492. doi:10.1109/TAES.2021.3139291
  • Memon, M., Nazari, M., Seo, D., & Butcher, E. (2021). Fuel Efficiency of Fully- and Under-Constrained Coulomb Formations in Slightly Elliptic Reference Orbits,. Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 57, 4171-4187. doi:10.1109/TAES.2021.3090920
  • Malladi, B., Butcher, E., & Sanfelice, R. (2020). Rigid Body Pose Hybrid Control Using Dual Quaternions: Global Asymptotic Stabilization and Robustness. Journal of Guidance Control and Dynamics, 43(9), 1631-1641. doi:10.2514/1.G004621
  • Poursina, M., & Butcher, E. (2019). Accurate Electrostatic Force and Moment Approximations for Coulomb Charged Spacecraft Based on Center of Charge. Journal of Astronautical Sciences, 67, 829-862. doi:doi: 0.1007/s40295-019-00186-z
  • Burnett, E., Sinclair, A., & Butcher, E. (2019). Coordinate-Invariant Linear Quadratic Control. Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 19(1). doi:doi: 10.1002/pamm.201900073
  • Dabiri, A., & Butcher, E. (2019). Optimal Observer-Based Feedback Control for Linear Fractional-Order Systems with Constant or Periodic Coefficients. Journal of Vibration and Control, 25, 1379-1392. doi:10.1177/1077546318822370
  • Dogan, K., Gruenwald, B., Yucelen, T., Muse, J., & Butcher, E. (2019). Distributed Adaptive Control and Stability Verification for Linear Multiagent Systems with Heterogeneous Actuator Dynamics and System Uncertainties. International Journal of Control, 92, 2620-2638. doi:10.1080/00207179.2018.1454606

Proceedings Publications

  • Butcher, E. (2023). Slightly Elliptic Quadratic Relative Motion with J2 Effects in Spherical Coordinates: Model and Time-Explicit Solution. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Butcher, E., & Mathavaraj, S. (2023). Multi-Agent Spacecraft Attitude Formation and Tracking Control using Reshaping. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Butcher, E. (2022). Consensus and Balanced Configurations on the Circle with Ring Topology and Heterogeneous Input Delays. In 17th IFAC Workshop on Time Delay Systems.
  • Butcher, E., & Sinclair, A. (2022). Equivalence and Calibration of Euler Angles with Less Nonlinear Attitude Parameterizations. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2022). PID Pose Consensus Control of a Multi-Agent Rigid Body System using Exponential Coordinates. In AIAA SciTech.
  • Maadani, M., Butcher, E., Yucelen, T., & Arabi, E. (2022, Jan). Prescribed-Time Consensus Control of Rigid Body Pose. In AIAA SciTech.
  • Nazari, M., Canales, D., McCann, B., Butcher, E., & Howell, K. (2022). Full N-Body Problem in the Geometric Mechanics Framework and its Reduction to Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Norrix, S., Butcher, E., & Sinclair, A. (2022). Calibrated Kalman Filtering in Relative Orbit Estimation. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Taneja, L., & Butcher, E. (2022). Design Considerations for Attitude Consensus Control of Two Flexible Spacecraft. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Butcher, E., & Maadani, M. (2021, Aug). Modified Nonlinear Morse-Lyapunov Attitude Control. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Butcher, E., & Wenn, C. (2021, Jan). Lyapunov-Based Control of Kinematically Coupled Close-Proximity Spacecraft Feature Point Dynamics,. In AAS Spaceflight Mechanics Meeting.
  • Maadani, M., & Butcher, E. (2021, Jan.). Attitude Consensus Control of a Rigid Body Multi-Vehicle System with Heterogeneous Communication Delays. In AIAA GNC Conference.
  • Sinclair, A., & Butcher, E. (2021). Equivalence of Linearized Approximations for Overparameterized Representations of Dynamic Systems. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Butcher, E., Bire, A., & Sinclair, A. (2020, Aug.). Calibrated Approximations of Error Kinematics for Attitude Parameterizations. In AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference.
  • Koru, A., Yucelen, T., Sarsilmaz, S. B., Butcher, E., & Maadani, M. (2020, Jan). Adaptive Consensus Control of Rigid Body Attitude Motion using Rotation Matrices. In AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference.

Poster Presentations

  • Butcher, E., & Maadani, M. (2019, Nov). Consensus Control in Rigid-Body Multi-Vehicle Systems. ASME IMECE. SLC: ASME.
  • Butcher, E. A., Bobrenkov, O., Torkamani, S., Nazari, M., & Samiei, E. (2014, July 3-5). Stability, Estimation, and Control in Stochastic Delayed Systems. Investigating Dynamics in Engineering and Applied Science (IDEAS). Badapest, Hungary.

Presentations

  • Butcher, E. (2021, Nov). Morse-Lyapunov Attitude Control: 6-DOF Relative Motion and Rigid Body Consensus Control. seminar for University of Minnesota Dept of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics.
  • Butcher, E. (2020, April). Introduction to Optimal Control, Time Delay, and Fractional Order Systems. UA Applied Mathematics. Applied Mathematics: Applied Mathematics.
  • Butcher, E. (2020, Jan). Morse-Lyapunov-Based Decentralized Consensus Control of Rigid Body Spacecraft in Orbital Relative Motion. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.
  • Butcher, E. (2020, Jan). Research in the Autonomous Space Vehicles and Astrodynamics Laboratory. Sampoerna University. Sampoerna University.
  • Butcher, E. (2020, June). Beyond the HCW Equations: Higher Order Models, Solutions, and Observability. Rangers Symposium. AFRL, Albuquerque: AFRL.
  • Butcher, E. (2020, Sept). Beyond the HCW Equations: Higher Order Models, Solutions, and Observability. AME seminarUA AME.
  • Butcher, E. (2019, Dec). Stability of Parametrically Excited, Time-Delayed, Fractional Order Systems. Amrita University. Amrita University.
  • Butcher, E. (2019, Dec). Strategies in Engineering Research. Keynote Address - 9th International Symposium on Embedded Computing and System Design. Amrita University.
  • Butcher, E. (2018, April). Rigid Body Spacecraft Consensus Control and Estimation. RTG seminar, Applied Mathematics, UA.
  • Butcher, E. (2018, Jan). Rigid Body Vehicle Modelling using Geometric Mechanics and Multi-Vehicle Consensus Control. Workshop on Consensus Control in Multivehicle Systems, University of South Florida.
  • Butcher, E. (2017, February). Autonomous Space Vehicles: Research at the Intersection of Controls, Dynamical Systems, and Nonlinear Astrodynamics. invited talk. UA Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  • Butcher, E. (2017, January). Research in the Autonomous Space Vehicles and Astrodynamics (ASVA) Laboratory. University of Arizona Workshop on Space Object Behavioral Sciences. Biosphere 2.
  • Butcher, E. (2017, June). Chaos Control in Fractional-Order Systems using Fractional Chebyshev Collocation Method. extended abstract for 9th European Nonlinear Dynamics Conference. Budapest.
  • Butcher, E. (2017, June). Stability and Control of the Fractional Damped Delayed Mathieu Equation. extended abstract for 9th European Nonlinear Dynamics Conference. Budapest.
  • Butcher, E. (2017, March). Autonomous Space Vehicles: Recent Research in Spacecraft Relative Motion, Attitude Control, and Nonlinear Astrodynamics. invited talk. Ames, IA: Iowa State University.

Others

  • Butcher, E. (2019, Sep). In Memoriam: Subhash C. Sinha. ASME Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics, Vol. 14(9), 090101 and ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Vol. 141, 050101-1.

Awards

  • Excellent Reviewer Award, Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics,
    • AIAA, Fall 2022
  • Best Paper Award
    • 12th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control, Fall 2016
  • AFRL Summer Faculty Fellowship
    • AFRL, Summer I 2016