TABLE OF CONTENTS This chapter explains the practical use of MATLAB software that implements the aircraft system identification methods described in the preceding chapters. The software was written in the MATLAB language, but is not a product of the MathWorks, Inc., which produces and sells MATLAB . MATLAB is a high-level programming language with extensive capabilities for numerical computation and graphics. Familiarity with basic operations in MATLAB is needed to use the software associated with this book. Introductory material in Ref. 1 provides the necessary background information. Excellent help files and tutorials are also readily available within the MATLAB computing environment.
In the following descriptions, commands typed by the user in the MATLAB command window at the ? prompt will appear in this font. All such commands are followed by a carriage return. Text that is output to the command window by MATLAB will appear in this font. Names of m-files will appear in this font.
The software associated with this textbook is a collection of m-files called System IDentification Programs for AirCraft, or SIDPAC. An m-file in MATLAB is the equivalent of a subroutine in FORTRAN or a function subprogram in C. SIDPAC was developed at NASA Langley Research Center more or less continuously since 1992, and has been applied to flight data, wind-tunnel data, and simulation data from many different projects. Each purchaser of this textbook can download SIDPAC at http://www.aiaa.org/publications/supportmaterials.
