Computational Science and Engineering

Many experiments that have traditionally been performed in a laboratory are being augmented or replaced by computational simulations blending science and engineering with computational mathematics, computing, and visualization.

A computational scientist or engineer applies computational technology in innovative and essential ways to advance the respective discipline. Computational scientists and engineers work to obtain a better understanding of some phenomena through a judicious match of the scientific problem, the mathematical model that describes it, the numerical technique employed in its solution, the computer language and the computer architecture used in its implementation, and the assessment of each of these steps through visualization.

There are five identifiable stages in the computer solution of a problem.

  
Figure 1.2: Computational Sciences and Engineering

In this chapter these are:

• Problem Description: the robotic arm.
• Mathematical Model: the robotic arm link diagram and the angles.
• Solution Method: the simple trigonometric to solve the robotic arm relationships.
• Computer Implementation: the rbtjnts.f program.
• Assessment: the I/O produced by the program.