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Topic · Control and Systems Engineering

Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems

Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems is a research topic within Control and Systems Engineering. Science Explorer counts 30k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the dynamics and control of multibody mechanical systems, with an emphasis on flexible manipulators, contact force models, clearance joints, crane systems, input shaping control, friction models, rigid-body dynamics, adaptive control, and spatial joints.

  • Multibody Dynamics
  • Flexible Manipulators
  • Contact Force Models
  • Clearance Joints
  • Crane Systems
  • Input Shaping Control
  • Friction Models
  • Rigid-Body Dynamics
  • Adaptive Control
  • Spatial Joints
Research works
30k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+8%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
54% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems

Which countries lead Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.7k and 370 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.7k works
  2. 2 United States 370 works
  3. 3 India 173 works
  4. 4 Italy 170 works
  5. 5 Japan 160 works
  6. 6 Germany 158 works
  7. 7 Russia 139 works
  8. 8 France 121 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 96 works
  10. 10 South Korea 65 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 54.4%United States: 11.6%India: 5.4%Italy: 5.3%6 others listed: 23.2%54%largest
China1,732 · 54.4%United States370 · 11.6%India173 · 5.4%Italy170 · 5.3%6 others listed739 · 23.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harbin Institute of Technology publishes the most Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research, followed by Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 89 works
  2. 2 Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyChina 60 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 50 works
  4. 4 Nanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsChina 50 works
  5. 5 Beihang UniversityChina 46 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 46 works
  7. 7 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 42 works
  8. 8 Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 42 works
  9. 9 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 42 works
  10. 10 Northeastern UniversityChina 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems include Xiaogang Wang, Lei Jiang and Qiang Zhang.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  2. 2 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  3. 3 Qiang Zhang China 184k citations
  4. 4 William A. Goddard United States 182k citations
  5. 5 Huan Liu Australia 148k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems?

The most cited paper in Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems is "MuJoCo: A physics engine for model-based control" (Emanuel Todorov, Tom Erez, Yuval Tassa, 2012), with 4,629 citations. Next come "A new model for control of systems with friction" (3,686) and "Flatness and defect of non-linear systems: introductory theory and examples" (3,133).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 MuJoCo: A physics engine for model-based control Emanuel Todorov, Tom Erez, Yuval Tassa Conference paper Oct 2012 4,629
2 A new model for control of systems with friction Carlos Canudas de Wit, Henrik Olsson, Karl Johan Åström et al. · IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control Open access Mar 1995 3,686
3 Flatness and defect of non-linear systems: introductory theory and examples Michel Fliess, Jean Lévine, Philippe Martin et al. · International Journal of Control Jun 1995 3,133
4 Elastic Spheres in Contact Under Varying Oblique Forces R. D. Mindlin, Herbert Deresiewicz · Journal of Applied Mechanics Sep 1953 2,762
5 Nonlinear Solid Mechanics: A Continuum Approach for Engineering Gerhard A. Holzapfel 23 Mar 2000 2,743
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research done?

The largest centres of Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Shanghai (China) and Harbin (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Qinhuangdao and Harbin.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 300 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 164 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 123 works
  4. 4 HarbinChina 112 works
  5. 5 Xi'anChina 107 works
  6. 6 TianjinChina 70 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 62 works
  8. 8 WuhanChina 58 works
  9. 9 TokyoJapan 57 works
  10. 10 ShenyangChina 55 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. QinhuangdaoCN · 22.8 works13×
  2. HarbinCN · 111.8 works6.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems than the world average.

See Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems on the map

Where is the best place to study Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems?

Among universities, judged by research, Harbin Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Shandong University of Science and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.41%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Shandong University …Northeastern Univers…Harbin Institute of …Beijing Institute of…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 72.024.4%14.9×89 +25.0%
2Northeastern UniversityChina 67.231.0%11.0×36 +122.0%
3Shandong University of Science and TechnologyChina 61.632.1%11.2×20 +39.2%
4Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 57.612.7%9.8×42 +62.5%
5Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyChina 56.910.6%20.2×60 +58.4%
6Nanjing University of Aeronautics and AstronauticsChina 56.814.5%15.4×50 +69.7%
7Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 56.516.3%10.2×42 +42.0%
8Hebei University of TechnologyChina 54.529.4%9.5×14 +94.6%
9Nanjing Tech UniversityChina 54.545.1%5.3×10 -5.9%
10Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 53.818.0%4.0×42 +83.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems, country by country

Is Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.019% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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