About the author
Francis X. Govers is an autonomous vehicle designer at Bell Helicopter Textron. He is the designer of 28 unmanned vehicles or robots for land, sea, air, and space, including RAMSEE, the autonomous security guard robot. Francis helped design the International Space Station, the F-35 JSF Fighter, the US Army Future Combat Systems, and systems for NASCAR and IndyCar. He is an engineer, pilot, author, musician, artist, and maker. He received five outstanding achievement awards from NASA and recognition from Scientific American for World Changing Ideas.
I want to thank everyone who supported me in the writing of this book, starting with my wife, Carol, who cheered me on; our adult children, Jessica, Peter, Corbin, and Ammie, for their encouragement. To my grandchildren, William, Oliver, Amelia, and Henry, for their inspiration. To my editors at Packt Publishing, Namrata Patil and Sharon Raj, for encouragement and tireless dedication. I also have to thank Dr. Bob Finkelstein, my robotics guru and mentor. Finally, to Jay Blanchard, my oldest and dearest friend and fellow author.