Slewing is the
rotation
Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...
of an object around an axis, usually the
z axis
Z (or z) is the 26th and last letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual names in English are ''zed'' () and ''zee'' (), with an occas ...
. An example is a
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
scanning 360 degrees by slewing around the z axis. This is also common terminology in astronomy. The process of rotating a telescope to observe a different region of the sky is referred to as slewing.
The term slewing is also found in motion control applications. Often the slew axis is combined with another axis to form a motion profile.
In
crane terminology, slewing is the angular movement of a crane boom or crane jib in a horizontal plane.
The term is also used in the
computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
Microsoft Flight Simulator
''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...
wherein the user presses a key and he or she can rotate and move the virtual aircraft along all
three spatial planes.
In the modern day use of CNC programs, ''slewing'' is a vital part of the process.
Mechanics
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