Learning outcome

A candidate who has passed the course will have a learning outcome in the form of acquired knowledge, skills, and general competence, as described below[1].

Knowledge

The candidate will:

1. Understand how system theory is used to analyze feedback control systems.
2. Understand how to design feedback controllers for both continuous and discrete time systems.
3. Understand how to describe the conventional PID controller in the Laplace plane domain, in the continuous time domain and in the discrete time domain.
4. Understand how to design conventional PID controllers by the SIMC method, the Ziegler Nichols method and by using frequency analysis methods.
5. Understand and have knowledge of frequency analysis properties as gain and phase margin quantities, and links to robustness and uncertainty in loop gain and time delay.
6. Understand how to use conventional SISO controllers for controlling MIMO systems using the RGA techniques.
7. Understand how the Smith predictor may be used for controlling systems with large time delay.
8. Understand how to implement control systems in practice using e.g. LABVIEW.

Skills

The candidate will :

1. Be able to analyze and design control systems.

General competence

The candidate will:

1. Understand the structure of conventional control system structures, and obtain insight and knowledge about control systems
2. Understand and provide the necessary foundation for further studies
3. Get experience in presenting scientific theory and applications

[1] Codes given in parentheses correspond to the codes given in the programme description.

Course Description

The course consists of two parts: (1) Theoretical part: Systems theory for dynamic systems. Feedback. Stability. PID-controller design and tuning. Discrete-time systems theory and controller design. Simple adaptive control (gain scheduling). Feed-forward control. Dead-time compensation. Cascade control. Introduction to multivariable control. Using Matlab for analysis, design and simulation. (2) Project part: One group-based project, including report writing and oral presentation. LabVIEW programming. Implementation of a compound control system for a physical process using LabVIEW running on a PC with I/O hardware, including mainly a practical discrete-time PID controller, a measurement filter, and a control system simulator.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Lectures and assignments are used. During the semester the students will work with several assignments. These assignments will be based on problem based learning giving the students better understanding of specific subtopics in the course and general competence in implementing control systems in practice.

An online, part-time version of the IIA study programme was started Fall 2015 (then denoted SCE - Systems and Control Engineering). An online version of the present course is taught according to the online, part-time IIA study programme. The course will continue to be taught as a traditional campus-based course, as well. The course contents and the learning material used in the course will be the same in the online and the campus-based programmes, however with some differences in the organization of the course: In the online version of the course, there are no ordinary lectures. A number of relevant videos produced by the instructor(s), or external videos, are provided, both for the online course and for the campus-based course. In the online course, laboratory assignments will be organized at a gathering on the campus at the end of the semester.

Assessment Methods

Written exam counting 60% of the final grade. This exam covers the theoretical part of the course, but there will be some questions about the project part, too. Group-based project work counting 40%. There will also be given compulsory exercises. To obtain a passing grade of the course it is necessary to pass both parts (written exam and project work) and to accomplish the compulsory exercises satisfactorily.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean