D. Sundararajan - Control Systems: An Introduction

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A control system is composed of a set of components to produce a desired response for a given input and widely used in several areas of science and engineering. A basic continuous-time control systems course is usually offered to undergraduate students in electrical, mechanical, mechatronic, chemical, civil, and aerospace departments. As control system theory is important in several disciplines, modeling of the various type of systems is required. Further, the derivation of the electrical analog of other types of systems is also required, as analysis and design can be carried out using the vast and well-developed electrical circuit and linear systems theory. Although the analysis and design is carried in the analog domain, due to the advances in digital system technology and fast numerical algorithms, systems can be implemented using digital components by transforming system models to the digital domain.

As the mathematical content of control systems is quite high, students have to be made comfortable in their learning of this subject through a number of appropriate examples, figures, and programs. Further, it has to be pointed out how the theoretical analysis is approximated numerically to include practical considerations in applications. In conjunction with theoretical analysis and a laboratory class, programming is essential for getting a good understanding of the subject. The course should end with one or two good projects of complexity that the students can handle. Further, each student should practice the basic concepts, such as matrix analysis and Laplace transform, with paper and pencil and programming as much as necessary for their good understanding. The essentials of control systems are linear system theory, transform methods and their computational aspects, and control systems analysis, design, and implementation.

This book is primarily intended to be a textbook for an introductory course in continuous-time control systems for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students in several engineering departments. It can also be used for self-study and as a reference. The prerequisites for studying this subject are first courses in linear algebra, calculus, mechanics, circuit theory, signals and systems, and basic programming.

The features of this book are the detailed coverage of basic principles of control systems with MATLAB programs (available online); clear, concise, and simplified presentation of the difficult concepts using transform theory; physical explanation of concepts; large numbers of figures and examples; and clear, concise, and, yet, comprehensive presentation of the topics. Emphasis on physical simulation of systems is a unique feature of the book, making it easier to understand system behavior.

Answers to selected exercises marked are given at the end of the book. A solutions manual and slides are available for instructors at the website of the book. I assume the responsibility for all the errors in this book and would very much appreciate receiving readers suggestions and pointing out any errors (email:d_sundararajan@yahoo.com). I am grateful to my editor and the rest of the team at Springer for their help and encouragement in completing this project. I thank my family for their support during this endeavor.

There are certain activities, which we require in our daily lives. For example, we have to heat the water to take bath. Before the advent of control systems, we did it manually by using firewood. That requires time and effort, whereas, nowadays, we set the desired temperature in an electric water heater and turn it on. The task is done automatically without further human effort. The use of control systems is widespread in our homes as well as in industries. Control systems carry out the task automatically in the most efficient manner. In this chapter, we just introduce control systems first. One of the important tasks in control system design is to test that its performance is as required. For that purpose, some standard signals are used, while the actual signals in control systems have arbitrary amplitude profile.