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Lab PackagesIntroduction: Control Engineering
Control engineering is a branch of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering that deals with the design and application of control systems. The control engineering department has bachelor's programs (generally 4-year education) as well as master's and Ph.D. programs as well. As an engineering discipline, the graduates are titled as Control Engineers.
Control Systems
A control system can be a simple fixed mechanical or electronic system, a man-machine interface, or a computer-based complex system. A feedback loop is used to control the system in order to manipulate the operation, condition, or state of the system to achieve a target output value. Control engineers are responsible for designing such controller algorithms and implementing them.
Control Engineering is a Branch of Engineering
Control engineering is a branch of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering that deals with the design and application of control systems. In general terms, control system engineering can be defined as the art and science of how to design, building, and maintaining systems used to control physical entities such as machines, processes in factories or facilities, robots, or vehicles. Control engineering comprises two main branches: process control and system identification/adaptive control.
Control engineers may consider their work as a distinct discipline from that of their colleagues who focus primarily on hardware (mechanical or electrical engineers) aspects of the system. Control engineers make use of various engineering fields such as computer science (e.g., modeling), artificial intelligence / knowledge-based systems (e.g., expert systems), computer graphics/visualization (e.g., virtual reality), etc., along with traditional electrical & mechanical engineering disciplines in order to design complex products/systems such as airplanes, ships or aircraft carriers, etc.
Beyond the basics, control engineering is the study and application of systems that measure and control other systems. It is a combination of electrical engineering and mechanical engineering in which sensors are used to monitor variables such as temperature or pressure, while actuators are used to adjust them. A control engineer must have knowledge in both fields to be able to design effective control systems for the industry.
A typical example would be a car’s cruise control system: this uses sensors (or “detectors”) at each wheel position that detects changes in speed and compares them with preset values stored within the car's computer; this information is then sent back through wires so that the engine controller can calculate how much fuel needs to be added at any given time based on current conditions. This information also goes back through wires so it can activate pumps inside cylinders—which also contain valves—and cause fuel injections every few seconds depending on what type of engine you drive (this varies greatly depending upon whether it's gas vs diesel).
The Feedback Loop
A feedback loop is used to control the system in order to manipulate the operation, condition, or state of the system to achieve a target output value. A feedback loop is one type of control mechanism. A control loop is formed by input, process, and output. The process then modifies this output based on changes in its input, which causes another change in the output that may be fed back into the input (hence "Feedback").
Responsibilities of Control Engineers
Control engineers are responsible for designing such controller algorithms and implementing them. This can be done using mathematical models to design controller algorithms, implement the designed controllers in a digital computer or microprocessor, and even implement the designed controllers in a microprocessor.
Control engineers determine how to measure the physical variable they wish to control and what sort of control action will produce the desired outcome. They must have a good understanding of the process they are controlling and the environment in which it operates.
Control Engineering and Mathematical Models
Control engineering draws heavily on mathematical models for physical processes, e.g., mass-energy balances, molecular kinetics, electrodynamics, and fluid dynamics. Physical components are represented in the model using suitable mathematical abstractions such as particles (for liquids), rods (for mechanical systems), or electrical circuits. The system is modeled by differential equations that describe the time-evolution of these components' states under the influence of external forces and controlled input signals/commands.
ACROME’s 1-DoF Helicopter or Ball and Beam systems are good examples of the systems for explaining control engineering topics such as differential equations. As described in this blog, each educational system comes with pre-defined mathematical models and ready-to-use example programs to investigate the different behavior of the systems. One can also adjust the counterweight of the copter or mass of the ball to analyze the effects of variable system inputs. For further information, you may get into contact using the below form.
Contact ACROME for More Information on Mathematical Models of Control Systems!
Having the mathematical model, next the control engineers use different techniques or tools from classical control theory to analyze and design a control system's behavior, such as:
- Dynamic analysis – finding closed-form solutions to the system's differential equations
- State space representation – transforming nonlinear ordinary differential equations into a set of linear algebraic equations that can be solved numerically
- Stability analysis – determining whether there exists some combination of input signals that could cause an unstable solution within a finite amount of time
Conclusion
It is important to note that control engineering is not just about building hardware and software, but also involves planning and design. The goal is to create a system that has the optimal level of performance for its intended purpose. In order to do this, engineers must first understand how the system operates so that they can predict when problems will occur or suggest ways to improve the performance of an existing system.
Let us know your experiences as a control engineer or in the education of the control engineers.
