1. Automatic Control (AC) at ECE
Stan Żak
ECE 200
March 12, 2015

2. What is Control?
Use of algorithms and feedback to affect the operation of physical objects/processes of interest to achieve some desired performance
Environmental
Perturbations
User
Input
Controller
Actuator
Input
Physical Objects:
Plant, Process, System
output
Sensor

3. Example: Cruise Control
Environmental disturbances
(road condition, wind, etc.)
Controller
Desired speed
Input
Output
Measured speed
(throttle
angle u)
Sensor
(speedometer)
Display
(speed y)
Actuator (throttle)
Controlled object (car)
Control Problem: to maintain car speed at the desired level

4. Examples of Control Systems
Robotics
Vehicle Control
Network Control
Process Control
Building Control
(Air) Traffic Control

5. Control is Everywhere Electrical, mechanical, electromechanical sys.
Aeronautical and astronautical systems
Ecological, Biological systems
Financial systems …

6. What is Studied in Control
Control Theory
Linear, nonlinear control
Robust control
Adaptive control
Optimal control
Hybrid systems
Intelligent control
Stochastic control
Sliding mode control
Networked control
Control Applications
Power/energy system control
Hybrid electrical vehicles
Intelligent transportation sys.
Control of communication and network systems
Building control
Smart grids
VLSI design optimization
Biological systems
And more…
Robotics
Humanoid robots
Mobile robot sensor network
Multi-robot interaction
Human-robot interaction
Fault tolerant robotics
Healthcare robots
Learning algorithms
Image processing
Cognitive robots

7. Undergraduate Control Courses
ECE Feedback System Analysis and Design
ECE Systems Simulation and Control Laboratory
ECE Digital Control Systems Analysis and Design
ECE Introduction to Robotic Systems

8. AC Faculty in ECE Primary AC Members: Other AC Members:
Balakrishnan, Ragu
DeCarlo, Ray A.
Hu, Jianghai
Lee, C. S. George
Żak, Stanislaw H.
Other AC Members:
Sundaram, Shreyas
Sudhoff, Scott D.
Pekarek, Steve
Aliprantis, Dionysios

9. Current AC Research Control theory
Adaptive/Robust Control (Prof. Żak, Balakrishnan)
Optimal control and optimization (Prof. Balakrishnan, Żak, Decarlo, Hu)
Intelligent Control (Prof. Lee, Balakrishnan, Żak)
Hybrid Control (Prof. Decarlo, Hu)
Networked control system (Prof. Hu, Sundaram)
Fault-tolerant and secure control (Prof. Sundaram)

10. Current AC Research Control Application
Hybrid electrical vehicle (Prof. Decarlo, Pekarek, Aliprantis)
Power and energy conversion systems (Prof. Pekarek, Sudhoff, Żak)
Control in Communication Networks (Prof. DeCarlo)
Numerical optimization (Prof. Balakrishnan, Żak)
Energy efficient building control (Prof. Hu)
Cyber-Physical Systems (Prof. Sundaram)

11. Current AC Research Robotics (Prof. Lee) Humanoid robotics
Human-robot interaction
Mobile robotic sensor networks
Healthcare robots