Computer-aided Control System Design (CACSD): Some Perspectives

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Computer-Aided Control System Design (CACSD) and its prospects in the field of control engineering. The accelerating interest in CACSD is closely related to developments in many other disciplines, including aspects of computer hardware and software, numerical analysis, optimization and most importantly, control theory itself. The control systems designer has in general a unique class of problems to solve and a large box of tools to draw upon, and in this sense the issues to be addressed in CACSD are quite distinct from those in general computer-aided designs (CADs). The Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian (LQD) design methodology, which has evolved in both mathematical content and computational algorithms, is the most general time domain approach presently available for determining multivariable control laws. CACSD packages are designed to solve these problems. Software systems to perform all the steps in the control design cycle starting from system modeling to data analysis, identification, control synthesis and simulation have been recently reported. These packages claim features such as power matrix interpreters, user-friendly environment with device independent graphics, state-of-the-art numerical algorithms for reliable computations, and user-transparent file management.