What is control engineering

As a start, the first post shall be dedicated to understanding the topic at hand. There's an easy way to check it: type it into your favorite search engine, and bam! You have your answer. But...

It is often quite difficult to adequately describe your physical system the way you want or to find the best representation. What we ultimately want is to create a model of our system that mirrors the behavior of its real-life counterpart. It might be easy to jot down the equations and get your model, but sometimes it's the opposite. But I'll leave this discussion for later; once modeling becomes the main focus. Let's assume then, that somehow we have obtained our model. If we have obtained our model, then finally we are up to the task of controlling it. But controlling is again not as simple; we have inputs we can manipulate and outputs we can measure, but they are not always the variables we want or need. Not even mentioning if we have the right tools to create the manipulations wanted. So, then… huh?!

The main steps outlined:

1. Model of our system

   • Need domain-specific expertise to be able to construct the mathematical model of the system.

   • Find the right representation for the use case, e.g., time domain, transfer function, state-space, etc.

2. Model of our controller

   • Find the right type of controller(s) for the use case.

   • Stability and tracking analysis.

   • Performance criteria.

   • Boundary condition checks.

3. Simulate

   • Simulate all operational scenarios.

   • Evaluate runtime dependencies, such as computational demand of the controller vs available hardware.

   • Verify and validate correctness, stability, and performance criteria.

4. Interfacing

   • Determine the connection to the real world.

   • What type and how many sensors are needed? As cheap as possible but sufficiently necessary.

5. Implementation

   • Implement the controller and sensor processing on the right target platform.

6. Test

   • Do as much as possible of real-life commissioning and testing.

7. Operations

   • Get the system live.

   • Keep track of the main performance indicators. Online, real-time if possible.

   • Monitor and alert for any deviation from the desired operational profile.

My aim is to walk you through this journey step-by-step, with theoretical background, practical calculations, and real-life examples. Hope you enjoy!
That’s it :)

Stay curious!