Two Drexel Engineering professors have authored a textbook that will
acquaint students with the basic tenets of control systems.
Kwatny (left) and Chang (right)
Harry Kwatny, PhD, S. Herbert Raynes Professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics (MEM)
and
Bor-Chin Chang, PhD, professor of MEM, are the authors of the first edition of
Introduction to Control System Design, published by Cognella. The textbook is designed to be used in a two
semester or two quarter course and is broken into two parts, the first
systems analysis and the second the basics of design.
A control system is a system that controls or regulates the behavior of
other systems without continuous input from humans. Examples range from
home thermostats, which control condensers, heaters, and fans based on a
single set temperature, to aircraft autopilot, which uses sensors to
control engines, rudders and flaps to keep the plane on a fixed path.
“These systems have changed so much just over the last decade,” Kwatny
says. “More sophisticated technology means more aspects of our life are
automated by these control systems. It’s increasingly important to educate
students with the building blocks necessary to understand how and why these
systems are designed so they can continue to expand on existing methods and
innovate new ones in the future.”
One of the innovations that has changed the study and practice of control
system design is computer modeling. Throughout the book, Kwatny and Chang
use MATLAB and Simulink, two industry-leading programming environments, to
demonstrate concepts.
“As important as it is to understand the history of control systems, it is
equally important to appreciate the technological leaps we have made in the
last two decades,” Chang says. “Modern tools allow students to more quickly
simulate and test design concepts, giving them a quicker route to
understanding how everything is connected.”
The book is available for use in classrooms now.