BEng Mechanical Engineering

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The module introduces classical control theory through the understanding of basic characteristics of open and closed loop control systems. It includes the use of Laplace transform method to represent and analyse system transient and steady-state response; the use of block diagram methods for representing system dynamics in the s domain; system stability analysis using root locus method, and the use of Nyquist and Bode diagrams for frequency response analysis. Practical industrial control system design and analysis is introduced through lectures given by industrial personnel with applications in the aerospace and process industries. Tutorial classes are used to reinforce lectures with worked examples and discussions, and a robotic laboratory session is used to illustrate the operation of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller – the system most widely used control system in industry.

To introduce the fundamental aims and principles of automatic control systems; to explain and analyse open- and closed-loop controllers; to understand and assess control system stability and to apply appropriate methods to determine this; and to understand and apply frequency response methods. The application and analysis of control systems within industry is illustrated using lectures given by professional engineers from the aerospace and process control sectors, as well as a practical laboratory that introduces the use of the widely-applied PID system to control the movement of a robotic vehicle.