16-299: Introduction to Feedback Control Systems: Policies

Web Pages

This page (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cga/controls-intro/) will be where the Instructor puts material. The TA will use Piazza for class discussion and answering questions. Piazza is good for getting you help fast and efficiently from classmates and the TA. Rather than emailing questions to the TA, we encourage you to post your questions on Piazza. If you have any problems or feedback for the developers, email team@piazza.com. Find our class signup link at: https://piazza.com/cmu/spring2022/16299

Objectives

This course is designed as a first course in feedback control and systems for computer science majors. The course will cover three main topics: classical control theory for linear time invariant (LTI) systems (time and frequency domain, Laplace transforms, PID control), modern LTI control theory (state-space controllers, observers, LQR) and advanced nonlinear systems theory as time allows (Lyapunov theory, adaptive control, learning control, etc.). We will also study these topics through simulation using MATLAB. Feedback control plays and important role in understanding topics ranging from our physiology to our society. We will focus on controlling systems which have continuous states and actions, and continuous dynamics.

More specific learning objectives

Gain intuition about feedback control, what it can do, and how it fails.
Be able to build a control system for an actual physical system.
Simulate and analyze dynamic behavior of physical systems.
Derive transfer function representation of linear systems from ordinary differential equations and difference equations using Laplace and z transforms.
Predict qualitative and quantitative behavior of continuous and discrete time linear systems.
Derive single transfer function of systems composed of multiple component linear systems combined in series, parallel, and feedback configurations.
Synthesize PID feedback controllers to achieve desired step-response characteristics.
Analyze transient behavior of linear and nonlinear state-space systems via eigenvalues and Lyapunov theory.
Construct state feedback controllers and state observers for linear state space systems via pole placement and linear quadratic regulator.

Course Format

This course will include lectures, discussion, assignments, and a project.
We will use class time for presentations by you and the instructors, discussions, work, and group meetings with instructors.
There will be some assignments intermixed with working on projects.

Course policies

Grading: We need to vote on whether to have a final exam and/or a midterm. See last year's exams below. Would you like to have something like those?
There will be some number (TBA) of assignments. Late assignments policy: TBA
You are encouraged to attend the Zoom lectures. Please ask questions. That is the point of having lectures. Just unmute yourself and ask.
If the zoom audio is bad, immediately let the speaker know. Otherwise you get crappy audio. The speaker can't tell.