ABSTRACT
Plant• —the process to be controlled Actuators• for driving the plant and for introducing control actions Measuring devices• consisting of sensors and transducers for feedback control Signal modification units• for conditioning and changing the form of signals in the control system Controllers• for generating control signals to the plant
Designing a control system may involve selection, modification, addition, removal, and relocation of all these components as well as selection of suitable parameter values for one or more of the components in the control system in order to satisfy a set of design specifications. Once a control system is designed and the system parameters are chosen it may be necessary to further tune the parameters in order to achieve the necessary performance levels. Tuning and retuning may be needed even before the system is prototyped, but commonly after the system is built (prototyped) and is in operation. We have already encountered several concepts and examples of designing a controller of a control system so as to satisfy a set of performance specifications. These concepts are further examined and enhanced in the present chapter.
