436-433 Mechanical Systems

436-356/358 Design/Control 2/2E or equivalent

Unit 1, Control Systems: Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to understand the concepts of state space control and estimation; obtain state-space realisations of systems in several canonical forms and assess their stability, controllability and observability; design a state feedback control law and a state estimator to achieve desired closed-loop response characteristics; design simple digital controllers for single-input single-output systems using classical and state-space methods; and demonstrate familiarity with the structure, components and programming of practical controllers, and the effects of sampling rate and amplitude quantisation.

Topics covered include state-space design; analysis: representation, transformations, canonical forms; solution of state-space equations; stability, controllability, observability; design: pole-placement design of controllers and state estimators; comparison with classical control design; digital control theory: sampling theory, z-transforms, time- and z-domain analysis; bilinear transformation and frequency domain design; root locus design in z-plane; PID control; pole placement design using state-space and polynomial methods; control technology; digital control system hardware and real-time software development, implementing control loops with PCs and PLCs; and case studies: detailed examination of digital control issues for a representative mechanical engineering system, such as a fuel injection controller.

Unit 2, Professional Practice: Upon completion of this unit, students should have developed an appreciation of the role of technology in society, the responsibilities of engineers with respect to their fellow workers, society and the environment.

Topics covered include science and technology; historical, sociological and environmental factors in invention and innovation; technology forecasting; patenting; the engineering profession and professional ethics; statutory requirements and legal responsibilities; and new technology and the environment, workforce and human relations.

One 3-hour examination (50%); tests, assignments and laboratory reports, not exceeding 40 pages including computations, diagrams, tables and computer output (50%). All components of assessment must be satisfactorily completed to pass the subject. Students will be notified of the weighting of the non-examination assessment components at the beginning of semester.