This project will provide equipment to develop an application- oriented introductory level lecture/laboratory course on automatic control. The course will emphasize the detailed modeling of real systems, basic controller design techniques, practical considerations, and the actual circuit implementation of controllers. The aim of this course is to give the students a comprehensive view of control theory and to give them the opportunity of experiencing design and implementation practice that is closer to real-world engineering. Lecture material will be developed for providing theoretical background and analysis techniques needed for carrying out the experiments and design exercises. The major instruments being acquired include: digital storage oscilloscopes, printers, function generators, data acquisition cards, and personal computers. Digital storage oscilloscopes will enable the students to record slowly varying signals which are often encountered when analyzing mechanical systems. Software packages running on the PCs will be used for analysis, controller development, and simulations.
