Course syllabus

Course-PM

SSY251 Applied control system design lp1 HT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Electrical Engineering (E2)

All lectures and exercise/tutorial sessions will be given online via Zoom, and links for each will be given independently under the Zoom area in Canvas. Lab sessions will be conducted physically with controlled person-to-person distance. 

Contact details

• examiner: Changfu Zou (changfu@chalmers.se), room 5432, floor 5, building E, Hörsalsvägen 11.
• lecturer: Changfu Zou and Veronica Olesen (veronica@chalmers.se)
• teachers: Yao Cai (yao.cai@chalmers.se), Carina Sjöberg Hawke (carsjobe@chalmers.se), Kathryn Strong Hansen (strong@chalmers.se), Liza Nordfeldt (liza.nordfeldt@chalmers.se)
• administrator at E2: Madeleine Persson (madelein@chalmers.se)

Specifically, Changfu will be responsible for 11 lectures that cover modelling and analysis, system identification, state estimation, and state feedback/feed-forward control. Veronica will lead 2 lectures on PID control,  cascade control, and PLC design/implementation, and will be responsible for the lab sessions. Yao is the teaching assistant to lead exercise/tutorial sessions and may also contribute to some lab sessions. Carina and Kathryn will jointly coordinate the sessions of technical writing (w38, 40) and peer review (w42). Lisa is responsible for the two library introduction sessions. 

Course purpose

The course aims at giving deeper theoretical and practical knowledge in design, dimensioning and analysis of technical feedback systems. Special focus is on modeling and simulation as well as on components in computer-based control systems.

Schedule

TimeEdit

Course literature

No textbooks are required for this course. Nevertheless, the following textbooks and lecture notes are officially recommended for additional background:

• Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers. Åström and Murray, free PDF available at http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/amwiki/index.php/Main_Page 
• Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems (6th Edition, Chapter 2,3,6).  Franklin, Powell and Emami-Naeini, available at in the Main Library at Johanneberg
• CE295 Energy Systems and Control:  Lecture Notes (Chapter 1-3). Prof. Scott Moura at UC Berkeley, free PDF at https://ecal.berkeley.edu/ce295.html
• Optimal State Estimation: Kalman, H-Infinity, and Nonlinear Approaches (Chapter 3 and 5). Dan Simon, here are PDFs for CH3 and CH5. 
• Some basics for matrix algebra will be frequently used for the course. It would be very useful to learn them (PDF available) before the corresponding lectures. 

Course design

The course content is divided into four chapters:

• Chapter 1: Modelling and analysis (L1,2,4)
• Chapter 2: System identification (L5,7,8)
• Chapter 3: State estimation (L9-10)
• Chapter 4: Control (L3,6,11-13)

The first three chapters deal with models, parameters, and states, respectively, and are prerequisites for model-based feedback control introduced in Chapter 4. These chapters consist of 13 lectures to understand the theory and application, as a complement to book materials. In detail, lectures are arranged as in the following table

No.	Content	Lecturer
L1	Course PM, state-space models	Changfu
L2	Practical modelling technique	Changfu
L3	PID controller, writing assignment	Veronica
L4	Transformation, eigenvalue and stability	Changfu
L5	Least squares estimation	Changfu
L6	Cascade control, PLC design and implementation	Veronica
L7	Online system ID: Theory	Changfu
L8	Online system ID: Application	Changfu
L9	Observability, Luenberger observer	Changfu
L10	Kalman filters	Changfu
L11	Feedback and controllability	Changfu
L12	State feedback control	Changfu
L13	Feedforward and LQR	Changfu

In addition, 10 exercise sessions (E), 4 tutorial sessions (T), 2 laborations (Lab), 2 library introduction sessions (Lib), and 3 scientific writing sessions (SW) are scheduled. The 1st tutorial session is about Matlab programming, the 2nd and 3rd are meant to help solve assignments 1 and 2, respectively, while the final is to prepare for the examination. Questions and Answers (QA) sessions will not be organised individually but will be merged into the first 15 minutes before or after each lecture, and into exercise/tutorial sessions. 

Time	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
W36	L1, E1		L2	T1
W37	L3, E2	Lib1	L4	E3	Lib2
W38	L5, E4		L6	E5	SW1
W39	L7, E6		L8	Lab group1	T2
W40	L9, E7	Lab group2	SW2	L10	T3
W41	L11, E8		L12, E9	Lab group3
W42	Lab group4		L13, Lab g5, SW3	E10
W43	T4			Lab group6

Assignments: There are 4 take-home assignments (A1-4) all conducted in a group fashion. Students are to create groups up to 3 persons and solve those together. 

For A1 and A2:

• they are about Matlab programming, corresponding to CH2 and CH3, respectively.
• pack up the code and a short description as a single zipped file using the filename: Group#-Assignment#, and upload 1 solution per group.
• the deadline will be stated in each assignment individually. 
• results, at the latest, 1 week after the submission, with feedback. 
• if the solution is not approved, there is one occasion for correction, 1 week is given for resubmission (one extra chance)

Tools: We use Canvas as the primary interface to announce notices, share course materials, and communicate. Please subscribe the course update and then you will receive email notifications. In consideration of intensive course activities, you are advised to check Canvas at least twice a week, e.g., before each session. Discussion fora will be established for you to discuss potential questions of general interest. Every student is encouraged to provide your answer(s), although lecturers and teachers will also check these to provide help. For personal and some specific questions/issues, feel free to contact through emails or a phone call if necessary.  

As stated above, Zoom will be used for our online teaching. Here is a link to download. 

MATLAB will be widely used throughout the course. The versions 2018b or 2019b are downloadable via Managed Software Center at Chalmers. Please install it before the first tutorial session where a Matlab tutorial will be arranged. 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

• describe common methods for the design of controllers, e.g. methods for discrete-time systems and multivariable systems, as well as state feedback control.
• formulate models of common linear and nonlinear processes.
• use common components in control systems, e.g. transmitters, sensors, control valves and computer-based controllers.
• use computer-based tools for simulation and design of dynamic feedback systems.
• search effectively for information in books, journals and local databases. 
• evaluate information with regards to relevance and quality.
• use a process-oriented approach to writing, which includes giving and receiving constructive feedback. 
• identify and analyse technical methods
• use strategies to improve written proficiency in English

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen: Study plan

Examination form

7.5 credits of the course are distributed as follows:

• writing and oral assignments: 1.5 credits (Grading UG, pass/fail)
• lab and home assignments: 1.5 credits (Grading UG, pass/fail)
• passed written examination: 4.5 credit

The written examination takes place on the afternoon of October 29, 2020 (please fix the time on your calendar!) in a remote manner. Grade 3, 4, and 5 need to collect 40%, 60%, and 80% of points, respectively. If the grade is less than 3, another examination is arranged on January 07, 2021. The content will be constructively aligned with the above learning objectives which are further detailed on lecture slides.

All the above three parts are compulsory, and the grade on the written exam will be your final grade in the course. 

Changes made since the last occasion

The course is new.