Control Systems: The Overarching Discipline

Part 1: Background: Control Systems As The Overarching Discipline

Utilising a systems approach from first means that common engineering subjects are taught under a “systems” umbrella. Hence Engineering Statics or Dynamics, Principles of Electronics and Circuit theory are not taught in isolation, but are framed under a systems context of “Governing Laws”. Then, Engineering Statics or Dynamics become subsets of a bank of core laws. Content can then be related to a unified Systems approach. For example, the topic Engineering Vibrations becomes a subset of the Control Systems topic, Frequency Response. An additional key benefit of using this approach is that duplication of material which often occurs between the umbrella Control Systems and specific topics (viz. Engineering Dynamics) will become evident. Their elimination can then create space for including new material, whilst retaining a progressive and cohesive framework .