Using the Control System Designer in Matlab

In this video we show how to use the Control System Designer to quickly and effectively design control systems for a linear system. We show how to add multi...

Understanding Kalman Filters, Part 4: An Optimal State Estimator Algorithm

Discover the set of equations you need to implement a Kalman filter algorithm. You’ll learn how to perform the prediction and update steps of the Kalman filter algorithm, and you’ll see how...

The Radar Equation | Understanding Radar Principles

Learn how the radar equation combines several of the main parameters of a radar system in a way that gives you a general understanding of how the system will perform. The radar equation is a...

What's a Control System and Why Should I Care? A whirlwind tour through the ...

This paper aims to provide some introduction, a cheat sheet, and some context for college level STEM students about to take that first controls class. In some cases, it provides context...

System Identification Overview

System identification is a methodology for building mathematical models of dynamic systems using measurements of the input and output signals of the system.  This overview from Mathworks...

Understanding Kalman Filters, Part 3: An Optimal State Estimator

Watch this video for an explanation of how Kalman filters work. Kalman filters combine two sources of information, the predicted states and noisy measurements, to produce optimal, unbiased...

System Identification Methods

System Identification is the process of determining the model or the equations of motion for your system. This is incredibly important because basing a control system design off of a bad...

FMCW Radar for Autonomous Vehicles | Understanding Radar Principles

Watch an introduction to Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar and why it’s a good solution for autonomous vehicle applications. This demonstration will show how FMCW radar can...

Understanding PID Control, Part 4: A PID Tuning Guide

It can be difficult to navigate all the resources that promise to explain the secrets of PID tuning. Some proclaim that PID tuning is an art that requires finesse and experience, while...

Artificial Intelligence

This lecture discusses artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of data science and machine learning.

Discrete control #4: Discretize with the matched method

This is the fourth video on discrete control and in this video we are going to continue exploring the different techniques we can use to discretize a continuous system and talk about the...

Block Diagram Algebra

In this video we introduce block diagrams (AKA signal flow diagrams). We explore how they are used to describe complex systems as well as how to perform blo...

How Simulations Work

This article sets out the critical aspects of building good simulations — that is, simulations that are accurate, easy to develop and analyze, and fast. The first sections deal with how a...

Understanding Control Systems: The Disturbance Rejection Problem

This video provides a demonstration using a car to show how you can simulate open- and closed-loop systems in Simulink®.

First, you will learn how to model and tune open-loop systems. The...

Control Systems in Practice, Part 8: The Gang of Six in Control Theory

When analyzing feedback systems, we can get caught up thinking solely about the relationship between the reference signal and the output. However, to fully understand how a feedback system...

Systems Engineering, Part 1: What Is Systems Engineering?

This video covers what systems engineering is and why it’s useful. We will present a broad overview of how systems engineering helps us develop complex projects that meet the program...

Trimming and Linearization, Part 2: The Practical Side of Linearization

With a general understanding of linearization, you might run into a few snags when trying to linearize realistic nonlinear models. These snags can be avoided if you have a more practical...

Nyquist Stability Criterion, Part 2

An explanation of the Nyquist Stability Criterion part 2. This video steps through the how to sketch a Nyquist plot by hand, what to do if there are open loop pools on the imaginary axis...

Why Choose Deep Learning? Deep Learning for Engineers, Part 1

This video introduces deep learning from the perspective of solving practical engineering problems. The goal is to provide an introduction to the range of practical engineering problems that...

Extremum Seeking Control in Matlab

This lecture explores extremum-seeking control (ESC) on a simple example in Matlab. In particular, a discrete-time (digital) version of ESC is coded in a Matlab script.

Control Bootcamp: Kalman Filter Example in Matlab

This lecture explores the Kalman Filter in Matlab on an inverted pendulum on a cart.

Discrete control #3: Designing for the zero-order hold

This is the third video on discrete control and in this video, I want to clear up a confusion that I caused last time regarding using the ZOH method to discretize a continuous controller and...

Understanding Control Systems: Components of a Feedback Control System

This video introduces the components of a feedback control system and how they interact with each other.  

Learn basic terminology by walking through examples that include driving a car...

Trimming and Linearization, Part 1: What is Linearization?

Why go through the trouble of linearizing a model? To paraphrase Richard Feynman, it’s because we know how to solve linear systems. With a linear model we can more easily design a controller...

Understanding the Z-Transform

This intuitive introduction shows the mathematics behind the Z-transform and compares it to its similar cousin, the discrete-time Fourier transform. Mathematically, the Z-transform is...