Abstract

Control Systems Design Guide has helped thousands of engineers to improve machine performance. This fourth edition of the practical guide has been updated with cutting-edge control design scenarios, models and simulations enabling apps from battlebots to solar collectors.

This useful reference enhances coverage of practical applications via the inclusion of new control system models, troubleshooting tips, and expanded coverage of complex systems requirements, such as increased speed, precision and remote capabilities, bridging the gap between the complex, math-heavy control theory taught in formal courses, and the efficient implementation required in real industry settings.

George Ellis is Director of Technology Planning and Chief Engineer of Servo Systems at Kollmorgen Corporation, a leading provider of motion systems and components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) around the globe. He has designed an applied motion control systems professionally for over 30 years He has written two well-respected books with Academic Press, Observers in Control Systems and Control System Design Guide, now in its fourth edition. He has contributed articles on the application of controls to numerous magazines, including Machine Design, Control Engineering, Motion Systems Design, Power Control and Intelligent Motion, and Electronic Design News.

• Explains how to model machines and processes, including how to measure working equipment, with an intuitive approach that avoids complex math
• Includes coverage on the interface between control systems and digital processors, reflecting the reality that most motion systems are now designed with PC software
• Of particular interest to the practicing engineer is the addition of new material on real-time, remote and networked control systems
• Teaches how control systems work at an intuitive level, including how to measure, model, and diagnose problems, all without the unnecessary math so common in this field
• Principles are taught in plain language and then demonstrated with dozens of software models so the reader fully comprehend the material (The models and software to replicate all material in the book is provided without charge by the author at www.QxDesign.com)
• New material includes practical uses of Rapid Control Prototypes (RCP) including extensive examples using National Instruments LabVIEW

"This is a book for those who design or tune servo loops and have pressing questions. It is refreshingly different from other texts for what it doesn't do: teaching a grand theory and let readers figure out on their own how to use it. The author has this uncanny sense of what's on his readers' mind, and the patience and compassion to help them find the answers. For example, time and again he'd remind them where they are and where they are going with a subject, so they don't get lost; in addition, he either avoids jargon or, when he can't, breaks it down. I also find the new addition in this edition, rapid control prototyping for a motion system, both timely and useful in smoothing the transition from simulation to an embedded, hardware solution."    -Zhiqiang Gao, Associate Professor and Director, Center for Advanced Control Technologies,Cleveland State University