This book collects together in one volume a number of control engineering solutions, intended to be representative of solutions applicable to a broad class of control problems, and outlines possible alternative approaches to finding them. This is neither a control theory book nor a handbook of laboratory experiments, although it includes both the basic theory of control and practical laboratory set-ups to illustrate the solutions proposed.

A number of control problems are identified and discussed, from the initial phase of experimental construction of a model of the process to the final steps of hardware and software implementation, for several illustrative applications including a motor drive and a small scale robot. PID tuning and anti-wind-up, disturbance rejection, time delays and distributed systems, state feedback and observer design, multiloop interaction, fault detection and supervision, and fuzzy logic control are some of the control issues treated.

Written by a team of European experts, the book should interest a broad audience. Control engineering students will find potential applications for control theory and workable examples of practical control problems. Most of the laboratory set-ups will be easy to replicate by control engineering teaching staff, enabling practical activity to complement theoretical and exercise class sessions. Applied control engineers will find guidelines to approach the solution of their own control problems, including discussion of alternative methods and results to be expected. The publication of this book represents the final outcome of a European TEMPUS project to improve educational practice in automation and control technology.