Systems Analysis and Control (H6104)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

Systems Analysis and Control gives you an introduction to fundamental systems analysis and control topics, which help you understand how a system works and how to make a system work in a specific way. The system under study can be anything that is an interacting group of parts forming an integrated whole, such as a robot, a motor-vehicle, an aircraft, a train, a ship or a computer disc-drive. The module has active applications in these areas.

We will start by describing a system using a set of mathematical tools, including differential equations, which enable you to predict how a system will respond to an external input. More advanced mathematical tools such as Laplace Transforms will be used to interpret the system’s behaviour in other dimensions, which will provide you with another perspective to understand a system’s behaviours.

This module will use mechanical and electrical systems as an example to practice how a system should be analysed in a formal way. It will introduce various techniques to regulate a system so that the system behaves in a desired specific way, e.g. a mobile robot moving with a certain speed. You'll conduct hands-on experiments on mechanical and electrical systems to test the theoretical knowledge taught in lectures. Matlab and Simulink, software used widely by engineers and researchers, will be used in the workshops to solve problems by simulations.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 38 hours of contact time and about 112 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to COVID-19, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let our applicants know of material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• Electrical and Electronic Engineering (with an industrial placement year) BEng
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering (with an industrial placement year) MEng
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering BEng
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering MEng
• Mechanical Engineering (with an industrial placement year) BEng
• Mechanical Engineering (with an industrial placement year) MEng
• Mechanical Engineering BEng
• Mechanical Engineering MEng
• Mechanical Engineering with Robotics (with an industrial placement year) BEng
• Mechanical Engineering with Robotics (with an industrial placement year) MEng
• Mechanical Engineering with Robotics BEng
• Mechanical Engineering with Robotics MEng
• Robotic and Mechatronic Engineering (with an industrial placement year) BEng
• Robotic and Mechatronic Engineering (with an industrial placement year) MEng
• Robotic and Mechatronic Engineering BEng
• Robotic and Mechatronic Engineering MEng
• Sustainable Automotive Engineering (with an industrial placement year) BEng
• Sustainable Automotive Engineering (with an industrial placement year) MEng
• Sustainable Automotive Engineering BEng
• Sustainable Automotive Engineering MEng