Everything You Need to Know About Control Theory

Control theory is a mathematical framework that gives us the tools to develop autonomous systems. Walk through all the different aspects of control theory that you need to know.

Some of the concepts that are covered include:
- The difference between open-loop and closed-loop control
- How we use system identification to develop a model of the system
- Why feedforward control is a straightforward method to control a system
- How feedback control affects system stability
- An overview of other control methods including adaptive control, optimal control, predictive control, and reinforcement learning
- Why path planning is an essential part of control design
- How statistical estimators like Kalman filters are used to observe system state
- Why modeling and simulation is required for almost all control engineering

Learn more:

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[OhNoNotAgain]

I took this subject 35 years ago as a Mechanical Engineering major. This seems like the first day of class. Followed by endless days of Laplace Transforms. On a related topic, most of my career has been in engineering project management. Control Theory is the single most useful class for future managers. A larger group of people in an organization subject to various external influences is just another system to optimize. Engineering control systems is more useful to management than most MBA curriculum

[philip]

As a PhD, I am a TA for undergraduate control class. I will show them this on the very first day from no on.

[OrangeDurito]

That’s my master’s thesis in a nutshell applied to space robotics. My deepest gratitude to you Brian for always helping me in putting things into perspective. This is an excellent overview of what constitutes a control system design for anyone who is interested and just starting out. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds once you start going into the details and each of these blocks is a whole field in themselves but this video does a great job in putting everything together in an intuitive way. I have said this many times before and will say it again - you are an incredible teacher sir! Always a delight to learn from your videos.

[marmvora]

I always used to ask my colleagues about where does all this happen ? I can see vibration, physics, thermal transfer and all, but why control engineering ? Where does all of this apply in a machine ? This one video made me realize the importance and gave me everything that I needed to see how important it is. I can´t be more grateful Brian. You´re the man. Thanks a million.

[simongross]

Thank you Mr. Douglas, I have been on the lookout for this.

Sometime in the last millennium I did a one semester university course on control systems, not because it was required for my degree, but because it sounded interesting (and it was). Since then, I have often wondered about naturally occurring control systems, such as how our bodies regulate insulin production and a host of other essential metabolic processes. It occurred to me that many natural phenomena could be explained by control systems that somehow evolved.

Also, in business, there are control systems that have been developed to keep a business on track. My degree was in actuarial studies, and there was a course devoted to an actuarial control cycle where new business premiums and reserves were adjusted at various frequencies to ensure that the business would remain solvent and effective. Of course, this was just something that a bunch of actuaries cooked up at some point, and I doubt that they used any formal mathematics relating to control systems in general. I expect that many businesses use some form of control system like this. These always seemed somewhat blunt to me, as they operated on quarterly cycles rather than instantaneously, and they measured only a few things which were really only weak proxies for what was actually going on. Also the predictive models used were not even as accurate as weather prediction these days.

In short, I have been imagining control systems everywhere as responsible for regulating the behaviour of all sorts of things - whether naturally occurring or somehow arising from trial and error. Of course, I imagine trial and error as a kind of control system in its own right :)

Sorry about the long ramble, but there are some questions I have. In a naturally occurring control system, there has been no planning, or at least none that has been revealed to us. Do you think that it is possible to work out from the behaviour of such a system what exactly is being implicitly modelled, measured and adjusted? If it were possible to work this out, perhaps it would then be possible to more effectively treat illnesses such as diabetes.

Assuming I am right, and that there are naturally occurring control systems, how do they arise? Are they somehow built into evolution?

Again, apologies for the long ramble. All the best, and thanks again for the video.

[emmanuelameyaw]

:) economists use control theory. Unwanted disturbances like covid can hit the economy which is a dynamical system. Monetary and Fiscal policy, for example, are controls. Anyway...classical economists believe we don't need any controls. If there is a shock/disturbance, the economy will control itself. Keynesians believe the economy is not automous, it needs controls.🙂. This video actually better than my economic classes...lol.

[monalisamallick]

this is 'Sehr gut'. Its an excellent short video for people with no knowledge or full knowledge of the control system. Very beautiful perspective of the control system. It might induce interest in students in this field.

[RichyMaths]

I've got a PhD in control theory, which is all about getting solution bounds of algebraic Lyapunov and Riccati matrix equations. Said equations play an important role in various control and engineering problems, especially stability analysis and linear quadratic optimal control of LTI systems.

[MrPepto]

Brian Douglas back on YT. Awesome :D Thank to you, I am really into controls and control theory. I study it by myself, but without your help I wouldnt be able to even start :)

[lucascarmona]

Thank you for this video. This is an insanely good overview of topics perfeclty laid out in a concise, rational and logical way for someone to grasp the ideas and start from there. Personally I took only basic classes on the subject but always felt I wanted more. Work has actually pushed me into another field which I also love, but this is motivating enough for me to take some time and study some of the concepts you've mentioned.

[mightygarhem]

I recently started with my masters Robotics at TU Delft, robots dynamics and control is one of my first courses. This video is a great refresher to understand the big picture basics again, I do too much math and programming that I’m zoned in the numbers, you forget what it’s actual about.

[juanodecc]

You make the complex look simple, only a genuis can do that . Tank you very much

[mtopangaprimo]

I just had my first control system lecture today. As paar the comments seems like i have gotten a jackpot. In German they say This Modul is the hardest. Even physics is not as hard. Thats what everyone says in my Uni. But with help of someone like you, seem like there is light at the end of the turnel. Thanks alot

[vipultyagi]

You are amazinggg!!!! Thanks for the overview. Helped anyone to gather where they are in their control theory journey. Best tutor

[EngineeringSimplified]

Watched it twice, it is that good! Thank you for putting everything in one place in a compact form. I hope this inspires more students to take on controls as their specialty.

[maxspeednice]

man you are the best, you can even open a school for control just with the materials you have on the internet. I couldn't imagen what kind of job you that made you know all of that and can explain it like but I am sure this not an academic experience at all you feel like working at NASA

[Wolfdizzler_aka_ahmed]

Thanks a lot Brian ! I am doing my masters in control and you have been a great mentor.

[Joe-zwep]

Simple and easy to understand. Thanks.

[petbos]

Thanks a lot Brian for the video! It really clears and summarises control theory, really useful to people like me that study computer science as an amateur.

[RealityEnjoyer]

I recognize this is centered around Systematic Engineering but I feel that this reflects how we can both prosper and tailor to our circumstances as individuals, or incidentally impede ourselves in a negative and or unintentional direction