The place of classical control in control education

摘要

The methods of classical control developed as a substitute for the detailed simulation of control loops. The availability of fast and accurate software for the design and simulation of control loops now draws into question the continued relevance of these methods. It is suggested in this paper that classical control causes too much emphasis to be placed on abstraction and method, at the expense of physical reality and application. It is proposed that most of the classical material could be deleted from the undergraduate control engineering syllabus. Some replacement material or emphasis is proposed.