An undergraduate laboratory for networked digital control systems: combining digital control with networks and information technology

摘要

Laboratory and project courses are well recog nized for their educational value in any science-related discipline, including control and engineering, where the difference between classroom-based training and the real world is a core issue. The laboratory is often the only place where experimentation and exposure to new technologies occur within the typical four-year engineering curriculum. At the same time, however, laboratory courses are particularly difficult to run because they are by nature open-ended and require an enormous investment in equipment, as well as faculty and staff time. These concerns have led to the development of a new senior-level laboratory/project course at the University of Maryland, College Park, titled "Networked and Distributed Control Systems." The new course, now in its third year, is partially supported by an NSF research and curriculum development grant and brings together undergraduates from three engineering departments (electrical and computer, mechanical, and aerospace) with plans to include chemical, civil, and fire protection engineering in the near future.