Vertrouwen hebben is goed, in controle zijn is beter! Confidence is good, but to be in control is better! La confianza esta bien, !pero el control es mejor...! La informacion suele ser buena, !la realimentacion es esencial! Information is important but feedback is essential! Informatie is belangrijk, maar feedback is essentieel! Our journey to write a general introduction to control and feedback started with the realisation that in our chosen field of study the proponents have taken little time to project the main ideas outside the community of the initiated. We are constantly - minded of the fact that there is no general awareness of control engineering, or c- trol technology, despite its ubiquity when we try to introduce ourselves as control engineers. Invariably this leads to A what engineer? response. We suspect that most control engineers do not even try to introduce themselves as such. It certainly is a poor communication starter. Colleagues, friends, collaborators often ask rather natural questions like So, what do you study in control? Is there a non-specialist introduction to the field? Can I read something to get a feel about this field of systems theory? What questions do you try to answer? What are the key results? In reply we can point to a wealth of technical lite- ture, rooted in mathematics, quite acceptable to some engineers or mathematics gra- ates, but rather too formidable a hurdle for most.

About the Author

Pedro Albertos was IFAC president 1999-2002.

Iven Mareels is EiC of Systems&Control Letters, Elsevier.

Credits: the Cover Illustration and Heading chapters were designed by Arturo Mora (www.cut-out.es)

Reviews

From the reviews:

"The authors succeeded in presenting the so-called mathematically stuffed field of control to understand and appreciate the basic idea of all pervasive feedback and control, signals and systems. ... It is a welcome addition ... to introduce the ideas of feedback and control to 'everyone' literally." (D. Subbaram Naidu, Amazon.com, December, 2013)

"The book is to explain in layperson's terms the essence of feedback and the basic tenets of the field of systems and control. ... The book is carefully edited with highlighted text to summarize the key points. ... the wealth of physical examples to illustrate the ideas and concepts make it an excellent source for anyone who wants to learn what the subject of feedback control is all about. It can also serve as a useful companion in elementary and intermediate courses on the subject." (Jan C. Willems, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Vol. 31, August, 2011)

"Feedback and Control for Everyone certainly serves the authors' intentions and goals of writing feedback and controls for everyone. ... book introduces almost all of the basic concepts of feedback, signals, and controls. Various simple and meaningful examples are employed to illustrate the fundamental elements of feedback and control theory, which is beneficial to readers with no or limited control knowledge. ... It is a great book for anyone who is interested in getting a taste of what control engineering is all about ... ." (Lihong Zhao, International Journal of Acoustics and Vibration, Vol. 16 (1), 2011)

"A very useful textbook which reflects the vast teaching and research experience of the authors in the field of control engineering. ... Educators may use the book ... for lectures on systems and control at an introductory level ... . Students will have a generous companion for individual work whenever they aim at a better insight into the applicability of the theoretical results and principles. Engineers ... have a great opportunity to get familiar with the key elements of system dynamics and control design." (Octavian Pastravanu, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1218, 2011)

"The objective of this very insightful, atypical book is to explain the basic concepts of control and feedback theory to nonspecialists. ... With the aid of the examples ... this book describes nearly all of the fundamental elements of control theory in a way that a broad range of readers can comprehend and appreciate. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Two-year technical program students and general readers." (E. M. Aupperle, Choice, Vol. 48 (1), September, 2010)

Book Information
ISBN 9783642034459
Author Pedro Albertos
Format Paperback
Page Count 318
Imprint Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Publisher Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. KG