A design exercise for electives in control systems

At the University of Nevada, Reno, we strongly believe that effective control system education must include experimental exercises that complement the theory presented in lectures. Preferably, the exercises should include the design and implementation of a control system. Limited resources and a cap on the number of credit hours required for the undergraduate degree make it impossible to offer a laboratory course with every control class in most electrical engineering curricula. We have solved this problem by including a laboratory project in each of our two senior electives. Each project is a comprehensive modeling, analysis, design and implementation of a physical control system. The students are divided into groups and each group must independently complete the design project and submit a formal report summarizing their results and experiences. Each student must submit an individual commentary on the exercise and the experimental results obtained. Student feedback indicates an increased appreciation of the lecture material and an awareness of the limitations of the theory and simulation that was lacking prior to the introduction of laboratory exercises.