Introduction to Feedback Control (Morris, K.; 2001) [Book Review]

The book is examined in the context of its suitability for a first engineering course in feedback control. The text covers several topics normally included in the most current introductory feedback control texts, including: transfer functions and state-space descriptions; Routh-Hurwitz and Nyquist stability criteria; and state-feedback and linear-quadratic regulator theory. It also includes more contemporary topics, such as: robust stability and performance for unstructured perturbations; strong stabilization and Youla parameterization; generalized plants and H_∞ design; and H_∞ optimization by model matching and interpolation theory. Short appendices are included on normed linear spaces, matrix and abstract algebra, and state-space system manipulations. The material is well presented, with careful proofs of key results. Each chapter includes numerical examples, together with a good list of homework exercises. Some Matlab functions for computing numerical solution are mentioned, but the discussion of software is limited. Unfortunately, the mathematical level of the test is too high, at least for most programs in the United States. The book also omits several standard topics associated with engineering course on feedback control, such as modeling of physical systems, root-locus analysis, digital control, and an introduction to nonlinear systems. As it is, the book would make a very good test for a graduate engineering course in linear feedback control. It could also be a valuable reference for graduate engineering students or applied mathematics students interested in research in the control area.