Control Engineering

General objectives The course aims at providing basic concepts and methodologies related to the most widely used control methodologies in the framework of process automation and at applying them in the industrial contexts, suitably modeled as complex and heterogeneous processes that are interconnected through appropriate material transport and communication infrastructures. Specific objectives Knowledge and understanding: The students will learn methodologies for the robust control of linear time-delay systems, Internal Model Control and Model Predictive Control with specific reference to process control problems. Apply knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to design robust controllers for process automation equipment, e.g., to achieve robust tuning of PID controllers, and to apply industrial Model Predictive Control algorithms. Critical and judgment skills: The student will be able to choose the most suitable control methodology for a specific process control problem starting from its state-space model or from its transfer-function model. Communication skills: The course activities allow the student to be able to communicate and discuss the main problems concerning process control and the possible design choices for their solutions in terms of control laws. Learning ability: The aim of the course is to make the students aware on how to deal with control problems in the context of process automation.