Introduction to Automatic Control via an Integrated-Instruction Approach

Abstract An intuitive introduction to automatic control that integrates several complementary instruction components, including laboratory-scale processes and computer-aided instruction tools is presented. With this approach, the students' first contact to the material is greatly facilitated and, furthermore, they typically develop a high motivation for learning. The paper describes how the various instruction components are integrated and how an inverted-pendulum process and its model are used in a complementary manner to introduce new topics and motivate students' learning. The courseware used for both simulation and real-time control of the inverted pendulum have been developed within LabVIEW®.