Domain

Explanation

What is Control?

• Control has the dictionary meaning of making things behave the way we want them to
• In science and engineering, control has a more focused meaning - to control a machine, process or system is to make them work in the way that is required
• Almost any artificial objects, devices and processes have the element of control
• For example, a vehicle like a bus or car needs a driver to control its motion from the start to the destination
• TV or radio needs control in order to function for audio and visual uses
• Technology processes and gadgets rely heavily on control because of the narrow, focused and specific needs of their uses - PC for computations, handphones for communications
• The above are the hard aspects of control and there are the soft aspects
• Research efforts towards findings are innovation controls, government and civil forces are regulatory controls, education is transmission and exploration controls, our surroundings form environmental controls, etc.
• Control is constantly evolving, as it should be to remain timely for our needs

Control issues

• Fundamentally, the first priority of control is to serve the user and to serve well & in uncomplicated manners
• Controls that bog down designers, resources and users are not relevant and would be deprecated
• Those that do not attain their purpose defeat their original aims
• Those that are too complicated, complex, abstract and ill-understood would not be readily accepted if given the choice
• Controls that are harmful, destructive, polluting, wasteful and uninspiring would lose people's hearts
• Being too stringent, controls become constraints, like tight pants that squeeze
• Being too relaxed, controls become useless, like loose pants that drop
• Controls that are too specialised lose their simplicity
• Controls that are too general lose their specialization
• Controls that are static lose their robustness and do not adapt
• Controls that are not timely and relevant lose their core
• Being too mechanical and stale, controls restrict inspirations and bind our imaginations that ironically are the origins of controls

Control components

• As in any complex, yet simple systems, good control needs a delicious mix of needs, theory, design, implementation, applications and refinements
• But great control starts with vision, motivation, drive and dreams
• Control needs have to be identified and segregated
• Theory is developed through research, experiments and foresight
• Design combines needs with theory, resources and environment
• Implementations realize the design
• Applications customise the implementations
• Refinements improve the applications
• As such, controls are kept timely, adaptive and well-received

Control vision

• Control started with the dream to shape our present & future, to overcome the elements and service humanity
• Societal control enables order and expectations
• Gadget control envision the dreams of theorists and hopes of users
• The vision helps to overcome the numerous and sometimes overwhelming difficulties, rationalizes the absurd and promotes support of the people
• Visions of bio-engineering are less technical than ethical, can controls help?
• Robotics and mechanical systems release manual labour and urges the need for the creative individual
• Intelligent systems adapt and improve, but in what ways?
• Sony's robodog is making waves in Robotics and Robocup soccer's mission is to form an intelligent humanoid soccer team by 2050
• The latest in the Star Wars Prequel: Attack of the Clones
• How much can we achieve? Is there an end to this journey? Or is it a never-ending quest? Is it the journey towards that end?

Control theory

• To realize the vision and bring it into reality, theory, formulations and models must be constructed whether by inheritance, research or network
• Controls are inherently dynamic in time, space and frequency domains where statics are special cases
• To get practical applications, the models must be realistic
• To get effective models, the formulations must be accurate
• To get accurate formulations, the theory must be substantial and full
• To get sufficient and insightful depth, the objectives and scope must be focused, the formulations crystal-clear and the assumptions unambiguous