Ebook: Control Theory: A guided tour

Structured around a number of concepts that are central to control theory, this book manages to emphasise each concept without overwhelming with detail but whilst also including examples to ensure clarity. The extensively annotated bibliography is referenced by links from the text to ensure that the reader is able to follow-up their understanding and knowledge as required. To start, the first 3 chapters of the book forms a useful introduction to the control subject for a wide class of readers. These chapters aim to explain what control theory is, what the main ideas of it are and what are the features that make the subject so fascinating and universally useful. This simple framework is studded with reference to more detailed treatments and with interludes that are intended to inform and entertain. Overall the book is intended as a companion on the journey through control theory and although the early chapters concentrate on simple ideas such as feedback and stability, later chapters deal with more advanced topics such as state variables, optimisation, estimation, Kalman filtering and robust control.