Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems

Rating:
Summary: Yet another expensive text the world doesn't need
Review: Almost every subject worthy of a textbook already has 1-3 classic titles all new students should read and use. For feedback and control systems, there's Ogata's Modern Control Engineering - and then there are second-rate, tree-killing (where are Ents when you want 'em?), mind-numbing, hair-tearing, expletive-inducing texts like this one. And no, swearing in French while trying to work through a problem doesn't make it more enjoyable either. First, this book is poorly written - long, tiresome, dry writing that lulls you to sleep. Second, there are errors strewn throughout, which because of the lackluster writing you'll initially miss (example, page 221, Ziegler-Nichols tuning, equation 4.52 and fig. 4.13 - mistakes in parameter names can drive you nuts until you read Ogata's clear and concise version). Third, the trivial example problems are little help in solving the harder problems, causing you to rapidly awaken from your reading stupor into frustration and mild terror as you discover the aforementioned errors. At that point, drop this book, reach for Ogata and/or the Schaum's Outline, and discover that introductory controls can make sense and even be elegant. As an aside, I did well in controls with no real EE background, but that's despite this book - praise be unto Ogata. Professors, please ignore the pretty cover and skip this expensive waste of paper, and use Ogata - your students will learn more effectively and may even continue further in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Yet another expensive text the world doesn't need
Review: Almost every subject worthy of a textbook already has 1-3 classic titles all new students should read and use. For feedback and control systems, there's Ogata's Modern Control Engineering - and then there are second-rate, tree-killing (where are Ents when you want 'em?), mind-numbing, hair-tearing, expletive-inducing texts like this one. And no, swearing in French while trying to work through a problem doesn't make it more enjoyable either. First, this book is poorly written - long, tiresome, dry writing that lulls you to sleep. Second, there are errors strewn throughout, which because of the lackluster writing you'll initially miss (example, page 221, Ziegler-Nichols tuning, equation 4.52 and fig. 4.13 - mistakes in parameter names can drive you nuts until you read Ogata's clear and concise version). Third, the trivial example problems are little help in solving the harder problems, causing you to rapidly awaken from your reading stupor into frustration and mild terror as you discover the aforementioned errors. At that point, drop this book, reach for Ogata and/or the Schaum's Outline, and discover that introductory controls can make sense and even be elegant. As an aside, I did well in controls with no real EE background, but that's despite this book - praise be unto Ogata. Professors, please ignore the pretty cover and skip this expensive waste of paper, and use Ogata - your students will learn more effectively and may even continue further in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: I liked the pictures
Review: I could just ditto all the stuff that guy from New Mexico wrote. I had the same experience with trying to work out the problems at the end of the chapters. It's almost like we had the same class or something. Weird. Anyway there was some good stuff in the book, especially all those block diagrams. The authors are from the left coast, so if you are used to A,B,C, and D in your control block diagrams the F,G,H, and J could throw you off. Happy reading.

Rating:
Summary: Easy to read, challlenging problems.
Review: I find this book an excellent introduction into control engineering. Compared to other books I came across this one is written in a very fluent and easy-to-read way, still concise. You are truly lead step by step and not only being presented information. I agree that it is a bit unpleasant that the solution to the problems are missing. Anyway, what I find great about the problems is that you don't only put numbers into equations but you are forced to SOLVE the problem. The fact is that those challlenging problems should be distinguished from regular ones. Or it is on the instructor to assign only the easier problems. I would recommend it for a basic introductory course in control engineering.

Rating:
Summary: Bad, Unclear, & Boring
Review: I was required to buy this book for a mechanical engineering class. It is not clear in the way that it presents the subject matter. The writing is boring and bad.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good introduction for engineering students
Review: I was required to purchase this book for a class, and I felt that the material in the text did little to prepare me for the exercises. The examples rarely reflected the exercises (for which no solutions are available), the example solutions were exceedingly brief, with little discussion of the 'why' and 'how' of each step. The lack of solutions is pained by the poor correlation between examples and exercises. I feel that more basics need to be covered before the text dives into applications for this to be a good introductory book to controls. I'm willing to agree that this book is good for those who know these basics, but it is certainly not a stand-alone resource for beginners, and an instructor must be ready to patch the gaping holes left by the text.

Rating:
Summary: Good reference.
Review: It is a nice book for experienced control system engineers

Rating:
Summary: Great book to study control engineering
Review: It's a great book to learn how to handle control engineering. There are a lot worked out examples and a lot of excercises but there isn't a set of answers and that is a pitty

Rating:
Summary: Very good, clear and complete!!!
Review: It's a great book, easily to read and with clear examples. It is easy to keep an overall view of the discussed theory. The link with MATLAB is also very practical. And I know some other Dutch students agree with me!

Rating:
Summary: not a good book for beginners
Review: ok, after being with this book for 5 weeks. NOW, I have to say something about this book. I am now doing my homework and I have to read this book to do it, but in those examples, I dont' see much steps, all I see are "sudden jumps". Cmon, give me a break.. show me the steps... I do not want to spend hours on finding out what the missing steps are. If you are a beginner and dont' know much about feedback, DO NOT buy this book or you will have a hard time. Also, the way this book interprets the problems is not easy to understand either.