ITD30019 Digital Control and Cyber-Physical Systems (Autumn 2024)

The course is connected to the following study programs

Compulsory course in: 

• Bachelor in Computer Engineering 
• Bachelor in Computer Engineering, Y 
• Bachelor in Computer Engineering, TRESS

Absolute requirements

Passed exam in the following courses or similar

• ITD15020 Kalkulus

• ITF10619 Programmering 2

Lecture Semester

5th semester (Autumn).

The student's learning outcomes after completing the course

Knowledge

The Student 

• Understands why feedback control systems are used in preference to purely feedforward control systems
• Is aware of the main challenges in controlling physical equipment or physical processes, using an embedded computer.
• Can judge the adequacy of a given embedded control design - in specific, the student can judge whether or not the sampling period, the real-time scheduling algorithm, the control algorithm etc. can indeed solve the given control problem
• Is aware of the main communication standards used for industrial control systems.
• Is aware of how cyber-physical systems are developed and used.

Skills

The Student

• can design a simple control system to be implemented on commonly used embedded platforms such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
• can analyse a given design, using a combination of:  a) models of physical systems and b) models of control algorithms and of their software implementations.
• can implement and troubleshoot a simple embedded control system.
• can use Matlab/Simulink for developing cyber-physical solutions.

General competence

The Student 

• understands how Inforamtion technology and Automation technology form the basis of effective and smart cyber-physical systems.
• Has knowledge of the main concepts and terminology in the study area.

Content

The course shall deal with the following topics:

• Processing of digital and analog signals
• Time-domain and Frequency-domain analysis
• Common metods for control and regulation
• Sampled-data systems
• Introduction to communication solutions in cyber-physical systems
• Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs)
• Use of MatLab/Simulink for calculations, analysis and design
• Practical exercises and projects to test and understand the theory
• Introduction to concurrent programming and other real-time issues in implementation

Forms of teaching and learning

Lectures, seminars/workshops, group work, project and laboratory exercises.

Workload

Approximately 250 hours.

Coursework requirements - conditions for taking the exam

The Student must:

• deliver 3 homework assignments
• deliver up to 4 practical laboratory assignments/projects

The work requirements must be formally approved before the student can write the final exam.

Examination

Oral exam in group and individual written exam

The final grade is set based on two exam parts. Each part must be passed to pass the course. 

Part 1:  Oral exam and project presentation in group, counts 50% of the course grade. Duration approx. 20-30 min. Each member of the group will be given individual questions related to the project. No support materials permitted. An individual grade is awarded using grading scale A to F.

Part 2: Individual written exam, duration 4 hours, counts 50% of the course grade. Aids allowed consist of 10 A4-sheets with handwritten notes on both sides (20 sides in total). Grading scale A-F.

Final grades are given on the scale A-F.

Examiners

One external and one internal examiner, or two internal examiners will be involved in the assessment.

Conditions for resit/rescheduled exams

In the case of new or rescheduled examinations, both exam components can be retaken.

A new and rescheduled exam is conducted simultaneously with the next regular exam. However, the department management may decide to arrange a postponed exam in the following semester for students with valid absence from the regular exam.

Course evaluation

This course is evaluated by a

• End-term evaluation (compulsory)

The responsible for the course compiles a report based on the feedback from the students and his/her own experience with the course. The report is discussed by the study quality committee of the department  of Computer Sciences and communication