Trends in Theory of Control System Design Status report prepared by the IFAC Coordinating Committee on Design Methods

Abstract: Control theory deals with disciplines and methods leading to an automatic decision process in order to improve the performance of a control system. The evolution of control engineering is closely related to the evolution of the technology of sensors and actuators, and to the theoretical controller design methods and numerical techniques to be applied in real time computing. New control disciplines, new development in the technologies will fertilize quite new control application fields. Based on the contributions of the Technical Committees within CC2 the status report gives an overview of the current key problems in control theory and design, evaluates the recent major accomplishments and forecasts some new areas. It points out some control fields, which could be challenges for future research. 1