Control systems

From feedback to stability

This 72-lecture NPTEL course from IIT Madras introduces control systems through the idea of feedback, then builds the mathematics needed to analyze it. Early sessions cover the overall picture of feedback control before the transfer function and system response take over.

The analysis toolkit

• Transfer functions, presented as a way to describe a system as a ratio.
• System response, showing how a system reacts to an input over time.
• BIBO stability, which asks whether bounded inputs always produce bounded outputs.
• The effect of zeros, and how they change the response.
• Closed-loop systems, where feedback is put back into the analysis.

Who it suits

Students in electrical, mechanical or instrumentation branches who need a rigorous first course will find the sequence logical. Learners wanting design methods such as root locus or frequency-domain tuning should check the later lectures before committing.