control system
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia | Date: 2007
Means by which a set of variable quantities is held constant or caused to vary in a prescribed way. Control systems are intimately related to the concept of automation but have an ancient history. Roman engineers maintained water levels in aqueducts by means of floating valves that opened and closed at appropriate levels. James Watt's flyball governor (1769) regulated steam flow to a steam engine to maintain constant engine speed despite a changing load. In World War II, control-system theory was applied to anti-aircraft batteries and fire-control systems. The introduction of analog and digital computers opened the way for much greater complexity in automatic control theory. Jacquard loom, pneumatic device, servomechanism.
Copyright 1994-2008 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research
|
Control system threats
InTech; 12/1/2004; Shifflet, Nancy Gill; 572 words
; Control systems are in a constant state of flux with equipment installations and removals, subsystem upgrades, equipment reconfigurations, communication media changes, user account activity, and vendor changes. These operational activities can introduce vulnerabilities into a secure control system
Read more
|
|
Tactical control system is basic UAV building block
Signal; 4/1/1998; Robinson, Clarence A Jr; 390 words
; Atlantic Alliance expresses interest in flexibility, options; participates with German aerial platform. The Defense Department's tactical control system is a program structured to provide joint warfighters with a surface command. control, communications and data dissemination system for unmanned
Read more
|
 "The Moscow Times (Russia)")
|
Space Probe Focuses on Control System, THE MOSCOW TIMES
The Moscow Times (Russia); 5/14/2003; Simon Saradzhyan; 509 words
; Simon Saradzhyan The Moscow Times (Russia) 05-14-2003 An analysis of the flight recorders installed on board the Soyuz-TMA- 1 indicates that a glitch in the onboard control system probably caused the capsule to land hundreds of kilometers off-course in Kazakhstan earlier this month, a senior
Read more
|
|
8 ways to improve control system projects: engineering the control system should always be an integral part of the overall project. Avoiding certain common pitfalls will help improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Control Engineering; 4/1/2003; Dunlap, Robert A.; 787 words
; Process control systems are growing more powerful and more complex. And in the future they are expected to integrate into plant- and enterprise-wide systems to an ever-greater degree. The repercussions of these developments are significant: the net benefits a well-engineered process control system
Read more
|
|
HVAC control system.(what's new)
Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News; 10/23/2006; 177 words
; The Rheem Comfort Control System[TM], with system-wide communications, allows for individual residential HVAC equipment to be linked. It allows sharing of operating status and diagnostic information, system control, monitoring of overall system health and efficiency, etc. According to the
Read more
|
