Dynamic Systems and Control Engineering

To motivate our interest in the broad field of , let us begin by first dissociating the descriptor “dynamic” and focus solely on the objects of our interest, the “systems.” Throughout this text, we will considerof many kinds. To understand the true scope of potential applications for the tools that we will develop, it is advantageous to establish a clear vision of what qualifies as a system and why. To ensure suitability across many domains, we will prefer the flexibility of a loose conceptual definition, by which the term system will refer to any collection of elements (i.e., physical or mathematical) that have cause-and-effect relationships. Then, reintroducing “dynamic” as a reference to changes that occur over time, the field of dynamic systems encompasses the study of cause-and-effect relationships that propagate changes over time.