ELEC 460 Electronic Controls Syllabus
Fall 2023 (Directed Study)
Dr. Hector Daniel Rico-Aniles
Course Description
Control systems are the reason that most of our technologies do not fall apart. For example, they
prevent self-driving cars from crashing or taking a turn too fast. Another example is how batteries can be
charged in a more efficient way without exploding. There are other examples of technologies applied to
agriculture, homes, automobiles, and manufacturing Power electronics among many other areas.
In this class, you are going to learn the theoretical background of control systems (a heads up a lot
of math is involved that includes differential equations). The digital practice of the concepts is going to be
carried out through simulation, make sure that you remember Python and MATLAB. The topics that will
be covered included definitions of control systems, modeling in the frequency domain, modeling in the time
domain, time response, stability, steady-state errors, root locus techniques, and design via root locus.
You deserve and are going to be given the same opportunities as other classmates independent of
your race, color, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and/or religion.
Class and Instructor Information
Class time and room: By appointment.
Email Address: hdricoaniles@noctrl.edu
Office Phone Number: 630-637-5234
Office Address: WSC-332
Office Hours @ WSC-332
o M, W, F 10:30 am-11:50 am
The channels of communication are going to be email and Canvas announcements.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
Communicate using appropriate control system terms.
Mathematically analyze and model a plant of process.
Design a block diagram for a control system.
Make sure that a system is stable within a given steady-state error.
Propose, design, and analyze a root locus.
Propose, design, and analyze PID controllers for a given plant of process.
Course Materials
MATLAB or Octave
Python
