Automatic Control

Automatic control systems are composed of three components:

Sensor (s), which measure some physical state such as temperature or liquid level.

Responder (s), which may be simple electrical or mechanical systems or complex special purpose digital controllers or general purpose computers.

Actuator (s), which effect a response to the sensor(s) under the command of the responder, for example, by controlling a gas flow to a burner in a heating system or electricity to a motor in a refrigerator or pump.

A Regulator such as a Thermostat is a typical example of a device studied in automatic control.

SEE ALSO

EXTERNAL LINKS

	CATEGORIES ABOUT AUTOMATIC CONTROL

	control theory

	digital signal processing

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