Course Program and Information

FRTF15 Control Theory is slightly unusual in that it is a course about a course. Our objective is to introduce you to some of the theory behind FRTF05 Basic Course in Automatic Control. And there really is a lot of wonderful theory here! FRTF15  is also slightly unusual in that it places more emphasis on you to discover this theory for yourself. But don't worry, we'll be here to support and direct you all the way.

The course consists of 6 lectures, 6 exercise sessions and 2 hand in assignments.

Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Wednesday Lecture Lecture Exercise Lecture Exercise Exercise Exercise
Friday Lecture Exercise Presentation 1 Lecture Lecture Presentation 2 Exercise
Handin 1 due Handin 2 due

Assignments

The course is pass/fail, and assessed based on two hand in assignments. The assignments are essentially 'slightly harder' exercise sheets.

Handin 1: The first assignment is to be conducted in groups. These can be hand written or word processed (treat this like you would the answers you would write in an exam). Each group need only produce one set of solutions, but will additionally need to provide a statement of contribution, outlining each members role. In addition to submitting solutions there will be a presentation session. Each group will be responsible for presenting some of their solutions to the other groups (details to be confirmed). Everyone in the group must participate in the session.

Handin 2: The second assignment will also be conducted in groups, but if you wish to complete it individually, that is an option. This time your solutions should take the form of a 'report'. There are no rules on how this should be structured, but you should aim to make your answers more detailed and clear. You should aim to write things in such a way that another student at your level could follow all the steps and understand what techniques you are using.

Provided you complete the assignments to a satisfactory level you will pass! In the case that your solutions don't meet the required level we will return them to you with instructions on how they need to be improved. You will then have 7 days to resubmit, and provided you make the required improvements, you will pass.

Report: For those of you who intend to use your computers for writing your solutions, we recommend Latex. Latex is a very popular system for high-quality typesetting and is geared towards scientific writing. As such, it offers a means of setting up nice-looking reports, articles and presentations (including pretty equations and figures) with little effort. To get started, Overleaf Links to an external site. has some nice tutorials. There's also a huge library where you will find plenty of useful material to help you along. Feel free to ask Latex-related questions during the exercise sessions!

Lectures

Each assignment will be supported by 3 lectures. These will not cover absolutely everything you need for the hand in assignments, but should get you on the right track. This course is also your opportunity to learn more about FRTF05, so if there are topics you would like covered, let us know! There is a fast feedback section on the canvas page where you can request lectures or information on topics that you are interested in, or for more details on things that aren't clear.

Exercises

Other than assignments 1 and 2, there are no other exercises for the course. You are encouraged to use the exercise sessions to work on the assignments 1 and 2.

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