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.

Key dates

  • Assignment 1 is due on 21st February, 17:00.
  • Assignment 2 is due on 7th March, 17:00.

Schedule

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
28th

4th

  • 1015: Lecture 1

5th

  • 1130: G3
  • 1515: G2

10th

  • 1300: G1
  • 1400: G6
  • 1500: G8
  • 1600: G5
  • 1700: G4

11th

  • 0900: G7
  • 1015: Lecture 2

14th

  • 0900: G2
  • 1300: G1
  • 1400: G3
  • 1600: G7

17th

  • 1500: G8
  • 1600: G5
  • 1700: G4

18th

  • 1015: Lecture 3

 

20th

  • 1400: G6

21st

  • 0900: G2
  • 1100: G7
  • 1400: G3
  • 1700: Assignment 1 due

24th

  • 1300: G1
  • 1600: G5
  • 1700: G4

25th

  • 1015: Lecture 4

26th

  • 1505: G6

28th

  • 0900: G2
  • 1400: G3
  • 1600: G7

3rd

  • 1300: G1
  • 1400: G6
  • 1500: G8
  • 1600: G5
  • 1700: G4

4th

  • 1015: Q&A Lecture
  • 1600: G8

7th

  • 1700: Assignment 2 due

How it's going to work

The course is pass/fail, and centred around two assignments. The assignments are essentially 'slightly harder' exercise sheets, and you will conduct much of the work required to complete these assignments in groups. Each group will consist of 2-4 people, and will be fixed throughout the course. We will split the teaching and assessment into two phases, one for each assignment. Each of the phases will be conducted as follows. You can find more information about each aspect further down this page.

  1. Two lectures. Here we will go through the course material required to complete the assignments. Attendance is optional (but encouraged).
  2. Two 1 hour supervisions. Here you and your group will discuss the exercises and lecture material with one of the course teachers. Attendance is mandatory.
  3. A written report. Each group will write a report with their solutions to the assignment. Each group will submit one report, along with a statement of contribution. Submission is mandatory.

Note that to coordinate the above will require us to do some scheduling beyond what is outlined in TimeEdit. We will go through this in detail in the first lecture. If you cannot attend this lecture, please email richard.pates@control.lth.se.

Lectures

Each assignment will be supported by 2 lectures. These will not cover absolutely everything you need for the hand in assignments, but should get you on the right track. In addition to the in person lectures, you will also find video material covering all aspects of the course (and more) here on the canvas page.

Exercises sessions

This course will have no exercise sessions. These have been replaced by 'supervisions' (see below).

Supervisions

Supervisions are a teaching mechanism pioneered by the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the UK. A supervision is a 1 hour session involving an individual group, and one of the teachers. Each supervision requires some preparation beforehand. Before the given session, you should go through 2 of the assignment questions (these will be assigned ahead of time). There are no rules as to the level of preparations you should make, but as a group you should be ready to present your solutions or current workings to the given questions. Supervisions are not assessed, so they’re a great opportunity to test your ideas and interests. During the course each group will have 4 supervisions (2 per assignment).

Written Reports

Each group will submit one set of written solutions to the assignment questions, along with a statement of contribution outlining how each group member has contributed. There are no rules on how your write up should be structured, however 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.

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.

Typesetting: 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. 

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