Control is a hidden, enabling technology that is present in almost every engineered system today. Despite this fact, control system design is still mysterious and often falls in the domain of a specialist. Today, every engineer must know how to design, implement, and integrate a control system into a design from the start of the design process.
Evaluating a design concept is best done through modeling, not by building and testing, as modeling provides true insight on which to base design decisions. An integrated control system can enhance a design through stabilization, command following, disturbance and noise rejection, and robustness. All of this can be accomplished through a combined approach, rather than trying to accomplish all with a single feedback controller, as is too often the case.