Also known as automation engineering in Europe, control systems engineering is the technological discipline of designing and setting up machines to work automatically with little or no human inputs.
This discipline deals with controlling how machines behave in specific situations so that expected objectives can be achieved. Control systems engineering emanates from the combination of electrical and mechanical engineering education and training.
If you are a control systems engineer, your job would entail designing, developing, and implementing solutions that control how machines deliver on operations.
For example, a control systems engineer may design and implement how machines on the production line deliver on products, how the anti-lock braking system in a car functions under various conditions, and how spacecraft operate before and after takeoff.
Best Control Systems Engineering Textbooks: Our Top Picks
To qualify as a control systems engineer, you must obtain degrees in electrical or mechanical engineering, and you must possess additional skills at software development, computer modeling and simulations, network services, as well as possess great mathematical and problem-solving abilities. To excel at these areas, you must avail yourself of the 4 best control systems engineering textbooks that can guarantee your certifications and success as an automation engineer.
1. Control Systems Engineering
Control Systems Engineering is a texbook that teaches users to become certified and career systems engineers. Whether you are new or already familiar with the discipline, this textbook introduces you to the key concepts and advanced aspects of automation engineering. If you possess basic mathematical skills, you will find this book invaluable at understanding control systems design, interactive virtual modeling, systems implementation, and system variables among others.
This textbook is recommended for students of electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and electronics engineering among other engineering disciples. It is suitable for students who do engineering as an elective or major course, and for factory supervisors or automotive engineers as well as spacecraft experts. It is cheap and can be ordered online. You can get them for yourself and for your loved ones who plan on becoming certified as licensed control systems engineers later in life.
- Author(s): I.J. Nagrath
- Publisher: New Age International
- Current Edition: Paperback, 7th Edition (January, 2017)
- Pages: N/A
2. Control Systems Engineering
The 8th edition of this EMEA edition control systems engineering textbook introduces users to the fundamentals and key concepts of modern technology. Written for students in mechanical, electrical, aerospace, biomedical, and chemical engineering disciplines among others, this textbook emphasizes practical applications of feedback systems as they relate to up-to-date engineering practices.
This academic and engineering resource provides users with the design and analysis of control system designs, development, implementation, and feedback needed to master core essentials of the discipline. It contains real-life cast studies, interactive questions, and computer-aided visuals to aid comprehension. With more than 800 color images and diagrams, the illustrations and graphs that come with the book make it the ideal textbook to have for control systems engineering.
- Author(s): Norman S. Nise
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
- Current Edition: Hardcover, 8th EMEA Edition (May, 2019)
- Pages: N/A
3. Control Systems for Complete Idiots
If you have some fundamental knowledge of Physics and Calculus, then you will understand the entire concepts of control systems engineering as taught in this textbook. Control Systems for Complete Idiots is designed to introduce students to the advanced topics covered in standard control system textbooks. It is not aimed at replacing established textbooks on the subject, but to introduce beginners to the advanced topics covered in major textbooks.
This engineering textbook reveals the fact that control systems exist in self-driving cars, guided missiles, home appliances, and in everything around us. Based on this, it is written in simple language so that users can understand the essentials and key concepts of the discipline. According to the author, “control systems is one of those subjects that go beyond a particular branch of engineering…its application is in mechanical, electrical, electronics, and civil engineering among other branches of engineering sciences.
- Author(s): David Smith
- Publisher: N/A
- Current Edition: Kindle Edition (January, 2018)
- Pages: 87
4. Control Systems Engineering: Design and Implementation using Arm Cortex-M Microcontrollers
To underscore the ease and suitability of this control systems engineering textbook, the author said “if students have a good mathematical background, the material may be covered in a single semester.” This means that this textbook provides all there is to know about control systems engineering, and it pays particular attention to control systems featuring Arm Cortex-M microcontrollers.
For users who enjoy laboratory sessions, this textbook will prove invaluable since it address lab sessions as well as the inexpensive equipment used for control systems purposes within that environment. One of the cheap tools used for control systems in labs is the Arm Cortex-M 32-bit microcontroller manufactured by STMicroelectronics. “The book can serve as a textbook for a course that features laboratory sessions,” the author advised.
Control Systems Engineering: Design and Implementation is recommended students grounded in electrical and mechanical engineering and who aims to become control system engineers. It is practical, detail-oriented, filled with illustrative diagrams, loaded with key lab sessions, and above all – cheap and affordable for all undergraduate engineering students.
- Author(s): Dong-Jin Lim
- Publisher: Independently published
- Current Edition: Paperback, 7th Edition (February, 2021)
- Pages: 511
Final thoughts
Control systems can be seen in almost everything around us. It is evident in automatic machines and appliances that are automated. It is also seen automated factory machines and everything that needs to work without much human intervention. If you want to graduate from school and develop systems that work automatically to deliver measured objectives, then the control systems engineering textbooks reviewed in this guide are for you.
Obtaining these 4 best control systems engineering textbooks becomes more crucial if you currently study mechanical, electrical, electronics, computer, aerospace, biomedical, and any branches of engineering sciences. These books will help to qualify and certify you to become a licensed control systems engineer. The books are cheap and affordable and recommended for any students of engineering in any capacities. They can be used in classrooms and for examinations as well as board examinations for approved certifications.
