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Springer Handbook of Automation pp 53–69Cite as

A History of Automatic Control

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Abstract

Automatic control , particularly the application of feedback, has been fundamental to the development of automation. Its origins lie in the level control, water clocks, and pneumatics/hydraulics of the ancient world. From the 17th century onwards, systems were designed for temperature control, the mechanical control of mills, and the regulation of steam engines. During the 19th century it became increasingly clear that feedback systems were prone to instability. A stability criterion was derived independently towards the end of the century by Routh in England and Hurwitz in Switzerland. The 19th century, too, saw the development of servomechanisms, first for ship steering and later for stabilization and autopilots. The invention of aircraft added (literally) a new dimension to the problem. Minorskyʼs theoretical analysis of ship control in the 1920s clarified the nature of three-term control, also being used for process applications by the 1930s. Based on servo and communications engineering developments of the 1930s, and driven by the need for high-performance gun control systems, the coherent body of theory known as classical control emerged during and just after WWII in the US, UK and elsewhere, as did cybernetics ideas. Meanwhile, an alternative approach to dynamic modeling had been developed in the USSR based on the approaches of Poincaré and Lyapunov. Information was gradually disseminated, and state-space or modern control techniques, fuelled by Cold War demands for missile control systems, rapidly developed in both East and West. The immediate post-war period was marked by great claims for automation, but also great fears, while the digital computer opened new possibilities for automatic control.

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Abbreviations

AI:

artificial intelligence

ASME:

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

CNC:

computer numerical control

DDC:

direct digital control

IAT:

Institut Avtomatiki i Telemekhaniki

IAT:

interarrival time

ICT:

information and communication technology

KTA:

Kommissiya Telemekhaniki i Avtomatiki

LQG:

linear-quadratic-Gaussian

MIT:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT:

miles in-trail

NDRC:

National Defence Research Committee

O.R.:

operations research

PC:

personal computer

PID:

proportional, integral, and derivative

PLC:

programmable logic controller

WWII:

world war 2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication and Systems, The Open University, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA, Milton Keynes, UK

    Christopher Bissell PhD

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  1. Christopher Bissell PhD
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Correspondence to Christopher Bissell PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. PRISM Center, and School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, 315 N. Grant Street, 47907, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Shimon Y. Nof

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Bissell, C. (2009). A History of Automatic Control. In: Nof, S. (eds) Springer Handbook of Automation. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_4

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