Utilizing SIMULINK and MATLAB in a graduate nonlinear systems analysis course

Control system design packages like MATLAB, MATRIXX, Control C, SIMNON, etc. have become essential ingredients of both undergraduate and graduate courses in the systems and controls area. The use of MATLAB and its companion toolboxes in teaching graduate and undergraduate courses have been reported by many educators in the past. This work describes our experience, at the Pennsylvania State University the University of Arkansas, with the use of SIMULINK and MATLAB in Nonlinear Systems Analysis and Stability course which is offered to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. This paper will emphasize on the use of SIMULINK for simulation of nonlinear systems and study of their behavior. We also present the MATLAB features that are found useful in this course. A discussion of how SIMULINK and MATLAB help in enhancing the students' understanding of the material and reducing the amount of time spent in performing computational homework assignments will follow. Examples illustrating the use of these packages will be included and the actual code will be posted at a site on the World Wide Web. Finally, the general positive student reaction to incorporating these software packages into this course will be reported.