At the midway point in this volume, this chapter attempts a ?>big picture?> discussion on the trends and developments in advanced control systems. Previous chapters have described some of the new control technologies that are being pursued in research, and the second half of this book reviews the state of the art and future prospects in a variety of application arenas. Here, we view controls as a key discipline for ?>complexity management,?> a perspective that recognizes the substantially increased complexity of our engineering systems and the role that control systems can play in ensuring their safe, efficient, and profitable operation.
Talk of complexity is rife in virtually all technological (and many nontechnological) fields. However, it is in the area of control and automation that a practice of complexity is urgently needed. It is one matter to analyze the increasing complexity of systems or phenomena of interest; it is another matter entirely to ?>close the loop?> on such systems. Indeed, the complexity of control solutions can increase disproportionately to the complexity of the target system.
But complexity is not just a problem; it is an opportunity too. Organizations (and people) that can harness the increasingly sophisticated technologies that are now at our disposal and leverage them into a new generation of automation and con trol solutions can expect to realize substantial economic (and intellectual) benefits.
This chapter reviews several objectives for control and automation systems, from human and environmental safety to increased autonomy; it briefly outlines some emerging control technologies that are not covered in depth elsewhere in this book; and it describes a few new, general application opportunities for control. Finally, a brief review of various schools of complexity management is provided, contrasting the diverse motivations that different intellectual communities are bringing to this intriguing new topic.