A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial control systems which are used for controlling processes or machines. The control systems are designed via control engineering process.
The centrifugal governor is an early proportional control mechanism.
An electromechanical timer, normally used for open-loop control based purely on a timing sequence, with no feedback from the process
Example of a single industrial control loop; showing continuously modulated control of process flow.
A DCS control room where large screens display plant information. The operators can view and control any part of the process from their computer screens, whilst retaining a plant overview on the larger screens.
A control loop is the fundamental building block of control systems in general and industrial control systems in particular. It consists of the process sensor, the controller function, and the final control element (FCE) which controls the process necessary to automatically adjust the value of a measured process variable (PV) to equal the value of a desired set-point (SP).
An electromechanical timer, normally used for open-loop control based purely on a timing sequence, with no feedback from the process
Example of a single industrial control loop; showing continuously modulated control of process flow.