Engineered Systems
Engineered systems are designed and constructed by human beings. They include a vast array of mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, and hydraulic devices, such as steam engines, automobiles, stereo-amplifiers, computers, and wind turbines. They also
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Abstract Engineered systems are designed and constructed by human beings. They include a vast array of mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, and hydraulic devices, such as steam engines, automobiles, stereo-amplifiers, computers, and wind turbines. They also include much larger entities, for example, ships, airplanes, chemical manufacturing plants, and oil refineries, and even larger ones, such as telecommunication networks and power grids. An engineered system may include human beings, when they are closely associated with its working, for example, an automobile with its driver, an airplane with its pilots, and a chemical plant with its operating personnel. The early applications of system science have mostly been in the domain of Engineered Systems. James Watt was a forerunner who developed feedback mechanism for controlling the speed of steam engines. This chapter provides an overview of engineered systems as an introduction to broader system thinking. The chapter begins with a brief history of engineered systems that came into being at the start of the Industrial Revolution. Then there is discussion of how Watt Governors controlled steam engines and why that played a significant role in the early days of engineered systems. That is followed by discussion of loop diagram and how it helps in depicting the information flow in an engineered system. The chapter delves into the various parts of a loop, which include sensors, actuators, and controllers. Finally, the importance of feedback is discussed followed by the possible negative effects of delays.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 A. Ghosh, Dynamic Systems for Everyone, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43943-3_2
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Dynamic Systems for Everyone
History of Engineered Systems
The Industrial Revolution, which started in Great Britain, during the eighteenth century, totally changed the ways of producing goods and services for human societies. It also changed the society from being mainly agricultural to one in which industry and manufacturing became paramount. Soon after its adoption in England, other countries such as Germany, the USA, and France joined in this revolution. Then, Japan and Korea led the industrialization in Asia, which is now being followed by other major countries, such as China and India. Industrial Revolution led to the design of engineered systems on a large scale. These ranged from manually controlled to partially and fully automated systems. Before the Industrial Revolution, human societies were largely agricultural with artisan-based small-scale industries, also known as cottage industries. In the cottage industry era, which spanned for a very large part of humankind’s history, there was hardly any need for mechanical feedback systems, as human beings controlled the production processes. That changed with the Industrial Revolution, when machines replaced a significant amount of human activity. The machines not only replaced the muscle power of humans and animals, such as horse and bullock but also started to reduce
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