Applications of symbolic manipulation in control system analysis and design

A review of the applications of symbolic manipulation in computer-aided control system analysis and design (CACSAD) is given. The research reviewed includes applications of symbolic manipulation languages, such as Macsyma and REDUCE, of logic programming (Prolog) and of Lisp. Application areas reviewed include nonlinear and optimal control, robotics, aircraft control, and spacecraft control. A computer program that combines symbolic manipulation and interactive graphics into a user-interface for control system analysis and design software is presented. The program serves as a tool for research on the integration of symbolic, graphical, and numerical computation for CACSAD on a microcomputer. Elements of the program include a graphical user interface, a model structure editor, a transfer function editor, a symbolic transfer function finder, and an output formatter.<>