Unit Synopsis
Automatic control systems are fundamental to our way of life, including electrical power, electronics, automation and robotics. In this unit, you will work individually and also in teams to model, analyse, and investigate design options for analogue and digital control systems. You will articulate typical control systems building blocks and select appropriate components and interfaces for specific applications. In addition, you will develop mathematical models to analyse the behaviour of selected dynamic systems and design their controllers. You will apply simulation software to analyse and simulate the control systems. This unit will provide you with the opportunities to practice your communication skills through developing technical documentation and reports. All students must have access to a computer, frequently use the Internet, and complete the compulsory practical activities. Furthermore, the unit also aims to promote the UN sustainable development Goal 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation by developing an understanding of how to build resilient and sustainable automation and intelligence systems to support industrial innovation.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisites: (ENEE13020 Digital Electronics or ENEX12002 Introductory Electronics) and ENEE12016 Signals and Systems.Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School |
Compulsory Residential School View Unit Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 30% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 40% |
| 3. Laboratory/Practical | 30% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.67% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE
The unit content is highly appreciated. Also appreciated is the clear explanations provided on every topic.
This good practice should be continued.
This good practice was continued.
Source: SUTE
The support provided to students by the teaching staff has been commended.
This good practice should be continued.
This good practice was continued.
Source: SUTE
Better quality learning material must be provided (eg. Lecture slides without annotations).
The quality of learning material should be improved.
The quality of learning material was improved.
Source: SUTE
Extensive feedback expected for Laboratory experiment based assignment.
Detailed Feedback should be given to Laboratory experiment based assignments.
Detailed Feedback was given to Laboratory experiment.
Source: SUTE
Provide clear unit requirements.
Unit requirements should be explained during week 1 lecture and further clarification should be given close to Assessment dates and lab session dates.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Introduce mechanisms to further improve student engagement with the unit learning content.
Mandatory mid-term checkpoint submission of the student project should be introduced to encourage student engagement with the project and learning content as the term progresses.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Improve mechanisms to provide feedback to student learning.
With the mandatory mid-term checkpoint submission of the student project, individual project meetings should also be introduced to provide personalised feedback and better guidance on engaging with the unit's learning content.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
The relevance of the curriculum to the course and future careers could be improved.
More intense explanations should be provided to students for them to be able to understand the relevance between the fundamentals taught in this unit and their application on real-world problems when they become practicing engineers.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Increase the number of student responses in the survey.
Students should be further encouraged to respond to the survey.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Apply the principles of automatic control systems including associated control system building blocks
- Examine the principles and applications of sensors, amplifiers, controllers, and associated elements in analogue and digital control systems
- Analyse behavioural models of dynamic systems and controllers using appropriate mathematical, graphical and computer-aided tools
- Investigate controller design for a dynamic system collaboratively and autonomously
- Document control system solutions, calculations using correct terminology, symbols and diagrams.
The Learning Outcomes for this unit are linked with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standards for Professional Engineers in the areas of 1. Knowledge and Skill Base, 2. Engineering Application Ability and 3. Professional and Personal Attributes at the following levels:
Intermediate 1.5 Knowledge of engineering design practice and contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2I 3I ) 1.6 Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of sustainable engineering practice in the specific discipline. (LO: 1I 2I 3I ) 3.2 Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains. (LO: 5I 6I ) 3.6 Effective team membership and team leadership. (LO: 5I )
Advanced 1.1 Comprehensive, theory-based understanding of the underpinning natural and physical sciences and the engineering fundamentals applicable to the engineering discipline. (LO: 1A 2A 3A ) 1.2 Conceptual understanding of the mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics, and computer and information sciences which underpin the engineering discipline. (LO: 1A 2A 3A ) 1.3 In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline. (LO: 1A 2A 3A ) 1.4 Discernment of knowledge development and research directions within the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2A 3A ) 2.1 Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving. (LO: 1A 2A 3A )
Note: LO refers to the Learning Outcome number(s) which link to the competency and the levels: N – Introductory, I – Intermediate and A - Advanced.
Refer to the Engineering Undergraduate Course Moodle site for further information on the Engineers Australia's Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineers and course level mapping informationhttps://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=1511
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Laboratory/Practical | • | • | |||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |