Managed systems

Cybernetics as a management science does not study all systems in general, but only managed systems. But the field of interests and applications of cybernetics extends to a wide variety of biological, economic, social systems.

Cybernetics as a management science does not study all systems in general, but only managed systems

The system is an extremely wide, initial, not strictly defined concept. It is assumed that the system has a structure, i.e. consists of relatively isolated parts (elements), nevertheless, in a significant relationship and interaction.

One of the characteristic features of a controlled system is the ability to transition to different states under the influence of various control actions. There is always a set of system states from which the preferred state is selected.

Since cybernetic systems are understood to mean controlled systems, they must have a mechanism that implements control functions. Most often this mechanism is implemented in the form of bodies specifically designed for management.

The control part of the system that generates control signals is called the control device. The control device can generate control signals, usually based on information about the state of the system being controlled, its required state, and perturbations. The set of rules by which information arriving at the control device is processed into control signals is called control algorithm.

In managed systems, four main types of management tasks are solved: 1) regulation (stabilization), 2) program execution, 3) tracking, and 4) optimization.

The tasks of regulating controlled systems are the tasks of maintaining the parameters of the system-controllable quantities-near certain unchanged setpoints.

The task of executing the program arises in cases where the set values of the controlled quantities vary in time in a known manner.

The task of tracking managed systems is to maintain as precise as possible the correspondence of a certain controlled parameter to the current state of the managed system, changing in an unforeseeable manner.

The task of optimizing managed systems is to establish the best mode of operation or the state of a managed object in a certain sense.

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