This page includes: links for the lecture notes and videos; a list of subjects you are presumed to know to attend this course; a schedule of classes with the corresponding lecture note chapters and videos; additional material for classes and presentations.
All this course material was conceived, produced and made available by Prof. Duarte Valério.
Links for the lecture notes and videos
• the Lecture Notes of Signals, Systems and Control, of which we will study chapters 30 to 41, in the following order: Part VI, Part VIII (omitting chapter 42), and then Part VII;
• the link for the YouTube channel with the videos you are expected to watch before classes;
• the Laboratory Guide.
Subjects you are presumed to know beforehand
In this course, you are assumed to be familiar with several subjects from your undergraduate studies. During the first week, we will pass them quickly in review, but if you have never studied some of the following, you will be well advised to do so as soon as possible, otherwise you will not be able to follow the System Identification course. In the YouTube channel you find a playlist covering all these subjects for the benefit of students who did not study some or even all of them, or do not remember them. Make sure to watch that playlist if you need to.
The subjects in question are the following (the corresponding chapters in the Lecture Notes are indicated):
• Laplace and Fourier transforms - chapter 2
• Transfer functions in s - chapter 4, sections 4.1 and 4.2
• System theory: block diagrams, time and frequency responses, Bode diagram, stability - chapters 9, 10 and 11
• Filters - chapter 12, sections 12.2 and 12.3
• Transfer functions in z - chapter 25, plus parts of chapters 26 and 27 which are not ready yet
• Delays - chapter 24, section 24.1
• Non-linearities - chapter 8, section 8.3, plus chapter 28
Please notice that the items above amount roughly to a one-semester course in systems theory.
Class schedule
The class schedule is summarised at the Time Line and Topics for Each Class.
**** Week 1 (2025/09/08 to 2025/09/12)
Monday, 2025/09/08 – Before this class, review the chapters in the list above concerning Laplace and Fourier transforms, transfer functions in s, system theory, and filters; watch the videos from the Primer playlist, classes 1 to 4, if you never studied these subjects before. Laboratory experiments will be presented in class.
Tuesday, 2025/09/09 – Before this class, review the chapters in the list above concerning transfer functions in z, delays, and non-linearities; watch the videos from the Primer playlist, classes 5 to 8, if you never studied these subjects before. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Friday, 2025/09/12 – First laboratory class for the Friday shift (attendance is compulsory).
**** Week 2 (2025/09/15 to 2025/09/19)
Monday, 2025/09/15 – First laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is compulsory).
Monday, 2025/09/15 – Before this class, watch the videos from the System Identification playlist, class 1; study chapter 30 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Tuesday, 2025/09/16 – Before this class, watch the videos from the System Identification playlist, class 2; study chapter 31 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Friday, 2025/09/19 – Second laboratory class for the Friday shift (attendance is compulsory).
**** Week 3 (2025/09/22 to 2025/09/26)
Monday, 2025/09/22 – Second laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is compulsory).
Monday, 2025/09/22 – Before this class, watch the videos from the System Identification playlist, class 3; study chapter 32 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Tuesday, 2025/09/23 – Before this class, watch the videos from the System Identification playlist, class 4; study chapter 33 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
**** Week 4 (2025/09/29 to 2025/10/03)
This is the week of lab presentation 1, corresponding to questions 6 to 18 of the Laboratory Guide.
Monday, 2025/09/29 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 1; study chapter 37 (up to section 37.2) of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
Tuesday, 2025/09/30 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 2; study chapter 37 (from section 37.3 on) of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
**** Week 5 (2025/10/06 to 2025/10/10)
This is the week of lab presentation 2, corresponding to questions 19 to 23 of the Laboratory Guide.
Monday, 2025/10/06 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 3; study chapter 38 (up to section 38.2) of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
Tuesday, 2025/10/07 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 4; study chapter 38 (from section 38.3 on) of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
**** Week 6 (2025/10/13 to 2025/10/17)
Monday, 2025/10/13 - Third laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is compulsory) - rescheduled.
Monday, 2025/10/13 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 5; study chapter 39 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Tuesday, 2025/10/14 – Before this class, review chapters 38 and 39 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on these subjects.
Friday, 2025/10/17 – Third laboratory class for the Friday shift (attendance is compulsory).
**** Week 7 (2025/10/20 to 2025/10/24)
This is the week of lab presentation 3, corresponding to questions 24 to 25 of the Laboratory Guide.
Monday, 2025/10/20 – Third laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is compulsory).
Monday, 2025/10/20 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 6; study chapter 40 of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
Tuesday, 2025/10/21 – There is no further study material. There will be lab presentations in class.
** This week is followed by the first quarter break **
**** Week 10 (2025/11/10 to 2025/11/14)
This is the week of test 1, on filter design (chapter 40 of the Lecture Notes)
Monday, 2025/11/10 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 7; study chapter 41 (up to section 41.2) of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of chapter 40.
Tuesday, 2025/11/11 – There is no further study material. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of chapter 40, followed by test 1.
**** Week 11 (2025/11/17 to 2025/11/21)
This is the week of lab presentation 4, corresponding to questions 29 to 34 of the Laboratory Guide.
Monday, 2025/11/17 – Fourth laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is not compulsory).
Monday, 2025/11/17 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Stochastic Systems playlist, class 8; study chapter 41 (from section 41.3 on) of the Lecture Notes. There will be lab presentations in class.
Tuesday, 2025/11/18 – There is no further study material. There will be lab presentations in class.
Friday, 2025/11/21 – Fourth laboratory class for the Friday shift (attendance is not compulsory).
**** Week 12 (2025/11/24 to 2025/11/28)
Monday, 2025/11/24 – Fifth laboratory class for the Monday shift (attendance is not compulsory).
Monday, 2025/11/24 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Fractional Order Systems playlist, class 1; study chapter 34 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of chapter 41.
Tuesday, 2025/11/25 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Fractional Order Systems playlist, class 2; study chapter 35 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of chapter 41.
Friday, 2025/11/28 – Fifth laboratory class for the Friday shift (attendance is not compulsory).
**** Week 13 (2025/12/01 to 2025/12/05)
Monday, 2025/12/01 – There is no class because of the National Holiday of the Restoration of the Independence.
Tuesday, 2025/12/02 – Before this class, watch the videos from the Fractional Order Systems playlist, class 3; study chapter 36 of the Lecture Notes. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of chapters 34 and 35.
**** Week 14 (2025/12/08 to 2025/12/12)
This is the week of test 2, on identification from frequency and time responses, including fractional order models identification (parts VI and VII of the Lecture Notes).
Monday, 2025/12/08 – There is no class because of the National Holiday of the Immaculate Conception.
Tuesday, 2025/12/09 – There is no further study material. There will be exercises in class on the subjects of part VII, followed by test 2.
**** Week 15 (2025/12/15 to 2025/12/19)
This is the week of presentation 5, corresponding to questions 31 to 39 of the Laboratory Guide. For presentation 5, groups may correct mistakes found in the work of previous presentations. A bonus in the grade (not limited to the 3/20 points of presentation 5) will be given accordingly. (This bonus is inferior to the grade the group would have obtained by having no errors in previous presentations.)
Monday, 2025/12/15 – There is no further study material. There will be presentations in class.
Tuesday, 2025/12/16 – There is no further study material. There will be presentations in class.
** This week is followed by the Christmas break **
**** Week 16 (2026/01/05 to 2026/01/09)
Monday, 2026/01/06 - There is no further study material. There will be exercises in class about subjects that the students who attend will bring.
Tuesday, 2026/01/07 - There is no further study material. There will be exercises in class about subjects that the students who attend will bring.
Additional material
Functions and data files for classes and presentations will be made available here along the semester.
• Files to run the drone experiment in the Control lab (for the groups that selected this experiment)
• Identification methods of Levy and Matsuda: use functions levy and matsudaCFE of this toolbox.
• This function receives a sinusoidal input and the corresponding output, returning gain and phase for that frequency.
• Wind energy converter data. Measured input: Wind_speed_actual; measured output: Turbine_actual.
• Test 2: sample test with solutions