MECH&AE 171A
Introduction to Feedback and Control Systems: Dynamic Systems Control I
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Enforced requisite: course 107. Introduction to feedback principles, control systems design, and system stability. Modeling of physical systems in engineering and other fields; transform methods; controller design using Nyquist, Bode, and root locus methods; compensation; computer-aided analysis and design. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - There's a reason Professor Franco is as adored as she is. She is by far the best professors in the department. She took one of the most difficult classes in the department and made it a joy. The grading curve she applies is helpful, but offering extra credit for showing up makes it so much easier to get motivated about this class. She is super responsive in her Office Hours and over email, and would adjust deadlines when she knew students were struggling. She's so passionate about this subject, even though it's the basic basic math behind the extremely difficult research she conducts. This class covers a lot of topics and a lot of math - it's easy to get mixed up between the different parameters in the system. I wish there was slightly more clarity there, but she did a great job of providing tables and consolidating information as much as possible. I think it's crucial that the class is taken right after 107 so the concepts are fresh - having her in both classes carried me through the midterm. She gave us candy for answering questions during the final review, and it's just one example of her shining character. Her slides can be a bit dense, and having an iPad is basically required to follow along. There's a lot of graphs, and they all have their own quirks that make them difficult to understand. She skips over derivations sometimes - it's nice for when the math would be more distracting than helpful, but it also sometimes makes it hard for me to stay engaged. I wish there were more quizzes so it would be easier for us to check our comprehension. The last assignment is also really difficult - we got launched into the control system software at the end and had to figure out how to use it ourselves. Like any class, there's room for improvement, but this is among the best professors in the department and certainly the best option to take 171A.
Spring 2025 - There's a reason Professor Franco is as adored as she is. She is by far the best professors in the department. She took one of the most difficult classes in the department and made it a joy. The grading curve she applies is helpful, but offering extra credit for showing up makes it so much easier to get motivated about this class. She is super responsive in her Office Hours and over email, and would adjust deadlines when she knew students were struggling. She's so passionate about this subject, even though it's the basic basic math behind the extremely difficult research she conducts. This class covers a lot of topics and a lot of math - it's easy to get mixed up between the different parameters in the system. I wish there was slightly more clarity there, but she did a great job of providing tables and consolidating information as much as possible. I think it's crucial that the class is taken right after 107 so the concepts are fresh - having her in both classes carried me through the midterm. She gave us candy for answering questions during the final review, and it's just one example of her shining character. Her slides can be a bit dense, and having an iPad is basically required to follow along. There's a lot of graphs, and they all have their own quirks that make them difficult to understand. She skips over derivations sometimes - it's nice for when the math would be more distracting than helpful, but it also sometimes makes it hard for me to stay engaged. I wish there were more quizzes so it would be easier for us to check our comprehension. The last assignment is also really difficult - we got launched into the control system software at the end and had to figure out how to use it ourselves. Like any class, there's room for improvement, but this is among the best professors in the department and certainly the best option to take 171A.
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Most Helpful Review
I took 107 and 171A with him and I am here to do my little dance and tell you that you wont be able to take his class because he went back to Israel. ha ha ha anyway he is great. possibly the best lecturer evar. and disregard the advice in the other review because, well you know why. oh and he was a dick in his office but i dont think he meant it. he is really nice but he's got a borat issue (where he says stuff but it turns out it doesn't really mean when he thinks it means, etc...)
I took 107 and 171A with him and I am here to do my little dance and tell you that you wont be able to take his class because he went back to Israel. ha ha ha anyway he is great. possibly the best lecturer evar. and disregard the advice in the other review because, well you know why. oh and he was a dick in his office but i dont think he meant it. he is really nice but he's got a borat issue (where he says stuff but it turns out it doesn't really mean when he thinks it means, etc...)
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Iwasaki is an incredible professor. He went though everything step by step and made it all super clear, did tons of example problems, and connected everything to actual physical examples. The homework was good practice and reasonable, the only issue was that exams were pretty tough. Still, I 100% taking this class with this professor.
Winter 2020 - Iwasaki is an incredible professor. He went though everything step by step and made it all super clear, did tons of example problems, and connected everything to actual physical examples. The homework was good practice and reasonable, the only issue was that exams were pretty tough. Still, I 100% taking this class with this professor.
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