Virtual Temperature Control VTC

Virtual Temperature Control (VTC) is a powerful learning/teaching tool that demonstrates the major concepts of automatic control systems. This user friendly software is a virtual experiment where the user controls the temperature of a fluid by pressing buttons like being in a lab without worrying about breaking any device. A high school student who is willing to learn about the fun of control engineering, an undergraduate student who wants to strengthen his understanding to the subject of control systems design, and the teacher or professor who likes to explain the concepts of automation to his students can all enjoy the benefits of this interesting software. The user can control the fluid temperature manually or watch the controller do it automatically. The temperature versus time curve is plotted. The parameters of the controller and fluid system can be set by the user. Thus, he/she will understand the effect of changing these parameters on the controller performance. Relevant theory and exercises are included in the user manual. You can try a simpler version of the software at

http://homepage.mac.com/sami_ashhab/courses/control/supplementary/lab/virtual_temperature/exp.htmlPlatforms supported:Unix / Linux, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 98