Canal-U

Can it be done in software ?

The symbiosis of software with computer, sensors and actuators creates a new kind of physical engineering system. Robots used in space exploration and GPS - on the ground, GPS is just a "giant Kalman filter" - are great examples. But the future potential is difficult to estimate. One view - mine - is that the future depends on mathematics, on system theory broadly interpreted.. After recalling, very briefly, the successes and limitations of linear systems theory, I shall outline a broad pathway to the future, following and greatly expanding ideas from classical network "synthesis" (Foster, Cauer, Bode, Bott&Duffin), algebraic invariant theory (Hilbert), identification of contents of black boxes, more...