ECE 481Digital Control Systems
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Performance specifications for design. Dynamic system modelling and basic system identification. Dealing with basic nonlinear effects. Sampled data systems. Discrete-time system stability and dynamic performance. Digital control system design: emulation methods, z-domain, frequency domain, pole placement. Implementation of digital controllers.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Students must be in level 4A or higher
- Complete 1 of the following
- Complete all of the following
- Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- Enrolled in H-Computer Engineering, H-Electrical Engineering, or H-Systems Design Engineering
- Complete all of the following
- Must have completed the following:
- Enrolled in H-Software Engineering
- Complete all of the following
Antirequisites
- Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
- ECE484 - Digital Control Applications (0.50)
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Resources
Around the web
Found by uwloo’s link finder, which checks that each page names ECE 481.
- Tentative Syllabus Course outline · yashpant.github.io · from Yash Vardhan Pant’s site Remove
- Gennaro Notomista Other · Spring 2025 · gnotomista.com · from Gennaro Notomista’s site Remove
Reviewed on UW Flow
92% liked it17% easy94% useful
From 12 ratings and 3 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
If you liked ECE 380, you'll like this course. First half of course was pretty similar to content covered in 380. Latter half delved into new territory with state spaces. Professor (Yash Pant) was excelltn. Very fair, short exams. Lectures were very clear and engaging. Textbook was very well written. Expect to have a small class, ours was ~25 people. Most useful content was learning how to discretize the continuous time transfer functions to discrete time for implementing on microcontrollers.
The real appeal of this course is the lab project. The project is to design a series of controller to control the placement of a ball on a horizontal beam. Very challenging to meet the various…Nov 2022 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
First half of the course contains a lot of review of ECE380, but with some new topics thrown in there. Midterm was easy, but final was a little tough. Labs were challenging at times, but you just had to power through them like in ece124/222. The first lab was especially hard because you have to learn the software which is used to program the apparatus, but don't let that discourage you, it gets easier in the next labs once you're familiar with it.
Sep 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
This follows clearly from ECE 380, the first half of the course is a rehash of that. The lab shows you how to actually implement controllers. The lab needs improvement in quality, but the lecture content is very interesting and well planned and motivated.
The midterm and assignments are straight from the notes.Jul 2022 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
15 posts and comments in 11 threads mention ECE 481, May 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Fall 2024
ECE 481 1 point, 0 comments
u/Rude_Molasses_3976: “Has anyone taken this course? How was the difficulty of the content and labs?”
Winter 2024
Engineering courses as non-math courses for CS majors 2 points, 7 comments
“Does anyone know if ECE courses can count towards the non-math part of the CS degree? My friend told me his advisor said yes but wanted to confirm since I'm in 4B and want to graduate on time lol”
u/djao: “Anything non-math can count towards the non-math units degree requirement, but CS specifically has elective depth and elective breadth requirements, which form the bulk of the non-math courses …”
u/tendstwofiftytwo: “… However ece 380 and ece 481. I know .ost of the integrated ircuits courses are fair game for non math credit. …”
Spring 2023
Question regarding ECE 481/484 1 point, 0 comments
u/sosoficjd: “I have a couple questions I’d like to ask someone who’s in the course or has completed it. If anyone could do so it’d be much appreciated as I’m currently losing my mind.”
u/ignatomic: “I completed ECE 481. Feel free to ask me some questions”
ECE 481 Past Midterms? 1 point, 0 comments
u/sosoficjd: “Checked on engsoc and there’s only one from 2000. Was wondering if there were anymore I could use to study.”
Winter 2023
CE 4A TEs 8 points, 30 comments
u/OkCelery1514: “… Co-op & Adaptive Algorithms ECE 457C, Reinforcement Learning ECE 458, Computer Security ECE 481, Digital Control Systems ECE 493, Special Topics: IOT Signal Processing I took ECE 358, ECE 356, & ECE 351 in 3B and performed at the average in all these courses. …”
u/QuestionTuesdayFTW: “I see ECE 481 is an antireq to ECE 484. Given 484 was brutal I would suggest not taking 481.”
u/anonymousgoosetown: “… ECE481: Strong recommend if interested in control systems. The course content is fairly easy, first half is mostly review of 380, second half focussed on state spaces. Towards the end it did get fairly academic/researchy, but overall interesting. …”
Spring 2022
A GUIDE ON HOW TO PLAN AN OPTION 29 points, 15 comments
u/1000Ditto: “Hey all, here's an example (by yours truly) of how to plan an option. as someone who has been trying to get many options in but having a hard time, might as well write down my process so others can kind of benefit from it. …”
Fall 2020
Upper years and anyone else really ,what is ECE 4B like? 8 points, 8 comments
“Hi guys, hope your co-op/study term is winding down nicely and you're getting ready for the safe and festive season ahead. …”
u/mathematicalengineer: “I took ECE 488 and it was an amazing course with Davison. He's one of the best profs I've ever had. Even when things turned online at the end of Winter 2020, his course still operated smoothly with …”
u/mathematicalengineer: “… The course is taught at the expectation that this is your third controls course (Like you took ECE 481 or 484 last term), but it's completely manageable if you haven't as I had only taken ME 360 beforehand, which didn't even have Nyquist plots. …”
Need some advice from ECE fellows 2 points, 12 comments
“Hi there, I am a forth year student in math faculty who got a lot of interest in control/signal processing stuff. …”
u/realbrokenlantern: “… There are more math-involved courses in ECE that are also related to robotics like ECE 413, 481, 484, 486 and 488 (check out https://ucalendar.uwaterloo.ca/2021/COURSE/course-ECE.html) so I recommend you take one of those if you want to work specifically on controls or signal …”
Spring 2020
ECE 4A 2 points, 8 comments
u/powerfulwizkid: “Hey guys, just wondering if anyone minds shedding some light on what ECE 4A is like? In terms of courses my TEs are ECE 462, ECE 463 and 481. For 462 I have Prof. Ahmed Gaouda and for 463 I have Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani. Anything I should watch out for? Thanks in advance.”
u/jdtechman98: “I’m also taking ECE481. Apparently Prof Davidson is an excellent prof.”
Fall 2016
What are the easiest ATEs for Software Engineering Students? 3 points, 3 comments
u/uobhsarp: “… of Computational Intelligence ECE 458 Computer Security ECE 459 Programming for Performance ECE 481 Digital Control Systems ECE 486 Robot Dynamics and Control ECE 488 Multivariable Control Systems Any suggestions are highly appreciated! …”
Spring 2015
ECE 481 vs ECE 418 1 point, 1 comment
u/HueTopUW: “I have an interest in both but wanted to know how each of those courses are from people here who have taken them, and possibly which one is "better"”
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