EC ENGR 141
Principles of Feedback Control
Description: (Formerly numbered Electrical Engineering 141.) Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour; outside study, seven hours. Enforced requisite: course 102. Mathematical modeling of physical control systems in form of differential equations and transfer functions. Design problems, system performance indices of feedback control systems via classical techniques, root-locus and frequency-domain methods. Computer-aided solution of design problems from real world. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - Exam questions were slightly more difficult than (but very similar to) homework problems. Lectures were very clear. Even if you miss the lecture, his well-written lecture PDFs are posted online. The project was engaging and we had a lot of freedom implementing it. (My Simulink screenshots/graphs differed from my classmate's, but we got very similar grades for it)
Spring 2017 - Exam questions were slightly more difficult than (but very similar to) homework problems. Lectures were very clear. Even if you miss the lecture, his well-written lecture PDFs are posted online. The project was engaging and we had a lot of freedom implementing it. (My Simulink screenshots/graphs differed from my classmate's, but we got very similar grades for it)
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Most Helpful Review
Tae is a pretty cool dude (he'll ask you to call him Tae and not professor, although no one seems to remember this). His lectures can be a little dry sometimes, but he goes over plenty of examples that should help you on your homework. I would recommend sitting near the front of the class since his handwriting can be a little small (although it is very neat), but also so you can hear his jokes better. The TA, Roja, was very helpful too. In discussions she would go over problems from the textbook that were similar to the homework questions you had and in office hours she would guide you towards finding the answers to homework without straight up giving away the solution (which I think is more helpful anyway). Tae's exams were all right (~60% average on both the midterm and final if I recall correctly), just remember to keep the general equation of a second order system in the back of your mind since that thing shows up everywhere. I think the low averages can be attributed primarily to the very easily found solution manual of the textbook and the numerous students who just copied the homework solutions and then got destroyed on the exams without ever understanding the material. Also, a really, really cool thing that he did was if you bombed the midterm, he would count the final as 70% of your grade instead of 40% final and 30% midterm ("I believe in redemption"). For this, Tae Roh has earned my 'most badass professor' award. The Matlab project (10% or 15% of your grade) about the inverted pendulum was pretty easy, as the Matlab stuff you had to do for homework pretty much teaches you what commands you need to use to do the project (root locus stuff and dominant pole design). Overall, Tae is a pretty decent professor that I would take for other classes if given the option. My only suggestion is that I nope next time around he decides to discuss some of the industry applications of what we learn in the class (even if they're really basic) just so people can appreciate why we have to take EE 141 in the first place.
Tae is a pretty cool dude (he'll ask you to call him Tae and not professor, although no one seems to remember this). His lectures can be a little dry sometimes, but he goes over plenty of examples that should help you on your homework. I would recommend sitting near the front of the class since his handwriting can be a little small (although it is very neat), but also so you can hear his jokes better. The TA, Roja, was very helpful too. In discussions she would go over problems from the textbook that were similar to the homework questions you had and in office hours she would guide you towards finding the answers to homework without straight up giving away the solution (which I think is more helpful anyway). Tae's exams were all right (~60% average on both the midterm and final if I recall correctly), just remember to keep the general equation of a second order system in the back of your mind since that thing shows up everywhere. I think the low averages can be attributed primarily to the very easily found solution manual of the textbook and the numerous students who just copied the homework solutions and then got destroyed on the exams without ever understanding the material. Also, a really, really cool thing that he did was if you bombed the midterm, he would count the final as 70% of your grade instead of 40% final and 30% midterm ("I believe in redemption"). For this, Tae Roh has earned my 'most badass professor' award. The Matlab project (10% or 15% of your grade) about the inverted pendulum was pretty easy, as the Matlab stuff you had to do for homework pretty much teaches you what commands you need to use to do the project (root locus stuff and dominant pole design). Overall, Tae is a pretty decent professor that I would take for other classes if given the option. My only suggestion is that I nope next time around he decides to discuss some of the industry applications of what we learn in the class (even if they're really basic) just so people can appreciate why we have to take EE 141 in the first place.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - The material in 141 it itself pretty cool, and I definitely learned alot from it. However, Shoarinejad’s teaching style just wasn’t for me. He prepares super-detailed notes before every class and just reads through them during lecture. This made his lectures run at ultra fast pace. After a while, I stopped attending lecture and just straight up read the notes. There’s so much material he covers in this class I feel like its a semester class squished into a quarter. The hardest part about his class is the workload. The homework and exam length are absolutely insane. His homework has 5-6 problems, which is normal for an EE class until you find out they have at least e) parts, all the way up to m) parts. It took me more time to do his ultra long HW than to watch the lectures and do the hw and quiz for another EE class. The homework was weekly and we also had a final project which pretty hard and long but kinda cool. His exams tell the same story. He told us it was doable in ~ 3 hours (given 24 hours to finish), but it took me more like 12 hours to do it. The final was even worse, there was 7 questions and one of the questions had a)b)c)d)e)f)g)h)i)j)k)l)m)n) parts. That said, his grading percentages are pretty good (87.5%+ for A, 81.25%+ for A-… etc) so if you really are willing to put in the hours, you can walk out with probably an A- or A (if you work really really hard). So, should you take this class? If you’re a senior, chilling and looking to take just 3 classes or if you’re seriously considering a career in control systems, absolutely, you will learn a shit ton in this class. However, if you’re looking for an elective to take with 3 other major upper-div classes, I would stay the a million miles away as his homework and project will eat up your time and mental health. Deep down, Shoarinejad is a good guy (kinda like a cool dad who uses discord) and he really cares about teaching and preparing us for industry. I just wish he wouldn’t try and fit a semester class into a quarter.
Winter 2021 - The material in 141 it itself pretty cool, and I definitely learned alot from it. However, Shoarinejad’s teaching style just wasn’t for me. He prepares super-detailed notes before every class and just reads through them during lecture. This made his lectures run at ultra fast pace. After a while, I stopped attending lecture and just straight up read the notes. There’s so much material he covers in this class I feel like its a semester class squished into a quarter. The hardest part about his class is the workload. The homework and exam length are absolutely insane. His homework has 5-6 problems, which is normal for an EE class until you find out they have at least e) parts, all the way up to m) parts. It took me more time to do his ultra long HW than to watch the lectures and do the hw and quiz for another EE class. The homework was weekly and we also had a final project which pretty hard and long but kinda cool. His exams tell the same story. He told us it was doable in ~ 3 hours (given 24 hours to finish), but it took me more like 12 hours to do it. The final was even worse, there was 7 questions and one of the questions had a)b)c)d)e)f)g)h)i)j)k)l)m)n) parts. That said, his grading percentages are pretty good (87.5%+ for A, 81.25%+ for A-… etc) so if you really are willing to put in the hours, you can walk out with probably an A- or A (if you work really really hard). So, should you take this class? If you’re a senior, chilling and looking to take just 3 classes or if you’re seriously considering a career in control systems, absolutely, you will learn a shit ton in this class. However, if you’re looking for an elective to take with 3 other major upper-div classes, I would stay the a million miles away as his homework and project will eat up your time and mental health. Deep down, Shoarinejad is a good guy (kinda like a cool dad who uses discord) and he really cares about teaching and preparing us for industry. I just wish he wouldn’t try and fit a semester class into a quarter.
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