Windows packages for control education: PCS and CODAS

PCS (Process Control Simulation) and CODAS (Control System Design and Simulation) are two well-known programs used in education for teaching control engineering. This paper discusses the move from the successful DOS application to a successful Windows application of these two programs. The authors believe that the Windows versions of PCS and CODAS are better than their DOS forebears. There have been some sacrifices, for example it was not possible to show Bode gain and phase plots in the same window using the available charting component. However, the flexibility, the enhanced graphics capability, the dynamic system-definition window etc. are significant improvements over the original DOS implementations.