Control System Design Based on Modern Embedded Systems Ahmed Khamis 1 , Dawid Zydek 1 , Grzegorz Borowik 2 , and D. Subbaram Naidu 1 1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA {khamahme,zydedawi,naiduds}@isu.edu 2 Institute of Telecommunications, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland G.Borowik@tele.pw.edu.pl Abstract. The functionality and complexity of real-world engineering control systems is increasing significantly due to continuous growth in requirements and their details. Since this trend is predicted to grow even stronger, the old control solutions will be becoming less and less efficient. There are several approaches to designing modern control systems that meet the current and future needs. In this paper, we focus on one of the promising ways to control engineering: Embedded Systems. We describe categories of embedded systems and an engineering approach to control systems design based on the embedded systems. All related challenges are presented considering weaknesses of traditional systems. For the de- scribed embedded control system, a design methodology is given as well. Our discussion focuses on approach based on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) as a solution with huge potential. Finally, we share our thoughts on further trends in modern embedded control systems. Keywords: embedded systems, embedded control design, real-time control. 1 Introduction In advance of the development of automatic control solutions, electromechanical relay was the standard way of machine control. By 1960s, electromechanical re- lays were the control module of choice for most control system engineers. Several systems still use relay-based controls [1]. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is an electronic device that is de- signed specifically for the control of mechanisms and processes. The purpose of a PLC was to directly substitute electromechanical relays as logic elements, re- placing them with a solid-state digital computer containing a stored program. The computer was able to emulate the interconnection of many relays to achieve certain logical tasks. Instead of wires, there could be bits inside of a memory circuit that would order the logics [4]. An embedded system is a special-purpose integration of computer hardware and software designed to perform a particular function, and in most cases with real-time computing constraints. It is usually embedded as part of a larger system including hardware and other mechanical parts [12]. Alternatively, a general- purpose computer, e.g. a personal computer, can do several different tasks. R. Moreno-D´ ıaz et al. (Eds.): EUROCAST 2013, Part II, LNCS 8112, pp. 491–498, 2013. c  Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013