The State of a System

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean Computer control technologies make use of computer systems and other hardware to monitor physical conditions of an environment, make decisions about actions required to modify the environment, and act on devices that will result in changes to the environment. For example, in a greenhouse, a computer can be used to monitor temperature, and turn heaters on and off at appropriate intervals to maintain a constant temperature. Computer controls are particularly useful in systems in which 1) many variables are controlled, 2) there is an large number of devices that must be controlled, 3) frequent or constant attention is required, and 4) labor costs are high.