Self-assessment of Respiratory Mechanics as Educational Tool in System Identification Course

In this contribution, a project task is presented for master students that follow the course on advanced control techniques. The aim of the project is to make students familiar with the non-parametric identification techniques – via spectral analysis. This method is usually very abstract, theoretical and un-appealing to the students. Therefore, an interesting application is proposed: identification of their own respiratory system mechanics. Issues on data acquisition, sampling frequency, resolution, accuracy and noise trade-offs are analyzed. The students are allowed to work in team – promoting thus brainstorm sessions – but each of them has to submit a report with his/her own respiratory impedance analysis. Copyright © 2006 IFAC