Abstract:

Over the last five decades, the new technological trends (for instance, wireless networks and communications, robotics and space satellites) have been benefited immensely by the use of system and control’s framework. Estimation, stability, controllability, robustness, optimality, adaptation, information and statistical engineering are only some of the fundamental ingredients in many of the so-called new technologies, which are now within our collective preview of this paper. Moreover, these two, contrarily to technological trends, very old fields of Science have been supported by formal modelling, computational and simulation tools, which enable the emergence of analysis and design of new methodologies that are more powerful.

Consequently, in this paper our aim has two equal directions. Firstly, we want to provide a profusion of many practical examples of problems from different areas of technological applications that may have sometimes abstractly engaged our attention in the past and offer a wealth of opportunity of imaginative system modelling and practical solutions. That is the core of our paper. However, in order to be more understandable, we use the example of telemedicine-assisted home support system; a system of great interest in the emerging field of information technology and medical support, to illustrate further our thoughts. Secondly, by developing the necessary conceptual framework and some more efficient methods, inevitably, very important and straightforwardly challenges are derived. Furthermore, a strong effort to develop a formal approach requires the definition of a generic system framework. It is a central objective of this paper to clarify and to unify the alternative notions of a “conceptual model” and thus, to create a basis for developing formal methods, control/information architectures and decision making strategies in a systematic way.

Keywords:

conceptualization, modelling, system and control theory, new technology.