Control System Integrators Association - CSiA Annual Conference

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

New this edition

• 1

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  Recent editions of control-systems meetings have added data-driven and learning-based control to the main technical tracks rather than leaving it to satellite workshops. Check the archived 2026 programme on controlsys.org to confirm which sessions ran and who chaired them before citing specifics. Labeled as a planning pointer, not a confirmed 2026 feature list.

• 2

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  Reachability analysis, formal verification, and runtime assurance have moved from niche workshops toward mainstream tracks as autonomous applications matured. The 2026 edition is likely to have carried sessions along these lines; the captures used here do not preserve the detailed session listing.

• 3

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  Industrial and academic exhibitors at control meetings increasingly bring physical rigs, HIL benches, and drone or robot platforms rather than screenshots. Use this as an expectation for the exhibition floor and verify exhibitor lists on the organiser site.

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

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Hotel tiers

A range of accommodation options near the venue and across key areas.

Local transport

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Frequently asked

Glossary

1

PID control

Proportional-integral-derivative control, the three-term feedback law used in the large majority of industrial loops. At a control conference the PID track usually covers tuning rules, anti-windup, and the gap between textbook PID and what plant engineers actually deploy.

2

Model predictive control (MPC)

A receding-horizon method that solves a constrained optimisation problem at each sampling instant and applies only the first control move. Dominant in process industries and increasingly in automotive and energy applications.

3

State-space model

A representation of a dynamic system as first-order state equations plus an output equation, written x(k+1) = Ax(k) + Bu(k) and y(k) = Cx(k) + Du(k) in discrete time. The common language of both classical and modern control papers.

4

Closed-loop stability

The property that a feedback-interconnected system returns to (or stays within) a bounded operating region after disturbance. Papers may prove it with eigenvalue conditions for linear systems or Lyapunov arguments for nonlinear ones.

5

Lyapunov function

A scalar energy-like function that decreases along system trajectories, used to certify stability without simulating every initial condition. Central to nonlinear, hybrid, and safety-oriented control results.

6

Kalman filter

A recursive state estimator for linear Gaussian systems that alternates a prediction step with a measurement update. Extended and unscented variants appear throughout sensor-fusion and navigation work.

7

System identification

Estimating a plant model from input-output data before designing a controller. Sessions on this topic typically compare subspace, prediction-error, and machine-learning-based identification approaches.

8

Adaptive and learning-enabled control

Controllers that adjust parameters or policies online, from classical model reference adaptive control to reinforcement-learning policies wrapped in stability or safety guarantees.

9

Robust control and H-infinity

Design methods that guarantee performance across a bounded set of plant uncertainty, rather than for a single nominal model. Usually presented with structured uncertainty descriptions and mixed-sensitivity weighting.

10

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)

Testing a real controller against a real-time simulated plant. Common in automotive, aerospace, and power-electronics work and often the most tangible demo on an exhibition floor.

11

PLC and SCADA

Programmable logic controllers are the rugged edge devices running plant sequences; SCADA is the supervisory layer that collects tags, trends, and alarms above them. Together they define the industrial deployment target for most applied control research.

12

Digital twin

A synchronised model of a physical asset that is updated with operating data and used for prediction, tuning, or what-if studies. Frequently pitched as the bridge between a control paper and a plant deployment.

13

Reachability and formal verification

Computing the set of states a system can reach, or proving it never enters an unsafe set. A recurring theme in autonomous-systems safety work and the counterpart to simulation-only validation.

14

Benchmark and testbed

A shared problem instance or physical rig that lets different control methods be compared on identical data, such as a quadrotor arena or a process-control benchmark model.

15

Tutorial and workshop session

Longer-format teaching slots, usually booked separately or capped in numbers, that go deeper than a 20-minute technical talk. Check whether your registration tier includes them before planning your schedule.

16

BNA

IATA code for Nashville International Airport, the commercial gateway for the Nashville meeting. It is the airport to search when booking flights rather than the more distant SDF or MEM.

17

WeGo Public Transit

The Nashville region's bus and commuter-rail authority, with route planning and fares published at wegotransit.com. Downtown connections run through WeGo Central.

18

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

A large resort and convention complex at 2800 Opryland Drive in the Opryland district, northeast of downtown Nashville. Its scale means internal walking distances between halls are significant.