Cybernetic approach in defining the concept of an information system. Cybernetic approach to the description of systems. Theory of information processes and systems

System-cybernetic approach and information

The above model of the genesis of the control mechanism corresponds to the cybernetic approach to the analysis of complex dynamic systems. The main thesis of classical cybernetics is that control in both machines and living organisms is carried out in a single way - according to the feedback principle. Feedback implies that the system has a specific goal and regular reconciliation of intermediate, current states (outputs) of the system to correct behavior. In a more general sense, cybernetics is understood as the science of the main principles of control, understood as the organization of purposeful actions by processing information. A feature of the cybernetic approach is that it was used to study only systems for which the concept of a goal is defined, which is necessary for any cybernetic model.
A cybernetic system is a purposeful system, many interconnected elements of which are capable of perceiving, remembering, processing and exchanging information.
Any social system can be attributed to the class of cybernetic systems. Such systems have special system properties. Their study constitutes the most important task of organization theory.
A cybernetic system can be represented as two interconnected subsystems: control and controlled. The subsystems are in constant interaction: the control subsystem transmits commands and signals to the controlled object, which, in turn, sends information about its current state. As has been repeatedly emphasized, the most important feature of a cybernetic system is feedback and, as a consequence, self-regulation and self-development. From the point of view of cybernetics, communication is a process of information exchange that regulates the behavior of systems (i.e. controls them).
It was cybernetics that revealed the role of scientific management in the life of society, especially in connection with social and environmental problems, established the commonality of the management mechanism for wildlife, technology and society, revealed the inextricable link between information and organizational processes. Cybernetics has defined the control mechanism as the core of the development of any system: thanks to control, the system, in the process of its development, conducts constant “anti-entropic” activity - it creates organizational order out of chaos.
The system-cybernetic approach is a methodological direction in the theory of organization, the main task of which is to develop methods for studying complexly organized objects - systems and explanatory mechanisms for their development.
The construction and development of explanatory models is one of the most important tasks of the system-cybernetic approach. It all starts with the collection and analysis of disparate facts, which make it possible to make certain generalizations and identify empirical (experimental) patterns; then proceed to the definition of mechanisms that implement these regularities. It can be argued that if there is some regularity confirmed by facts, then there are mechanisms that ensure the manifestation of this regularity, they must be cognizable, and therefore used. Knowledge of these mechanisms can help explain and predict the behavior of the system. It should be noted that the explanatory mechanism, like any model, has limited validity, it is valid for certain conditions. For example, the problem of the teachings of K. Marx is not in the positive knowledge established by this theory, but in the fact that its followers absolutized it, claiming its universality. Mechanism natural selection explained most of the facts, empirically identified patterns of development of species. However, modern achievements in biology show that natural selection in the Darwinian sense is not able to explain many facts related to the evolution of species.
The system-cybernetic approach to the study of the behavior of complex systems assumes the unity of the processes that occur in a developing dynamic system: the accumulation of information, its selection and structuring, according to the goals of the system development, and the transition to a new level of organization:

The development of any organizational systems is based on the mechanisms of goal-setting and information. Although it would be more accurate to say that all three pillars of cybernetics - information, goal setting and structural organization underlie the process of development of any system and act simultaneously. If we want to establish a sequence, what came first - the goal, information or organization, then we will have to solve philosophical problems: what came first - the egg or the chicken?
Both in the processes of organization of living nature, and in social systems the goal acts as some anticipatory reflection of reality, as an expression of the future needs of the cybernetic system. An analysis of biological, social and technical systems shows that the more relevant the target function, the more active, faster the process of obtaining and using information and the transition to a new level of organization. For example, the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 found the country unprepared for the transition to a qualitatively new level of organization. In an unthinkably short time, enterprises were selected and re-equipped for the production of weapons (assault rifles, machine guns, tanks, etc.). At the same time, structures that have a less urgent goal are pushed into the background.
So, the adjustment of the trajectories of the system development is carried out through the adjustment of the goals of the system, it is the goal-setting that determines the trajectory of the system development. Goals are inherent in any system. In living organisms, the main goal is to maintain stability, homeostasis. In natural systems, a clear hierarchy of goals is defined, there is a main goal - incorporation into biospheric cycles, incorporation of a system into a supersystem. Thus, natural systems fulfill one of the most important principles - the principle of co-development (co-evolution) of systems. Calculating many options using the accumulated structural information, the system selects those that meet the criteria for maintaining stability and consistency with the goals of the supersystem.
A range of goals emerge in social systems. In such systems, the elements (subsystems) are themselves systems that can have their own goals. And they, these goals of the subsystems, often do not coincide with the goals of the supersystem. The task of the supersystem is to ensure co-development with the subsystems. If the system is unable to ensure the co-development of the system and its own elements, a systemic crisis occurs. For example, when the elements of the system (industries, ministries, high officials) put their own interests above the interests of the system, a classic “systemic crisis” arises. The system approach obliges to correlate the goals of development of subsystems with the goals of the supersystem. For example, the technosphere cherished by man must correlate its goals with the biosphere as its supersystem, fit its technologies into biospheric cycles in order to preserve the main characteristics natural environment and human environment.
However, modern "achievements" of man show that if the rest of the natural world lives according to the law of subordination to the external environment, its laws, then man, on the contrary, subordinates the environment to himself. Imagine that you, the manager of a company, instead of following the laws of the country in which you live, follow your own "laws" - what will happen to you and your company? You violate one of the most important system principles - the principle of system hierarchy. Hierarchy is not coercion, it is one of the most important laws of Nature.
Thus, the properties of elements (subsystems) are determined by the goals of the system itself. The system is able to reject those elements, those structures, the goals of which contradict its own. This is one of the most important system properties. In this process of building one's own structure, the role of information interactions between elements and the system, the system and its external environment is important.
The system would not be able to advance one iota in its development if it did not receive a continuous flow of information about the state of the external and internal environment. Information is the basic concept of cybernetics. The idea that information can be considered as something independent arose along with cybernetics, which proved that information is directly related to development and management, with the help of which sustainability and survival are ensured. There are many definitions of this term, they are sometimes complex and contradictory. The reason lies in the fact that many sciences deal with information, cybernetics is the youngest of them. Depending on the field of knowledge, information has received many definitions: information is a designation of the content received from the outside world in the process of adapting to it (Wiener); information is the negation of entropy (Brillouin); information - communications and communication, in the process of which uncertainty is eliminated (Shannon); information - diversity transmission (Ashby); information - originality, novelty; information - a measure of the complexity of structures (Mol); information - probability of choice, etc. Each of these definitions reveals different facets of one concept, but in all interpretations it assumes the existence of two objects: the source of information and the consumer of information.
Academician N.N. Moiseev refers the concept of information to the fundamental concepts, along with matter and energy. At present, information is already conceived as an environment that feeds the governing bodies, which they themselves create for future development in the form of various databases and data banks. As the structure of the organization becomes more complex, the role of information and information interaction increases.
The scientific cybernetic concept of information is largely abstracted from the content side of messages, considering their quantitative aspect.
Working out scientific concept information revealed a new aspect of the material unity of the world, made it possible to approach many processes that previously seemed completely different from a single point of view: the transmission of a telegraph text; work nervous system; driving; rocket launch control, etc. All this is connected with the processes of transmission, storage and processing of information. The concept of information played here a role analogous to the concept of energy, which also makes it possible to describe from a unified point of view the most diverse processes in physics, chemistry, biology and technology.
Two types of information should be distinguished: structural and operational (signal). Both types of information play a role in the process of self-organization of systems.
Operational, or signaling, information is always associated with the relationship of two processes, with "sending" and receiving a signal, with a transmitter and a receiver. In cybernetic systems, changes in the object B - receiver, signal acceptor, caused by the influence of A - transmitter, signal donor, are not only some characteristics of B, but become a factor in the functioning of the system precisely as carriers of signal information. Some authors, by analogy with energy, use the concepts of kinetic and potential information: kinetic information circulates in the process and, with the help of potential (structural) information, moves the development process.
Structural information characterizes the achieved level of organization of the system, or the measure of its organization. Information, accumulating, self-organizes into structures, begins to exist as if in a potential form, and the structure of the developing system itself (for example, rings on trees) can be a repository of structural information. It is the amount of structural information that determines the transition of the system to a new level of organization.
A new level of organization means the fact of the implementation of a new option selected by the system, the transition to a new level of homeostasis. The number of pieces of information grows from cycle to cycle, acquires a certain structure (hypotheses, theories, programs, inventions, etc.), such structures are the points of growth of a new organization - the phenomenon of development. Based on the accumulated information, according to the main development goals, the system selects the only option and rebuilds its structure; according to this new option: the system moves to a new level of organization.
So, the system-cybernetic approach to management means the unity of the processes of accumulation of information, its selection and structuring according to the goals of the system and the transition to a new level of organization. At the heart of development is the mechanism of governance. The system-cybernetic approach was adopted by the Western economy back in the 60s. of the past century. Numerous schools of organizational management have taught and prepared for practical work thousands of managers.
The incompetence of managers in our country can be traced at all levels of the hierarchy and turns into billions in losses for the country.

Turchin V. F.

For a cyberneticist, metaphysics cannot be just an outside hobby. We need to create universal models of the world that would allow us, for example, to interpret human thought expressed in natural language. What can be the starting point for such a bold undertaking? What concepts should be the basis? Metaphysics must answer these questions.

Turchin V. F.

Philosophy is called upon to answer such fundamental questions for every rational creature as: "Who am I?", "Where did I come from and where do I go?", "How true is my knowledge?", "What, ultimately, is the nature of things?", " What is good and what is evil?" Each time gives its own answers to these questions. These responses are significantly influenced by the current state of knowledge and production. Our philosophy is the result of evolutionary theory at the end of the 19th century and cybernetics in the middle of the 20th. This can easily be seen both in the method with which we approach philosophical problems and in the answers we offer.

Norbert Wiener

"Cybernetics" is a famous book by the outstanding American mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), which played an important role in the development of modern science and gave its name to one of its most important areas. This Russian edition is full translation the second American edition, published in 1961, containing important additions to the first edition of 1948. The reader will also find in the appendices translations of some of Wiener's articles and interviews, including the last one he gave shortly before his death for the United States News and World Report. The book, written in a peculiar free style, touches upon a wide range of problems of modern science, from the sphere of technical sciences to the sphere of social sciences and the humanities. In the center - the problems of behavior and reproduction (natural and artificial) of complex control and information systems in technology, wildlife and society. The author is deeply concerned about the fate of science and scientists in modern world and strongly condemns the use of scientific power for exploitation and war.

Sam Harris

Should we be afraid of superintelligent artificial intelligence? Neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris thinks it's worth it. In his opinion, we are on the verge of creating superintelligent machines, while not solving many of the problems that may arise when creating an AI that can potentially treat people in the same way as they treat ants.

Alexey Potapov

Artificial intelligence has always been considered within the "biological metaphor" - as an analogue of human intelligence. However, the artificial intelligence systems that are currently being created, which are superior to humans in solving a variety of tasks, do not at all look like humans. This applies even to such biologically inspired approaches as artificial neural networks. I will talk about how AI scientists now define the concept of intelligence, what problems stand in the way of building thinking machines, and whether the "biological metaphor" is necessary or harmful for overcoming them.

Evgeny Putin

Evgeny Putin, postgraduate student of the Department of Computer techologies» ITMO University. As part of his dissertation, Evgeny explores the problems of integrating the concept of feature selection into the mathematical apparatus of artificial neural networks. Eugene will talk about how neural networks work, what they can do now, what they will be capable of in the near future, and whether to wait for the arrival of Skynet.

Karl R. Popper

Epistemology is an English term for the theory of knowledge, primarily scientific knowledge. It is a theory that attempts to explain the status of science and its growth. Donald Campbell called my epistemology evolutionary because I see it as a product biological evolution, namely, Darwinian evolution by natural selection. I consider the main problems of evolutionary epistemology to be the following: the evolution of human language and the role it has played and continues to play in the growth of human knowledge; concepts (ideas) of truth and falsity; descriptions of states of affairs (states of affaires) and the way in which language selects states of affairs from the complexes of facts that make up the world, that is, reality.

Sergey Markov

At the lecture, we will discuss the second spring of artificial intelligence in facts and figures, key works in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning in 2017. Let's talk about image recognition, speech recognition, natural language processing and other areas of research; Let's discuss new models and equipment in 2017. We will also talk about the application of AI and machine learning in business, medicine and science, as well as discuss what we expect from artificial intelligence and machine learning in 2018.

Vyacheslav Dubynin, Alexey Semikhatov

How is the brain different from a computer, and to what extent can they be compared? If the brain is much slower than modern computing technology, then why is it still not possible to create a computer as smart as the brain? They take everything apart in order Vyacheslav Dubynin - doctor biological sciences, Professor of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, leading Alexei Semikhatov - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Leading Researcher of the Lebedev Physical Institute.

Recently, more and more attention of scientists is attracted by a new direction of research - emotional computing (Affective computing). The role of emotions in the evolution of natural intelligence is great, artificial intelligence still misses a lot in this regard, it is impossible to embody many of the phenomena associated with the emotional picture, with emotional state person. AI scientists are actively assisted by cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers.

The problem of elucidating from a general position the regularities of the processes of self-organization and the formation of structures is posed not only by synergetics. An important role in understanding many of the essential features of these processes was played by cybernetic approach, sometimes presented as abstracting "from specific material forms" and therefore opposed to a synergistic approach that takes into account physical foundations spontaneous formation of structures.

In this regard, there are enough reasons to note that the creators of cybernetics and modern theory automata can rightfully be considered the forerunners of synergetics.

Cybernetics(from Greek. cyber netike- the art of management) is the science of managing complex systems with feedback.

The term "cybernetics" itself appeared 25 centuries ago, when the ancient Greek philosopher Plato called it the art of controlling a ship. IN early XIX V. French physicist and mathematician A.M. Ampere, creating a classification of sciences, called cybernetics the science of government. After the death of A.M. Ampere this word has been forgotten.

In 1948, the American mathematician Norbert Wiener in his book "Cybernetics ..." defined this concept as the science of control and communication in animals and machines. The originality of this science lies in the fact that it studies not the material composition of systems and not their structure (construction), but the result of the work of this class of systems.

Prior to that, N. Wiener worked for three years at the Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City. It was then that he decided to create a unified science that studies the processes of storing and processing information, management and control.

One of critical tasks cybernetics - the study of control systems of living nature. The key issue in its solution was the concept feedback, the influence of consequences on the causes that cause them and determine the course of the process.

There are usually two types of feedback:

• positive feedback between the system and the environment, when the external influence of the environment leads to the accumulation of internal changes in the system and the formation of new structures;
• negative feedback between the system and the environment, when the external influence of the environment is reduced or nullified, and the system returns to its invariant, i.e. the deviation from the stable state is corrected after receiving information about it.

Cybernetics deals with the study of complex systems with negative feedback those. such systems that maintain an invariant state as a result of interaction with the environment.

Cybernetics arose at the intersection of mathematics, technology and neurophysiology and is an interdisciplinary approach within the framework of a new systemic paradigm, which is also used in other sciences - physics, geology, biology, sociology.

In cybernetics, the concept of a "black box" was first formulated as a device whose internal structure is unknown, but the result of exposure to it can be tracked.

In cybernetics, systems are studied by their reactions to external influences.

Cybernetics also gave a fundamental status in natural science to the concept information as a measure of system organization as opposed to the concept of entropy as a measure of disorganization.

To make the meaning of information clearer, let us consider the activity of an ideal being called "Maxwell's demon". The idea of ​​such a being, violating the second law of thermodynamics, was outlined by the English physicist Maxwell in his book The Theory of Heat (1871). The work of the “Maxwell demon” can be imagined in the following way.

When a particle with a speed above average approaches the door from the compartment A or a particle with a speed below average approaches the door from the compartment IN, the gatekeeper opens the door and the particle passes through the hole. When a particle with a speed below the average comes from the compartment A or a particle with a speed above average comes from the compartment IN, the door closes.

Thus, particles of higher speed are concentrated in the compartment IN, and in the department A their concentration decreases. This causes an obvious decrease in entropy; and if we connect both compartments with a heat engine, we seem to get a perpetual motion machine of the second kind.

Can "Maxwell's demon" act? Yes, if it receives information from the approaching particles about their speed and the point of impact on the wall. This makes it possible to associate information with entropy.

It is possible that analogues of such “demons” operate in living systems (for example, enzymes can claim this).

The concept of information is great importance that it was included in the name of a new scientific direction that arose on the basis of cybernetics - informatics(from the combination of the words "information" and "mathematics").

Cybernetics reveals dependencies between information and other characteristics of a system. The work of the “Maxwell demon” makes it possible to establish an inversely proportional relationship between information and entropy: with an increase in entropy, information decreases (since everything is averaged); conversely, lowering entropy increases information. The connection of information with entropy also testifies to the connection of information with energy.

Within the framework of cybernetics, other concepts are also formulated: "management", "organization", etc., which are also used by many scientific disciplines.

Cybernetics also creates new research methods, in particular, on the patterns discovered by cybernetics, based simulation method, widely used in both natural and human sciences.

The creator of cybernetics, N. Wiener, generally argues that the physical functioning of a living organism and the most modern communication machines are approximately the same in an effort to control the level of entropy using feedback.

Both systems have sensors, or receptors, that allow them to receive information from environment at a low energy level and use it for further action against

outside world. In both cases, there are distortions of information due to the influence of the perception apparatus itself, living or artificial. The purpose of obtaining information is to increase the effectiveness of actions in the external environment. In both cases, the result of actions (and not intentions) returns to some regulatory center.

Thus, the management processes, according to N. Wiener, obey the same laws, regardless of whether they occur in society, animate or inanimate nature.

At the end of the XX century. development information technologies led to the creation of the global information network Internet. From a technical point of view, the Internet is an association of transnational computer networks that connect all kinds of computers that physically transmit information over all available types of lines. The Internet is decentralized, so turning off even a significant part of the computers will not affect its operation.

According to forecasts, already in the first quarter of the XXI century. The Internet will become accessible in the same way as the telephone or television, and information has already become the most important factor in the development of modern culture.

Along with the substrate (real) and structural approaches, cybernetics introduced into scientific use functional approach like another variant of the systems approach in the broad sense of the word.

The generalizing nature of cybernetic ideas and methods brings the science of control, which is cybernetics, closer to philosophy. The task of substantiating the initial concepts of cybernetics, especially such as information, control, feedback, etc., requires access to a wider, philosophical field of knowledge, where the attributes of matter are considered - general properties movements, patterns of cognition.

Cybernetics- the science of the general laws of control in nature, society, living organisms and machines, studying information processes associated with the control of dynamic systems. Cybernetic approach- study of the system based on the principles of cybernetics, in particular, by identifying direct and feedback links, studying control processes, considering the elements of the system as certain " black boxes”(systems in which the researcher has access only to their input and output information, and the internal structure may not be known).

In cybernetics and general theory systems have much in common, for example, the representation of the object of study in the form of a system, the study of the structure and functions of systems, the study of control problems, etc. But, unlike systems theory, cybernetics practices informational an approach to the study of management processes, which identifies and studies various types of information flows in the objects of study, ways of processing, analyzing, transforming, transmitting, etc. Managed in the general view is understood as the process of formation of the purposeful behavior of the system through the information impact produced by a person or a device. The following management tasks are distinguished:
· goal setting task– determination of the required state or behavior of the system;
· stabilization problem- keeping the system in its current state under disturbing influences;
· program execution task– transfer of the system to the required state under conditions when the values ​​of controlled variables change according to known deterministic laws;
· tracking task– ensuring the required behavior of the system under conditions when the laws of change of controlled variables are unknown or change;
· optimization problem– retention or transfer of the system to a state with extreme values ​​of characteristics under given conditions and restrictions.

From the point of view of the cybernetic approach, LAN control is considered as a set of processes for the exchange, processing and transformation of information. The cybernetic approach represents the LAN as a system with control (Fig. 5.1), which includes three subsystems: the control system, the control object and the communication system.

Rice. 5.1. Cybernetic approach to the description of drugs

The control system together with the communication system forms a control system. The communication system includes a channel direct connection, which transmits the input information (x) and the channel feedback, through which information about the state of the control object (y) is transmitted to the control system. Information about the controlled object and the environment is perceived by the control system, processed in accordance with a particular control goal, and transmitted to the control object in the form of control actions. The use of the concept of feedback is a distinctive feature of the cybernetic approach.

The main groups of functions of the control system are:
· decision making functions or information content conversion functions are the main ones in the control system, are expressed in the transformation of the content of information about the state of the control object and the external environment into control information;
· routine information processing functions do not change the meaning of information, but cover only accounting, control, storage, search, display, replication, transformation of the form of information;
· communication functions associated with bringing the developed solutions to the control object and the exchange of information between decision makers (collection, transmission of textual, graphic, tabular, electronic, etc. information by telephone, fax, local or global data networks, etc.).

The application of the cybernetic approach to logistics requires the description of the main properties of drugs using mathematical models. This makes it possible to develop and automate optimization algorithms for a cybernetic control system.

21. What is operations research? Why is operations research methodology used in logistics? Typical tasks of operations research are their essence.

Operations research - it is a methodology for applying mathematical quantitative methods to substantiate solutions to problems in all areas of purposeful human activity. Methods and models of operations research allow you to get solutions that best meet the goals of the organization.

Basic postulate Operations Research is: optimal solution(control) is such a set of values ​​of variables that achieves optimal(maximum or minimum) value of the efficiency criterion (objective function) of the operation and the specified restrictions are observed. Subject operations research in logistics are the tasks of making optimal decisions in a logistics system with management based on an assessment of the effectiveness of its functioning. The characteristic concepts of operations research are: model, variable variables, constraints, objective function.

Cybernetics is the science of the general laws of control in nature, society, living organisms and machines, or the science of control, communication and information processing. The object of study is dynamic systems. The subject is information processes related to their management.

A cybernetic system is a purposeful system, in relation to which the assumption of relative isolation in terms of information and absolute permeability in terms of material and energy is accepted. The logistics system as a purposeful, dynamic, manageable, in this sense, belongs to the category of cybernetic systems.

Cybernetic approach - the study of a system based on cybernetic principles, in particular by identifying direct and feedback links, considering the elements of the system as some "black boxes".

The purpose of the cybernetic approach in logistics is the application of principles, methods and technical means to achieve the most effective results of logistical, that is, optimizing, management in one sense or another. The fundamental concepts of cybernetics are: system, feedback, information.

The systems studied by cybernetics are a set of elements interconnected by a chain of cause-and-effect dependence. Such a connection between elements is called a "connection".

The use of cybernetics in logistics serves both methodological (cognitive) purposes and entrepreneurial practice. The methodological goal is achieved by the fact that cybernetics allows us to consider in a new way the ways of connections between elements and the ways of functioning of logistics systems:

· As whole industrial-commercial, economic, reproduction cycles, and their separate parts (links). For example: the "mechanism" of the money circulation market, the exchange of goods through foreign trade.

· Scientific direction of applications of cybernetics ideas and methods to economic systems, which include logistics, that is, optimizing systems.

Economic cybernetics is developing in three interrelated directions.

1. Theory economic systems and models: methodology of system analysis of the economy and its modeling, reflection of the structure and functioning of economic systems in models; problems of economic regulation, correlation and mutual coordination of various incentives and interactions in the functioning of economic systems;

2. The theory of economic information considers the economy as an information system; it studies the flow of information that circulates in industrial and commercial systems.

3. The theory of control systems in economics concretizes and brings together studies of other sections of economic cybernetics; the practical output of this theory is ACS.

The cybernetic approach is based on the idea of ​​the possibility to develop a general approach to the consideration of control processes in a system of different nature. The advantage of this idea lies in the fact that, in addition to general methodological considerations, it was also possible to offer an effective apparatus for the quantitative description of processes, for solving complex control problems based on the methods of applied mathematics.

The main features of cybernetics as an independent scientific field are as follows:

· Cybernetics contributed to the formation of the information concept of systems representation.

· Cybernetics considers systems only in dynamics.

Cybernetics practices probabilistic methods studies of the behavior of complex systems.

· In cybernetics, a method of studying systems is used using the concept of a "black box", which means a system in which only the input and output information of this system is available to the researcher, and the internal structure may be unknown.

· A very important method of cybernetics, using the concept of "black box", is the method of modeling.

Comparison of cybernetic and systemic approaches in logistics allows us to draw one conclusion that is important for understanding the essence of general scientific methodological areas in general and the systemic approach in particular. Specifically, scientific methodology, the principles of which are applicable within the framework of not one, but at least several disciplines, can appear in two varieties.

In the first case, the methodology not only formulates certain ideas or principles of a methodological order, but also provides a fairly detailed research apparatus; in the second case, such an apparatus is absent, at least in a rigidly fixed form. These two types of cases embody theoretical cybernetics and systems approach respectively. The lack of a systematic approach (unlike the cybernetic one) of a uniquely fixed research apparatus makes its methodological functions somewhat less clearly defined, although no less significant. This well-known fuzziness is derived from the nature of the systems approach and its initial settings. As is known, cybernetics also operates with the concept of a system and a number of other concepts that are considered specific to the system approach. But in cybernetics, with all the enormous differences in the specific types of systems it deals with, communications and control processes remain the main subject of systemic consideration. The systems approach, on the other hand, lays claim to a special kind of universality. For him, the consistency of the object of study is essentially identical to its integrity. It can be considered that cybernetics develops along an inductive path, while deductive tendencies prevail in the development of systems theory.

So, what are the similarities between cybernetics and systems theory?

· The object of consideration is systems, and the systemic nature of the subject is always emphasized.

· If possible, they are distracted from the substratum of the systems under consideration and study only their most general properties and features.

· In both cybernetics and systems theory, the main objects of consideration are the structure and functions of systems. Since only systems that change in time can function, that is, change their state and thereby influence the external and internal environment, this means that in both cases the object of study is dynamic systems.

· Since in both cases, the connection between structure and functions, the synthesis of structures that provide the necessary functioning (behavior) is studied, insofar as they, in essence, investigate the problems of expedient change in systems, that is, management problems.

The difference between cybernetics and systems theory is as follows:

§ Systems theory, studying, like cybernetics, the behavior and functioning of systems, does not focus on the informational aspects of these phenomena.

§ Systems theory and cybernetics differ in the areas of choice of specific subjects of study and the nature of the apparatus used. Cybernetic phenomena were initially based on such concepts as modeling, information, and feedback; at present, they use a system-wide apparatus and general methodological concepts.

Theoretical cybernetics armed not only its individual disciplines, but to one degree or another the entire modern science some general principles historical nature, primarily the ideas of hierarchical organized management and information links. For all its abstractness and universality, cybernetic thinking from the very beginning was focused on a very specific type of processes and connections in the real world - on the processes and connections of management.

The method of representing logistic models proposed in the cybernetic approach is based, as well as in system analysis, on the well-known position that movement, change, and processes are inherent in all objects of industrial and commercial activity. Hence the so-called process method of cybernetic reflection of logistics systems. According to this method, the first and main element of any logistics system (or its model) is process, in which resource flows are optimally transformed. Therefore, the process way of representing logistics systems can also be called optimally streaming.

The second element of the cybernetic flow model is entrance. It just represents the flow of resources consumed in the process. For example, for the organizational and technological part of the logistics system, this is equipment, a working system, raw materials, and so on, for information, it is output information, technical means for processing it. We can also say that the input is everything that changes during the course of processes.

The third element of the cybernetic model is exit. This is the result of the transformation of the inputs itself, that is, the flow of resources created or spent. In logistics systems, outputs can be finished products, production waste, released equipment, output information, etc. The totality of connections between the elements of the system ensures their joint functioning - flows between elements (links) of one system or between systems. If the connection transfers the output action of one element to the input of any subsequent element of the same system, then it is called straight connections.

The fourth element of the cybernetic model is Feedback. This is the connection between the output of any element and the input of the element preceding it in the same system. It performs a number of operations to correct the elements of the system. Distinguish between positive and negative feedback. Positive feedback returns to the input part of the signal received at the output of the element or system. Positive feedback does not correct the input signal, but only increases its value.

With negative feedback, the signal received through it may not coincide in sign with the original one. This makes it possible to compare the result obtained with the intended goal and, if necessary, correct the behavior of the element or the system as a whole. In practice, the timeliness of such an adjustment is important in order to avoid a significant deviation of the system from the trajectory of movement towards the intended goal. The feedback principle underlies the logistics management of industrial and commercial activities, it characterizes the ability of the logistics system to perceive and use information about the results of its own activities to achieve the goal in the best (optimal) way and in the shortest possible time. Accounting for the products produced by the workshop and the raw materials used, regulation of demand for products by prices, material incentives, the use of tariffs to attract cargo for transport is different forms feedback in logistical cybernetic systems.

The fifth and last element of the cybernetic model of the logistics system is restrictions, which consist of the goals of the system and the so-called coercive links. For production and commercial systems, one of the goals is the release of products of a given range, volume and quality, cost; for the information part of the system - obtaining the required information. In these cases, various resource limits, the method of processing information, the technical characteristics of the means for its implementation, etc. can act as coercive links.

In accordance with the accepted interpretation of the logistics system, its division into subsystems is the division of the logistics process into subprocesses (operations, functions) with the corresponding inputs and outputs. Any kind of a given logistic process is an input to the next one (there are no “nowhere” inputs and “nowhere” outputs; if a resource is produced somewhere, then it is needed for something), i.e. all processes are interconnected. It is the connection that determines the follow-up of logistics processes.

The informational approach to management processes is the first feature of cybernetics. In the information interpretation of the cybernetic approach, management in organizational systems, which include logistics systems, is considered primarily as a process of information transformation: information about the control object is perceived by the control system, processed in accordance with a particular control goal, and transmitted to the object in the form of control actions. management. Therefore, the concept information belongs to the most fundamental concepts of cybernetics. In the information interpretation, the processes of cybernetic control are associated with the receipt, transmission, processing and use of information. The processes of obtaining information, its storage and transmission in this case are identified with the concept of "communication". The processing of the perceived information into signals that direct the activity in the object is identified with the concept of control. If systems are able to perceive and use information about the results of their functioning, then they say that they have feedback. The processing of information coming through feedback channels into signals that correct the activity of the system is called regulation. There is a difference between the terms "management" and "regulation": if we consider that management means the impact on the results of the system to achieve the intended goal, then regulation means the type of management based on the method of equalizing deviations from the norm (standard, set value). Devices (or organs) serving this purpose are called regulators.

Cyber ​​regulation

In the cybernetic control of the LAN, various accounting and statistical information is transmitted through feedback channels. Feedback creates the possibility of effective control in changing conditions of the operation of the control object, even in cases where disturbing influences cannot be measured or when their influence is not known in advance. This is due to the principle of developing a control action inherent in closed cybernetic systems based on deviations of the actual value of the controlled variable from its required (set, calculated, reference) value, regardless of the reasons that caused the specified deviation. Cybernetic control systems that ensure the implementation of a given control program have negative feedback. There are three types of main control tasks: stabilization, program control and tracking (monitoring).

The purpose of stabilization is to maintain a given constant value of the output value of the regulated object. So the regulation of the course of the production and commercial process can pursue the goal of maintaining the constancy of the release (marketing) of products, determined by the plan (demand). Accounting for the results of production can be carried out according to the deviations of the actual output from the calculated one. This feedback information goes to the logisticians who make decisions to eliminate deviations.

Software control provides a change in the output variable of the control object in accordance with a given program. The change in the output variable can be given as a function of time or another argument, such as the intensity of the object's input. So, for example, some food products enter the trading network during the day in accordance with a given schedule. It determines the change in the intensity of transportation of these goods as a function of time, and its implementation is carried out by the transport management body.

The third type of regulation - tracking(monitoring) - differs in that here the program is not calculated in advance, but is determined by the behavior of the observed object.

The basic formula of the theory of regulation

For the effective application of the cybernetic approach in logistics, it is very important to form thinking in terms and categories of feedback regulation, which can help to understand the logic of judgments when deriving the main formula of regulation theory. It is convenient to consider this in the analysis of the control process in engineering, simulating it in the form of a feedback control loop diagram.

"Enter" X "Exit"

∆x ∆y

Rice. 10.1. Feedback control loop

In the regulated system H, the input state X is transformed into the output state Y, which can be denoted as H - regulated system; X \u003d (X 1, X 2, ...., Xn) - input vector; Y \u003d (Y 1, Y 2, ...., Un) - the output vector as follows Y \u003d HX.

As the block diagram shows, the current state of the output Y after comparison with the reference or its set value is transmitted to the input of the controller T, which converts it into the state of its output X*. The output state of the controller is added to the value of the output state X of system H. Finally, the input state of system H is X+X*. The correction at the output of the system H depends on the state of its output Y. Let us denote by Y' the given value, that is, the desired norm of the state of the output of the controlled system. The corresponding adjustment of the regulator T is that the correction X* causes the alignment of any deviation Y* from the set value Y and brings the state of the output of the regulated system to a given rate, that is, Y*=Y'-Y. A calculation can be made that quantifies the feedback thus described. Let us first assume that a direct transformation occurs in the regulated system, which consists in multiplying the input state by real number H, then Y=HX. Proportional conversion is called amplification if H>1, or attenuation if H<1. В этих случаях системы, в которых происходит пропорциональное преобразование, называются соответственно усилителями или ослабителями.

The indicator H=U/X is called the throughput of the system.

A feature of a logistical cybernetic system is the ability to change its movement, to move into different states under the influence of various control actions. There is always some set of motions from which the choice of the preferred motion is made. Where there is no choice, there is not and cannot be control.

Thus, logistic (controlled) systems are considered not in a static state, but in motion and development, which radically changes the approach to their study and in some cases makes it possible to reveal patterns, establish facts that would otherwise be undetected. Sustainability as a functional property of logistics systems, which is crucial for assessing the performance of systems, would be impossible without understanding the dynamics of the processes occurring in them.