Editorial

Control theory is the field that is deeply connected with mathematics.To control a physical process or a dynarnica!system,the control law,so-called control algorithm,is usually deduced in mathematical way.This leads a lot of control theorist to work on"pure control theory"and leave from the physical background.The gap between control theory and practice is sometimes pointed out by the engineers,since a lot of advaneed control methods provided by the research comm unity of control theory cannot be directly implemented for solving many in dustrial problems.Benchmark problem plays the role of bridge between the theoretical research and industrial practice.Usually,a benchmark problem is proposed by academic community or jointly with industrial community to highlight challengi ng issues in a focused problem with comm on interested practical backgro und.For control problem,many technical committees of international federation of automatic control(IFAC)proposed a lot of benchmark problems in the past.These benchmark problems attracted attention from both of theorist and control practitioners,especially younger researchers and students,and pushed control theorist to challenge practical problem and innovation in industrial control technology.This special issue focused on the benchmark problems in automotive system control which are mainly organized by I FAC technical committee and the related community such as the society of instrument and control engineers(SICE),Japan.