0 a device that keeps a building, engine, etc. within a limited temperature range by automatically switching the supply of heat on and off: --
1 a device that controls the temperature of a system by automatically switching the supply of heat or cool air on and off when the temperature becomes too cool or too hot --
And your control signals and goal-state specifications are not represented in a form even similar to those used by the thermostat.
This is despite a relatively large change in solar flux and atmospheric content of greenhouse gasses, which suggests a thermostat mechanism controlling the surface temperature.
The incubators were connected to a closed heated water system coupled with a thermostat.
A thermostat is more efficient if, instead of switching on and off, it merely adjusts the output to higher or lower.
The variation depends on a choice of factors such as thermostat setting, amount of ventilation, use of lighting and use of hot water.
To illustrate this, let us consider the example of the simplest control system, the thermostat.
The importance of this is most dramatic in the case of the generalized thermostat chains mentioned above.
We next describe the way the thermostat operates.