40. 【IEEE Paper】 A Minimal LaTeX Structure for Finishing Control Systems Papers Without Breakage (IEEEtran PoC)

tags: LaTeX, IEEE, ControlSystems, PaperWriting, IEEEtran

🎯 What this article covers

In the previous article (39),
I described how I first fixed the environment and workflow
before writing an IEEE Control Systems paper in LaTeX.

This article is the continuation.

Here, I directly present:

A minimal LaTeX structure that can survive all the way to the end
of an IEEE Control Systems paper.

• I do not explain the paper’s technical content
• I do not explain control theory

I focus only on the LaTeX structure.

📌 Assumptions (the reality of Control Systems papers)

IEEE Control Systems papers (e.g., TCST) usually require all of the following:

• IEEEtran two-column format
• Equations (PID, state-space)
• Figures (block diagrams, FSMs)
• Tables (experimental conditions, KPIs)
• Appendices
• Author biography

In other words:

If you add these elements later, the structure will almost certainly break.

Therefore, in this PoC:

The LaTeX structure is designed from the beginning
with a “finish-ready” state in mind.

🗂 Overall structure (overview)

2025_HUMANOID_TCST/
├─ main.tex            % control tower
├─ abstract.tex
├─ intro.tex
├─ related.tex
├─ system.tex
├─ results.tex
├─ discussion.tex
├─ conclusion.tex
├─ refs.bib
├─ figures/
└─ appendices/

Key points:

• main.tex is minimal and fixed
• All content is separated using \input{}
• Appendices and biography are assumed from the start

🧩 Minimal main.tex skeleton

\documentclass[journal]{IEEEtran}

% ===== Packages =====
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsfonts}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[caption=false,font=footnotesize]{subfig}
\usepackage{cite}
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,positioning,fit,backgrounds,calc}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\begin{document}

\title{Cross-Node Humanoid Robot Control: FSM, PID, State-Space and LLM Integration}
\author{Shinichi Samizo,~\IEEEmembership{Member,~IEEE}}

\maketitle

\input{abstract}

\begin{IEEEkeywords}
Humanoid Robots, Fault-Tolerant Control, FSM, PID, State-Space Methods, LLM
\end{IEEEkeywords}

\input{intro}
\input{related}
\input{system}
\input{results}
\input{discussion}
\input{conclusion}

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
\bibliography{refs}

\end{document}

At this stage, the only thing that matters is:

Does this structure compile cleanly all the way to the end?

🧠 Why \input{}-based modularization is essential

Control Systems papers inevitably grow later with equations, figures, tables,
and appendices.

Keeping everything in a single file makes:

• Git diffs unreadable
• Refactoring risky
• Debugging painful

main.tex should remain:

A control tower that defines structure only.

⚠️ Planning appendices and biography from the beginning

In IEEE papers, the following are common pitfalls:

• Appendix table numbering
• Biography placement

This PoC assumes from the start that:

• \appendices
• \begin{IEEEbiographynophoto}{...}

will be used.

👉 Do not add them later.

🧨 Preventing BibTeX failures during early drafts

When references are empty, BibTeX may fail.

A temporary workaround is:

\nocite{*}

Remove it before submission.

🚀 What this structure enables

• Safe addition of figures, equations, and FSMs
• Appendices that grow without breaking layout
• A paper that can be completed including biography

In short:

Only the content remains to be written.

✅ Summary

• IEEE Control Systems papers are mostly structure design
• Creating a LaTeX PoC first is highly effective
• main.tex should stay minimal and fixed

🔜 Next article

👉 The final destination of the IEEE Control Systems LaTeX PoC (completed PDF link)