  The operation of an interferometer for gravitational waves detection requires
sophisticated feedback controls in many parts of the apparatus. The aim of this
lecture is to introduce the types of problems to be faced in this line of
research. The attention is focused on the "inertial damping" of the test mass
suspension of the VIRGO interferometer (the superattenuator): it is a
multidimensional local control aimed to reduce the residual motion of the
suspended mirror associated to the normal modes of the suspension. Its
performance is very important for the locking of the interferometer.
