A control system and method selects a switch configuration for a power circuit having N binary switches, based in part on a finite state machine. The control system includes an embedded simulator, and present and next state contemplators. The various switch states of the power circuit are modeled by the finite state machine such that at any time, the power circuit switches are in a Present State and there are a plurality of Next States which are one or more switch transitions away from the Present State. The embedded simulator estimates the operating conditions of the load based on measured operational characteristics and the Present State. The present state contemplator determines, based on the operating conditions, whether a switch state transition should be contemplated. If so, the next state contemplator determines the optimal next state based on performance criteria and sends a state switch command to the power circuit.