1

INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS

1.1 WHAT IS A CONTROL SYSTEM? The word CONTROL is usually taken to mean regulate, direct or command. One definition of a SYSTEM is: A combination of components that act together and perform a certain objective. A system is not limited to physical ones. The concept of the system can be applied to abstract, dynamic phenomena such as those encountered in economics. The word "system" should, therefore, be interpreted to imply physical, biological, economic, etc. systems. Taking the above definitions, a CONTROL SYSTEM is an arrangement of physical components connected or related in such a manner as regulate itself or another system.

1.2 EXAMPLES OF CONTROL SYSTEMS 1. An electric switch is a man-made control system, controlling the flow of electricity. Flipping the switch on or off may be considered as the input, i.e. on or off, and the output is the flow or non-flow of electricity.

Input

switch

Output

2.

A thermostatically controlled heater or furnace automatically regulating the temperature of a room is a control system. The input to the system is a reference temperature that is the thermostat setting. The output is the temperature of the room. Thermostat + Reference Temperature Room Temperature

Furnace

Heat

Room

3.

A part of the human temperature control system is the perspiration system. When the temperature of the air becomes too high sweating occurs thus inducing cooling of the skin by evaporation. Sweating is reduced when the desired cooling effect is achieved, or when the air temperature falls sufficiently.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-1

Nervous System + Normal Skin Temperature 4. Sweat Glands Skin Skin Temperature

A control system consisting of a person driving a vehicle has components which are both man-made and biological. The driver wants to head in a certain direction which may be considered as the input. The heading of the vehicle may be considered as the output which is constantly measured with the driver's eyes and brain and correcting it with his hands on the steering wheel. The major components of this control system are the driver's hands, eyes and brains, and the vehicle. Eyes + Brain Hands Steering Wheel & Vehicle Vehicle Heading

Road Heading

5.

Temperature control system

6. Block diagram of an engineering organisational system.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-2

1.3 DEFINITIONS This section shall define the terminology necessary to describe control systems. 1.3.1 PLANTS A plant is a piece of equipment, perhaps just a set of machine parts functioning together, the purpose of which is to perform a particular operation. For the purpose of this course, any physical object to be controlled (such as a heating furnace, chemical reactor, or a spacecraft) shall be called a plant. 1.3.2 DISTURBANCES A disturbance is a signal that tends to adversely affect the value of the output of a system. If a disturbance is generated within the system, it is called internal, whilst a disturbance generated outside of the system is called external. 1.3.3 FEEDBACK CONTROL Feedback control is an operation which, in the presence of disturbances, tends to reduce the difference between the output of a system and the reference input and does so on the basis of this difference. 1.3.4 SERVOMECHANISMS A servomechanism is a feedback control system in which the output is some mechanical position, velocity or acceleration. Servomechanisms, or servos, are extensively used in modern industry. For example, an anti-aircraft radar system, control of machine tools, control of a tank gun turret or aircraft rudder control. 1.3.5 PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS An automatic regulating system, in which the output is a variable such as temperature, pressure, flow, liquid level, etc., is called a process control system.

The above are some of the widely used terms used in control engineering though the terminology can differ amongst different books and practising engineers.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-3

1.4 CONTROL SYSTEM REPRESENTATION The control of a process or system may be achieved either in open-loop or in closed-loop. Before going on to consider control-system representation, it is necessary to quantify the differences between open-loop and closed-loop control. 1.4.1 OPEN-LOOP CONTROL Open-loop control systems are control systems in which the output has no effect upon the control action. That is, in an open loop control system, the output is neither measured nor fed back for comparison with the input. Fig. 1.1 shows the input-output relationship of such a system.

Input

Output Controller Plant

Fig. 1.1 Open-loop control system In any open-loop control system, the output is not compared with the reference input. Hence, for each reference input, there corresponds a fixed operation condition. Thus, the accuracy of the system depends on the calibration. In the presence of disturbances, an open-loop control system will not perform the desired task. Open-loop control can be used in practice only if the relationship between the input and output is known and if there are neither internal nor external disturbances.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-4

1.4.2 CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL A closed-loop control system is one in which the output signal has a direct effect upon the control action. That is, closed-loop control systems are feedback control systems. The actuating error signal, which is the difference between the input signal and the feedback signal (which may be the output signal or a function of the output signal and its derivatives), is fed to a controller so as to reduce the error and bring the output of the system to a desired value. The term "closed-loop" implies the use of feedback action in order to reduce system error. Fig. 1.2 shows the input-output relationship of a closed-loop control system. Error Signal Input + Controller Plant Control Signal Output

Measuring Element Feedback Signal Fig. 1.2 Representation of a closed-loop control system

Such a diagram is called a BLOCK DIAGRAM.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-5

In order to illustrate the concept of closed-loop control systems, consider the thermal system shown in Fig. 1.3.

Operator Steam Thermometer Hot Water

Cold Water Drain Fig. 1.3 Manual feedback control of a thermal system In the above diagram, a human being acts as a controller. S/he wants to maintain the temperature of the hot water at a given value. A thermometer installed in the hot water outlet pipe measures the actual temperature. This temperature is the output of the system. If the operator watches the thermometer and finds that the temperature is higher than the desired value, then he reduces the amount of steam in order to lower this temperature. If the temperature is too low, the operator increases the amount of steam. The above control action is based on closed-loop control. Since both the feedback of the output (water temperature) for comparison with the reference input and control action takes place through the actions of the operator, this is a closed-loop control system. Such a system may be called a manual feedback or manual closed-loop system.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-6

If, however, an automatic controller is used to replace the human operator, as shown in Fig. 1.4, the control system becomes automatic, i.e. an automatic feedback or automatic closed-loop control system.

Automatic Controller

Temperature Measuring Device

Control Valve

Steam Cold Water

Drain Fig. 1.4 Automatic feedback control of a thermal system

The position of the dial on the automatic controller sets the desired temperature. The output, the actual temperature of the hot water, which is measured by the temperature measuring device, is compared with the desired temperature in order to generate an actuating error signal. The output temperature is converted to the same units as the input (set point) by a transducer). The error signal produced in the automatic controller is sent to the control valve in order to change the valve opening for steam supply so as to correct the actual water temperature.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-7

1.4.3 CLOSED-LOOP VERSUS OPEN-LOOP CONTROL SYSTEMS An advantage of the closed-loop control system is its relative insensitivity to external disturbances and the internal variations in system parameters. It is thus possible to used relatively inaccurate and inexpensive components to obtain the accurate control a given plant. This is virtually impossible in the open-loop case. From a stability point of view, the open-loop control system is easier to build as stability is not a major problem. On the other hand, stability is always a major problem in closed loop systems (as will be shown later on) as it may tend to overcorrect errors which may cause oscillations of constant or changing amplitude.

Fundamentals of Control

Dr W N Bailey

January 2013

1-8