6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

Question set 1
ae2204 Aerospace Systems and Control Theory
With answers and notes by Anthony Cummins (4436253)

This topic contains two questions on control theory. Each question counts for 1.5 point towards your grade.
Pressing the "Proceed" button makes the questions active. The proceed button also takes you to the next
topic.

After running through all these introduction topics, choose the questions from the "answerable items" menu
and answer them.

Consider the following Bode plot, depicting the frequency response of H1 :

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 1/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

And consider also the following polar plot of the frequency response of a system, depicting the frequency
response of system H2 . You may assume that this system is open-loop stable:

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 2/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

And lastly, consider the following transfer function:

s
H3 (s) =
2
s + s + 16

Now answer the following questions:

Your answer
Check which of the following statements are true
System H1 is a type 1 system.
When system H2 is used in a closed loop system with unity feedback gain, the closed-loop system
will be unstable.
System H2 is a type 0 system.
System H3 will be open-loop stable.
Calculate the following values
What will be the steady state error of a closed-loop system, created by
0
putting system H2 in a unity feedback loop.
What will be the final value of an output of system H3 in response to a unit
0.0625
step input.

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 3/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

The model answer

Check which of the following statements are true
System H1 is a type 1 system.
When system H2 is used in a closed loop system with unity feedback gain, the closed-loop system
will be unstable.
System H2 is a type 0 system.
System H3 will be open-loop stable.
Calculate the following values
What will be the steady state error of a closed-loop system, created by
0.25
putting system H2 in a unity feedback loop.
What will be the final value of an output of system H3 in response to a unit
0
step input.
Explanation / script

Feedback
Note that you won't get such feedback on the real exam!

The correct answer is:

the system H1 is a type 1 system. You can see that it has a -20 dB/decade slope for the lower frequencies,
and a -90 degrees phase. That corresponds to a 1/s term, so to a type 1 system.

The system H2 is a type 0 system. You can see that for very low frequencies, the gain goes to 3. a type 1 (or
higher) system would have a gain that goes to infinity for low frequencies.

The closed-loop system would be stable (so the statement is false). The point -1 clearly falls out of range of
the Nyquist contour, so applying the Nyquist criterion:

N = Z − P

N is zero, P is zero (there were no unstable poles for the open-loop system, therefore Z will be zero,

meaning no unstable poles for the closed-loop system.

To calculate the steady-state error of the closed loop system, with H2 in a unity feedback loop. Now H2 is
only given in a plot, but in general, you can calculate the error transfer function by:

1
He (s) =
1 + H2 (s)

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 4/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

You have a plot of the frequency response, so basically you only have H1 (jω). For the steady-state error,
look at the gain for ω = 0 .

1
He (j0) = = 1/4
1 + 3

Or, more complete, with the Laplace final value theorem, the steady-state output of the He (s) error transfer
function is given by:

1 1
lim {s }
s↓0 s 1 + H2 (s)

Letting s go to 0 is equal to letting s go to 0j , and you can read that from the polar plot of the frequency
response.

The second question, about the final value can be calculated with the Laplace final value theorem:

s 1
lim {s } = 0
2
s↓0
s + s + 16 s

You can also enter H3 into Matlab or Python, calculate the step response.

Consider the systems of which the poles and zeros are given in the two s-plane plots below.

System Ha :

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 5/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

System Hb :

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 6/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

A third system is defined by the following transfer function

2s − 2
Hc (s) =
2
s + 3s + 4

Your answer
Indicate which of the following statements are true
The third system Hc can be the equivalent closed-loop system result when system B is applied in a
unity feedback loop.
The system in plot A is a type 1 system
When applied in a closed feedback loop, with unity feedback gain, the system in plot B will produce a
non-zero, but finite, velocity error. You may assume that the open-loop system gain is such that the
closed-loop system is stable.
System Hb is a non-minimum phase system.
Calculate the following final and initial value
The final value of the response of system Hc to a unit step input. -0.5

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 7/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

The model answer

Indicate which of the following statements are true
The third system Hc can be the equivalent closed-loop system result when system B is applied in a
unity feedback loop.
The system in plot A is a type 1 system
When applied in a closed feedback loop, with unity feedback gain, the system in plot B will produce a
non-zero, but finite, velocity error. You may assume that the open-loop system gain is such that the
closed-loop system is stable.
System Hb is a non-minimum phase system.
Calculate the following final and initial value
The final value of the response of system Hc to a unit step input. -0.5
Explanation / script

Feedback
The correct answer is:

Some explanation:

The system in plot A is a type 1 system

For this to be true, the system should have a single 1/s term, and
thus a pole in the origin. So false.

When applied in a closed feedback loop, with unity feedback gain, the system in plot B will produce a
non-zero, but finite, velocity error. You may assume that the open-loop system gain is such that the
closed-loop system is stable.

The velocity error is the error in response to a constant-velocity

ramp. System B has a pole in the origin, and is thus a type 1
system. Type 1 systems have a 0 position error, and a finite velocity
error.

System Hb is a non-minimum phase system.

A non-minimum phase system has one or more zeros in the right-half plane. System Ha is a non-minimum
phase system, system Hb is not.

The third system Hc can be the equivalent closed-loop system result when system Hb is applied in a
unity feedback loop.

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 8/9
6/22/2020 Practicon Exercise System TU Delft

You know from performing the root-locus procedure, that when feedback is applied the zeros stay where they
are and the poles will move. The zeros of Hc and Hb do not match, and Hc has two poles while Hb has one.
Not true.

The final value of Hc to a step input, for example calculated with Matlab:

s = tf('s')
hc = (2*s-2)/(s^2+3*s+4)
t = 0:0.1:20
y = step(hc, t)
plot(t, y)

Practicon web-based exercise system, version: 6.0 (Feb 2015)

https://practicon.lr.tudelft.nl/practicon/index.html?extauth=1 9/9