Control System

Introduction
Control systems are playing important role in modern civilization and technology. Every
system that we come across today, has control engineering enrolled in it. For example:
home heating system, air conditioner, refrigerator, an automobile, among others. Every
sector in industry has a control system, say, inventory control of manufacture product,
an automatic assembly line, machine tool control, space technology and weapon
systems, robotics, power plants.

Basic Terminologies
- System:
- Control system:
- Process or Plant (P): is a system to be controlled. Control systems for
temperature, liquid level, pressure, humidity, composition, all these are called
process control. Control systems for automatic airplane pilots, gun positioning
systems, radar antenna systems control are solved/developed by the theory of
servomechanism. This word stands for servo (slave/servant) and mechanism. So
servomechanism is the system which is slave to the command
- Response or controlled variable (CV): is the output of a particular process
- Manipulated variable (MV): is the variable to which the process is going to react.
This variable must be under control of the controller.
- Disturbance (W): It is out of the control of the controller
- Controller: Its function is to make the response follow the system command
despite of the random/unknown disturbances acting on the system. This can be
pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical. Now days, the controllers are OpAmp circuit or
digital computer/microcontroller. It controls/manipulates the power to be
generated by an actuator through a control variable (𝑢)
- Set-point: A constant command signal
- Reference signal: sometimes can be unknown, it has to be generated

Open-Loop Control System

- In this structure, the controller is ignorant about the disturbances acting on the
plant
- So, if there is variation on the systems, this scheme becomes useless

Closed-Loop (Feedback) Control System

- Feedback control system is a system where the output is monitored, and other
variables are adjusted to achieve the desired output
- Here the controller is aware of the disturbances
- Sensor is used to measure the CV. But this sensor may add noise, which the
plant can react to it. To solve this problem, filters must be used
- Disadvantage: When increases accuracy, the system may become unstable
- So there is always a trade-off between system accuracy and stability
Components of a Feedback Control System

Disturbances can be wind, road hills and pedal stuck

Noise due to sensor measurements

Automatic control system

Controller Design Approach
- Experimental approach or controller tuning: Here the controller is installed based
on practical experience of the plant. Then, try and error process is executed. It an
ad-hoc approach
- Model-based or analytical approach: Here the dynamics of the plants are
captured in a suitable mathematical form (differential equations, TF or state
variable model). Once there is a model, is used for controller design
- Knowledge-based approach: expert control, fuzzy control and neural networks
are playing important role in this kind of control
Mathematical model can be derived using physical laws of physics or experimentation.
If it’s not possible to obtain the model through laws of physics, the experimentation can
be conducted to obtain input and output of the plant. These input/output are then
captured into a suitable differential equation or TF. This process is called system
identification.
- In 1940-1960, the frequency domain design method were developed. Some of
the techniques are: Nyquist stability method, Bode plot, Root-locus. These three
method are referred to as classical methods of design.
- State space (SS) method of design, came into existence during 1960 onwards.
These methods are referred to as modern methods of design. Note that 75% of
the industrial control design are being handled by classical methods
- Modern methods came for a very particular requirements on tracking the space
vehicle

Examples of Control Structure

Once we are given a system, we have first to identify the control objectives. Then we
have to point out the command signal, MV and the disturbances
- State variables: are the set of characterizing variables which give you total
information about a system at any time t, provided the initial state and external
input is known
- Any output can be obtained in terms of the state variables
 - The D in SS equation, depends on the chosen output
- Relaxed system: means all initial conditions are zero
- Impulse response: Gives input-output relationship of a system. It does not give
the info of the state variables
- Convolution integral: Mathematical tool which is used to calculate output of an
LTI system when impulse response and input are available. Gives the output for
all t, for a given input under the assumption that all initial condition are zero

- Transfer function (TF): The relation between input and output of the system
under relaxed system
- TF is more convenient in analysis and design compared to impulse response
- TF can be represented in polynomial form or in pole-zero form
Standard Test Signals
- Impulse, ramp, pulse and parabola
- If the system satisfactorily under these signals it will behave properly under
actual command signals

Dynamic Systems and Dynamic Response

- The parameters that define the basic characteristics of first and second order
systems are studied
First Order Systems
- Consider

K-system gain, DC gain or static gain, 𝑇-time constant of the system

 - Note, in time 𝑡 = 4𝜏 all the way to 𝑡 = 5𝜏, the transient of the system has
decayed. Which is also means the system has settled down to its steady-state

- So, 𝜏 tells us about the speed of response of a particular system

- System cannot respond instantaneously due to the lag of components
- Sluggish system is the one which have lager 𝜏
- The first-order system is also referred to as first order lag

Second Order Systems

- We study the second-order because all other higher order can be represented
by second-order
- Consider

- Parameter 𝐾, 𝜁 and 𝜔𝑛 describe the personality of the second-order control

system
Case 1: 𝜻 = 𝟎, this means 𝑩 = 𝟎 (No damping)
- Reults in
 - The output oscillates at 𝜔𝑛 , so 𝜔𝑛 is called undamped natural frequency
- This behavior is not acceptable in industry. It can be used in domestic for
heat/temperature control

Case 2: 𝟎 < 𝜻 = 𝟏, this means 𝑩 ≠ 𝟎 ( Underdamped )

- Gives

- 𝜔𝑑 - a damped natural frequency

- Note: 𝜁 = 1 represents the limiting situation where the oscillation have just died
out
- The system becomes sluggish as the value of increases 𝜁
- Also if you take 𝜁 close to zero, give the output with too much oscillations
- Most of the industrial control systems are underdamped systems

Case 3: 𝜻 = 𝟏, this means ( Critically damped )

Case 4: 𝜻 > 𝟏, this means ( Over damped )
- This will result on a sluggish system

Higher Order Systems

- These systems are organized as combination of one first order and one second
order systems
- Example

- Applying partial fraction decomposition

- The steady state behavioral can also be obtained by the final value theorem
- The SS starts soon as the transient dies out

Modeling of Dynamic Systems

- Coulomb and viscous frictions are considered
- Free body diagram is used

Electrical-Mechanical Analogy
- Any electrical system can be represented as analog of mechanical system
- Consider

- So, the above two systems are analogous to each other

- If you want to study the mechanical system, you can study the electrical system
then take the reached conclusion to the mechanical system
- Since circuit component such that 𝑅, 𝐶 and 𝐿 can easily be obtained, it is better to
study the electrical system
- Hence, we can study mechanical system, thermal system, liquid level system
through their electrical analogous

- Consider