Examination

Control Systems Theory and Design

16.09.2015

Problem 1 (25 Marks)

Rq L1 C1
iq iL

vR v1 v2 i1 i2

vq C2 v3 L2 v4 vL RL

Figure 1: Electrical Circuit

a) Find the state space representation

ẋ = A x + b u,
(1)
y = c x.
 T
with the state vector x = iq i2 vR v2 vL of the system depicted in Figure 1.
Assume that vq is the input, vL is the output (i.e. u(t) = vq (t), y(t) = vL (t)) and

L1 = L2 = 1 H, RL = 1 Ω,
(2)
C1 = C2 = 1 F, Rq = 3 Ω.

Hints:

1. Physical units can be omitted.

R C
2. Kirchhoff ’s loop rule:
v0 vR vC vL L
v0 = vR + vC + vL (3)

Figure 2: Kirchhoff’s loop rule

3. Kirchhoff ’s junction rule:
i0 i1
i0 = i1 + i2 (4) i2

Figure 3: Kirchhoff’s junction rule

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 4. Current-voltage relation:

C L iL
iC dvC diL
iC = C (5) vL = L (6)
dt dt
vC vL

b) i) Consider a transformation matrix T and its inverse T −1 with

   
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
 , T −1 =  1 0 0
   
T = 0 0 3 0 1   0 0. (7)
1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 −3 0 1 0 0

Applying this transformation to the state matrix A yields

 
0 0 1 0 0
 0 −1 1 −1 0 
−1
 
Ā = T AT =  −1 −1 −3 0 −1 . (8)

0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0

Apply the transformations to b, c and x, and write down the new state space
representation

x̄˙ = Ā x̄ + b̄ u,
(9)
y = c̄ x̄.

ii) Is this a minimal realization? Give reasons for your answers.

Hint: This question can be answered without calculation.
iii) What can be said about the controllability and observability of the model
(A, b, c) in (1). Give reasons.

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Problem 2 (25 Marks)

Hint: Tasks (a) and (b), see next page, can be solved independently.
Consider a system described by the block diagram shown in Figure 4.

G1 (s)

u1 e1 y1

G2 (s)

G3 (s)
y2 e2 u2

Figure 4: Block diagram of the considered system

The transfer functions G1 (s), G2 (s) and G3 (s) of the subsystems are given by:
 −s   1 
s+3 s+3
1 2
 
G1 (s) =  , G2 (s) =  , G3 (s) = s−1 .
s+3
1.5 s
s+1 s+1

a) i) What are the dimensions of the signals u1 , e1 , y1 , u2 , e2 , y2 in Figure 4?

ii) Write expressions for the following transfer functions (Do NOT calculate them
explicitly, write them in terms of G1 , G2 , G3 ).

u1 → y 2
u2 → y 2

iii) Calculate the transfer function u1 → y2 . Is this transfer function stable?

iv) Assume the loop in Figure 4 represents a physical system. Would you expect
any problem to appear when it is practically implemented? Give reasons for
your answer.

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b) Figure 5 shows an observer-based state feedback controller augmented with an in-
tegrator block.

r 1 xI u y
s
FI G(s)
−

x̂ Observer

Figure 5: Observer-based closed-loop system

Assume that G(s) has a state space realization

ẋ = Ax + Bu
y = Cx
 T
i) Let x̃ = x − x̂ denote the estimation error. Given the state vector x x̃ xI ,
calculate the state matrices Acl , Bcl , Ccl . Write them in terms of A, B, C, F, FI , L.
Hint: use x̃˙ = (A + LC)x̃ and x̂ = x − x̃.
ii) What happens to x̃ when a step input r(t) = σ(t) is applied? (Assume x̂(0) =
x(0) = 0).
iii) Give MATLAB code to calculate the optimal state feedback gain F and integral
gain FI . Give reasonable values (with appropiate dimensions) to the weighting
matrices Q and R. Assume A ∈ R3×3 , B ∈ R3×2 , C ∈ R2×3 , D = 02×2 are
already in the workspace.

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Problem 3 (25 Marks)

Consider the state space model

   
0 1 0
ẋ = x+ u
−2 3 1
 
y= 1 0 x

and both observer-based state feedback configurations shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7.

u y
G(s)

x̂ −
Observer r

Figure 6: Observer-based control

r 1 2 y
v × × G(s)

x̂
Observer

Figure 7: Alternative loop for observer-based control

r 1 xI u y
s
FI G(s)
−

x̂ Observer

Figure 8: Observer-based closed-loop system augmented with an integrator

5
  
a) i) Calculate a state feedback gain f that places the poles of A + bf at −3 −5 .
Hint: exploit the fact that the model is in controller canonical form.
ii) From the following list, choose the most appropiate values for the poles of
A + lc.
     
a) −15 −25 . b) −3 · 107 −5 · 107 . c) −3 −5 .
iii) Calculate an appropiate value for v in Figure 7, so that the static gain r → y
is 1.
b) i) Copy the loop in Figure 7 in your answer sheet and draw a box around the
controller. How many inputs does the controller have?
ii) Figure 9 shows step responses of the loops in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Which
response belongs to which configuration? Give reasons for your answer.
2

B
1.5

A
1

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Figure 9: Step responses with different controller configurations

c) i) Compare the loops in Figure 7 and Figure 8. Both are observer-based con-
trol loops with reference tracking capabilities. Name one advantage and one
disadvantage of the loop in Figure 7.
ii) In Figure 7, two break points (labeled 1 and 2) have been marked. Where
would you expect an input disturbance of a real system to enter the loop?
Give reasons for your answer.
Hint: use your block diagram from (b)(i).
iii) Assume a disturbance d1 enters at 1 in Figure 7, and a disturbance d2 enters
at 2. Which of these disturbances has an effect on the estimation error? Give
reasons for your answer.
d) Complete the following MATLAB code to build the closed loop in Figure 7. Assume
that A, b, c and vectors vec f and vec l containing the desired pole locations for
A + bf and A + lc, respectively, are given in the workspace.

1 G= ...
2 f= ...
3 l= ...
4 v= ...
5

6 K = build_K(A,b,c,f,l,v); % build K builds the controller

7 G_cl=feedback2(G,K,-1); % feedback2 builds the closed-loop

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Problem 4 (25 Marks)

Hint: Tasks (a) to (c) can be solved independently.

a) A discrete-time state-space model is given as

" # " #
0.3 1 0
x(k + 1) = x(k) + u(k),
0 1.5 1 (10)
 
y(k) = 1 0 x(k).
 T
i) Given the initial state x(0) = 0 1 and the input signal u(k) = 0.5 σ(k),
compute the output y(k) at k = 0, 1, 2.
ii) Is the system stable? Give reasons.
iii) Is the system stabilizable or detectable? Give reasons.
iv) Calculate the discrete-time transfer function G(z).
v) Derive the difference equation of G(z).
vi) Construct a state space model in observer canonical form and sketch the cor-
responding block diagram.

b) Now consider a plant with the following continuous-time transfer function

α
G(s) = α > 0, β < 0 (11)
(s − β)s

and assume it is being discretized using both exact (zero-order hold) discretization
and Tustin (bilinear) approximation, leading to Gzoh (z) and GTustin , respectively.
Answer the following questions:

i) How many sampling zeros does the transfer function Gzoh (z) have?
ii) How many sampling zeros does the transfer function GTustin (z) have?
iii) What type of zeros would you expect, when G(s) is sampled at high sampling
rates with a zero-order-hold?

Hint: The above three questions can be answered without calculation.

iv) Sketch the poles of G(s) in the s-plane for β = −3 and map them into the z-
plane using exact discretization (zero-order-hold) with sampling time T = 2 sec.

c) Give MATLAB commands to calculate Gzoh (z) and GTustin (z) with a sampling time
of T = 2 sec. Assume that α = 2, β = −3. The workspace is empty.