Operating point and steady-state characteristic

An example of an application for automatic light control

Particularly for reasons of health and safety at the work place it is absolutely
necessary that a constant and sufficient intensity of illumination is guaranteed.
This can be achieved using automatic light control which reduces or increases
the brightness of workplace lights depending on external factors such as
incoming sunlight.

Right:
Daylight dependent control of lighting
intensity.

Experiment: setting the operating point of the light

controlled system
In the following experiment we shall first examine and then set the operating point of the
light controlled system.

Set up the experiment circuit shown below and activate Voltmeter A and the
DC voltage source. Initially set potentiometers P2 and P4 to the medium
position (centre).
 Set an input voltage yL of 0 V. Then adjust P2 so that an output voltage x L of 0
V also results (zero calibration). Then set an input voltage of 10 V and adjust
potentiometer P4 so that an output voltage of 10 V results (adjustment of the
final steady-state value).

Experiment: steady-state characteristic of the light

controlled system
In the following experiment the steady-state characteristic of the light controlled system
will be recorded step-by-step and displayed in a graph.

Set up the experiment circuit shown below and activate Voltmeter A and the
DC voltage source.

Now apply a series of DC voltages from 0 to 10 V (in increments of 1 V) to the

input y = yL of the light controlled system and determine the corresponding
steady-state output voltage x = xL (note: it may be necessary to wait a few
seconds after changing the input voltage until the output voltage can no longer
be seen to fluctuate). Enter the values obtained into the following Table and
determine the steady-state or static characteristic.
 Steady-state characteristic of the light controlled system

What is the shape of the characteristic? How do you explain this shape? How
large is the transfer coefficient KS of the controlled system (system gain) for
input voltages somewhere above the 5 V level? Enter your answers into the
text box below.

100
%

90
0.1
80 0.1

70

0.1
60

50
0.1
40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t/s