Lab 08: System reduction and non linearity

analysis

We have been working with individual subsystems represented by a block with its input and output.
More complicated systems, however, are represented by the interconnection of many subsystems.
Since the response of a single transfer function can be calculated, we want to represent multiple
subsystems as a single transfer function.

1. Cascade Form: When two or more subsystems are connected in series or cascade form then
equivalent transfer function is equal to product of transfer function of individual systems. In
figure 3(a), three subsystems are attached in series, so the equivalent transfer function of the
system can be found by taking product of transfer function of individual subsystems as shown in
figure 3(b). Total response of both the cases, 4(a) and 4(b) is same.

C( s)
=G 1 (s )G 2 ( s)G 3 (s)
R( s)

Figure 1: (a) Three Subsystems in series, (b) Equivalent transfer function system.

2. Parallel Form: When two or more subsystems are connected in parallel form then equivalent
transfer function is equal to sum of transfer function of individual systems. In figure 4(a), three
subsystems are attached in parallel, so the equivalent transfer function of the system can be found
by taking sum of transfer function of individual subsystems as shown in figure 4(b). Total
response of both the cases, 5(a) and 5(b), is same.

C( s)
=± G 1(s)±G 2 ±( s)G3 ( s)
R( s)

Figure 2: (a) Three Subsystems in parallel, (b) Equivalent transfer function system
3. Feedback Form: The third topology is the feedback form, which will be seen repeatedly
in course of control system engineering. The feedback system forms the basis for our
study of control systems engineering. In Chapter 1, we defined open-loop and closed-loop
systems and pointed out the advantage of closed-loop, or feedback control, systems over
open-loop systems.
Let us derive the transfer function that represents the system from its input to its output.
The typical feedback system, described in detail in Chapter 1, is shown in Figure 6(a); a
simplified model is shown in Figure 6(b). As error will be

Figure 3: (a) Feedback Form, (b) Equivalent Form

E( s)=R (s )∓ H (s)C ( s)
And output is C (s)=G( s)E (s),
C (s )
E ( s )=
G( s)
Following certain steps, the equivalent transfer function will be
C( s) G(s)
=Ge ( s ) =
E( s) 1 ± G ( s ) H (s)
Task 1: Write a code that finds the equivalent transfer of following system using Matlab
commands, series, parallel and feedback.
a)

Figure 4

Code a :
clc
clear all
s=tf('s')
tf1 = 1/(s*(s+2)*(s+3))
tf2 = s
k = 1 ;
sys3 = k
sys_A = feedback(tf1,tf2)
sys_B = series(sys3,sys_A)
sys_C = feedback(sys_B,1)
step(sys_C)

Equivalent Transfer function

b)

Figure 5

Code b :
clc
clear all
s = tf('s')
k=1
tf1 = k/(s^2)
tf2 = tf1
tf3 = 1/(s+1)
sys_1 = parallel(tf1,tf2)
sys_2 = feedback(sys_1,tf3)
step(sys_2)
grid on

Equivalent Transfer Function

Effects of Nonlinear Components on System Response
In this section, we qualitatively examine the effects of nonlinearities upon the time response of
physical systems. In the following examples, we insert nonlinearities, such as saturation, dead zone,
and backlash, into a system to show the effects of these nonlinearities upon the linear responses.

Saturation:
To study the effect of saturation, consider a motor and load from the Antenna Control Case Study of
Chapter 2 and look at the load angular velocity, ω o (s), where

ω o ( s )=0.1 sθ m (s)
0.2083
ω o ( s )= E (s)
s+ 1.71 a

from Eq. (2.208)1. If we drive the motor with the help of amplifier, after certain range amplifier
saturates its output, and without saturation block and a step input of 10V, there will we’ll be
difference in output velocity of both systems.

Task 2: Students have to implement the transfer function of motors with step input of 10V and also
with an amplifier, which has saturation of ±5V, and write their observations when they use saturation
block and also without saturation block.

Figure 6: Effect of Saturation

Code :

clc
plot(time,tf1,'linewidth',2)
hold on
plot(time,tf2,'-.','linewidth',2)
xlabel('time')
ylabel('speed')
legend('With Saturation','Without Saturation')
grid on

1
Equation no is referred from Book Control System Engineering, by Norman S. Nise, 6th Edition.
Observations of Task 2:

When saturation block is applied then the over all magnitude of speed reduces and the
system got its maximum speed equal to half of speed when saturation is not applied.

Figure 6 : System Speed With and without Saturation

Dead Zone:
To study effect of dead zone, again consider the motor, load, and gears from Antenna Control Case
Study of Chapter 2. Dead zone is present when the motor cannot respond to small voltages. The motor
input is a sinusoidal waveform chosen to allow us to see the effects of dead zone vividly. The
response begins when the input voltage to the motor exceeds a threshold. We notice a lower amplitude
when dead zone is present.

Figure 7: Effect of Dead zone

Task 3: Students have to implement the transfer function of motors and gears was used in saturation
case with sinusoidal voltage having amplitude of 5V and frequency of 1 rad/s. Now students are
analyzing angular position so they will add integrator as shown in figure 7, and write their
observations with & without dead zone block, range of dead zone -2 to +2.

Code :

clc
plot(time,tf1,'linewidth',2)
hold on
plot(time,tf2,'-.','linewidth',2)
xlabel('time')
ylabel('Angular position')
legend('With Deadzone','Without Deadzone')
grid on
 Figure 8 : Angular Position plots with and without Deadzone

Observations of Task 3:

When Dead zone block is applied then the maximum angular position reduces and the
system got its maximum angular position almost equal to half of the angular position
when saturation is not applied.
Backlash:
To study effect of backlash, again consider the motor, load, and gears from Antenna Control Case
Study of Chapter 2. The motor input is a sinusoidal waveform chosen to allow us to see the effects of
backlash. which is chosen to allow us to see vividly the effects of backlash in the gears driven by the
motor. As the motor reverses direction, the output shaft remains stationary while the motor begins to
reverse. When the gears finally connect, the output shaft itself begins to turn in the reverse direction.
The resulting response is quite different from the linear response without backlash.

Figure 1: Effect of Dead zone

Task 4: Students have to implement the transfer function of motors and gears was used in saturation
case with sinusoidal voltage having amplitude of 5V and frequency of 1 rad/s. Now students are
analyzing angular position so they will add integrator as shown in figure 8, and write their
observations with & without backlash block, with dead-band width of 0.15.

Code :

clc
plot(time,tf1,'linewidth',2)
hold on
plot(time,tf2,'-.','linewidth',2)
xlabel('time')
ylabel('Angular position')
legend('With Backlash','Without Backlash')
grid on
Observations of Task 4:

When Backlash is applied the change in angular position doesn’t remains smooth. When
maximum position is attained the motor remains at that position for some time and after
that changes the position.

Figure 10 : Angular position plots with and without Backlash