Laboratory 1

LCS-1 R EMOTE P OSITION -C ONTROL

S ERVOMECH ANISM
Introduction

The equipment set up is shown below in Figure 1 along with a block diagram
representation in Figure 2.

Figure 1 Remote position control servomechanism

C(s)
R(s) + E(s) M(s)
Gctrl(s) Gplnt(s)
_ −
B(s)

Hfbk(s)

Figure 2 Block diagram of RPC servomechanism

Identify which of the block diagram components each of the following circuit
devices relates to:
 Summing amplifier:

EE Dept., NUI Galway 1 Third Year Laboratories

  Gain control potentiometer:

 Drive motor:

 Tacho potentiometer:

Write an expression for the closed-loop transfer function, C(s)/R(s):

25.1 Proportional Control

The system is connected as above and the tachometric feedback is initially set at zero.
When tested, the system became unstable when the gain was raised to:

K=

With the gain reduced in accordance with the Ziegler-Nichols rule for proportional
control, the following results were obtained for a step input of ϕc = 60 degrees:

Gain setting =

Dead band (estimate) = 5 degrees

Overshoot (estimate) = 30%

Given that the output settled ~ 2.5 s after application of the step input, sketch the system step-

response below. Choose suitable ranges for time and angular position for the axes of your graph.

Marks will be given for neat waveforms that include good attention to detail on axes markers, etc.

ϕc, o

time, s

Figure 3 Step response with proportional control

EE Dept., NUI Galway 2 Third Year Laboratories

 25.2 Proportional with Tachometric Feedback
The following results were obtained for a step input of ϕc = 60 degrees with the gain and
velocity feedback settings adjusted to give fast response with minimal overshoot.

Gain setting =

Velocity feedback =

Dead band = 2.5 degrees

Overshoot = 15%

Given that the output settled approximately 1 s after application of the step, sketch the
step response below. Use hte same range of values as used in Figure 3 so that the
waveforms can be easily compared.

ϕc, o

time, s
Figure 4 Step response with tachometric feedback

Explain your understanding of how tachometric/derivative feedback works in terms of the

mathematical definition of derivative action. Include a diagram/figure to help your
explanation.

EE Dept., NUI Galway 3 Third Year Laboratories

25.3 Bandwidth
Explain how to measure the bandwidth of a system using sinusoidal test signals:

EE Dept., NUI Galway 4 Third Year Laboratories

Retaining the settings of part 2 the manual input was replaced with a sinusoidal
reference input from a low-frequency signal generator and the bandwidth of the servo
was measured as:

Bandwidth = Hz

25.4 Use as Scanner

Retaining previous controller settings, the signal generator was used to command
repeated forward and backward linear scans between ±30° at a rate of one cycle per
second.

Add a sketch to the plot in Figure 25.5 below showing the nature of the response
waveshape relative to the command signal. Mark values of angular position and time
on the axes:

Figure 5. Expected scanner response

Explain the differences between the command and response waveshapes in Figure
25.5:

EE Dept., NUI Galway 5 Third Year Laboratories

Explain why the waveshape of the response signal changes so much when the repetition

rate of scanning increases:

EE Dept., NUI Galway 6 Third Year Laboratories