ES322 - PW 2

Feedback and System response

Solutions

February 22, 2021

1 Feedback and Drive precision

Consider an undamped pendulum with the following state equations1

θ̇ = Ω
Ω̇ = −460θ + 428u

where u is the input torque, θ and ω respectively the rotation angle and the
rotation speed.
Θ(s)
1. Compute the transfer function S(s) = U (s) . Where are the poles and zeros
of this system? √
Solution: S(s) = s2428
+460 . No zeros, complex poles in s = ±j 460

2. What is the step response of this system?

Solution: See figure 1
Θ(s)
3. Consider the system in closed-loop in figure 2, and compute G(s) = W (s) .
The controller R(s) has as expression: R(s) = s + 1
Estimate how the poles and zeros have changed compared to the original
system S(s)?
R(s)S(s) 428s+428
Solution: G(s) = 1+R(s)S(s) = s2 +428s+888 . This system now has:

ˆ a zero in s = −1, coming from the zero present in the controller R.

ˆ two real and negative poles in s = −425.9 and s = −2.085

4. When we consider a sampling period of Ts = 0.1s, this transfer function

of the closed loop becomes2 :

0.9086z − 0.8179 Θ(z)

G(z) = =
z(z − 0.8118) W (z)
1 Avoid using Matlab for the first part of this exercise
2 This is not an obvious calculation, and has been done with Matlab

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 Figure 1: Step response

w  u
+ R S θ
−

Figure 2: Feedback system with unit feedback

5. Give the formula and compute the final value of a step response of the
controlled system
Solution:
lim x(n) = lim (1 − z −1 )X(z) = lim H(z)
n→∞ z→1 z→1

when x(n) the step response is of a step applied to a system with transfer
function H(z). This gives x(n → ∞) = 0.4819.
6. Give the formula and compute the drive precision3 limn→∞ (n) of the
controlled system with E(z) = W (z) − Y (z)
Solution:
1 RS(z)
lim (n) = lim = lim 1 − = 1 − 0.4819 = 0.5181
n→∞ z→1 1 + RS(z) z→1 1 + RS(z)

7. What is the static gain? What is it’s relation to the drive precision?
Solution: The static gain is the ratio between the output y(n) of the
controlled system and the error (n) for n → ∞ for a step input at n = 0:

KOL = lim RS(z)

z→1
3 F: précision vis-à-vis de la consigne/N: nauwkeurigheid tov de stelwaarde

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 8. With MATLAB, plot the step response of the controlled system G(s) and
compare the final value and drive precision with the predicted values.
Solution: See figure 3

Figure 3: Step response

9. Explain the initial behavior of the step response.

2 Drive precision with respect to perturbations

NA
Consider a system composed of a subsystem with transmittance A = D A
in the
NB
forward path and a subsystem with transmittance B = DB in the feedback path.
The system input is w, the output is y, and subsystem A input  = w − By.

w  y
+ A
−

Figure 4: Forward and feedback subsystems

1. What are the zeros and poles of the closed loop with respect to the poles
and zeros of A and B?

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 Solution:
Y (s) = A(s)
= A(W − BY )
Y (s) A
=
W (s) 1 + AB
NA
DA
= NA NB
1+ DA DB
NA D B
=
DA DB + NA NB
This means that:

(a) The poles of the system in CL are determined by the solutions of

DA DB + NA NB = 0. This is in general difficult to compute, and
we will resort to other methods, like the root-locus, to determine the
poles of the VL.
(b) The zeros of the CL are the solutions of NA DB = 0: the zeros of
the direct path (via A) and the poles of the feedback path (via B).
2. Make the analogy with the R (controller) and S (plant) with a perturba-
tion signal η between R and S, i.e. the transfer characteristics η → y.

η
w  u y
+ R + S
−

Figure 5: Non-ideal system, perturbation between controller and plant

3. Apply your conclusions to the effect of perturbations η between controller

R and system S:
ki
R(s) = (s + Ts )
s
1
S(s) =
s + Ts

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3 System response characteristics
Considering the following second-order system with a pair of complex conjugate
poles:

1. sys = zpk([],[-0.5+2.2*i -0.5-2.2*i],4);

2. H=tf(sys);
3. [y,t] = step(sys);
4. h1 = plot(t, y, ’b’);

Plot the step response of this system to get a visual representation of the
response characteristics.
Definitions:

Characteristic Definition
Rise time The time required for a pulse to rise from x% to y% of its steady
value. The common values for the lower and upper thresholds are
10% and 90%.
Settling time The time elapsed from the application of a step input to the time
at which the system output has entered and remained within a
specified error band, usually symmetrical about the final value.
The response has settled when the error |y(t) − yss | becomes
smaller than 2% of its steady value.
Peak value The maximum value that a waveform attains.
Peak time The time elapsed to reach the peak value.
Overshoot The maximum peak value of the response curve measured from
the desired response of the system.
P O = 100 × (ypeak − yss )/yss
Static error The difference between the output of a system and the reference
input for a unit step when the output signal is settled (yss ). It is
typically expressed in % of the reference input.

Table 1: Step response characteristics

Solution: See figure 6

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 Figure 6: Step response characteristics

3.1 Second-order system’s response with respect to poles

movement
Consider a system with the following pair of complex-conjugate poles sstart
1,2 =
−1.5 ± 1j:
1. Plot the step response of the system

2. Choose 2 other pairs of complex conjugate poles s1,2 such that <(s1,2 ) =
−1.5 and plot the step response of these 3 systems on the same figure.
Solution: All step responses are attenuated with the same factor, which
is determined by the real part of the complex conjugated poles. In the
z-plane, this corresponds to concentric circles centered on the origin (fixed
radius ρ). See figure 7
3. Choose 2 other pairs of complex conjugate poles s1,2 such that =(s1,2 ) =
−1.5 and plot the step response of these 3 systems on the same figure.
Solution: The ”frequency” of the step responses is the same. This oscil-
lation rate is determined by the imaginary part of the complex conjugated
poles. In the z-plane, this corresponds to straight lines through the origin
(fixed angle θ). See figure 8
4. Express sstart
1,2 under the polar form 4 ρ6 θ . Choose 2 other pairs of
complex conjugate poles s1,2 such that their argument are the same (θ)
as that of sstart
1,2 . Plot the step response of these 3 systems on the same
figure.
Solution: The step responses associated with poles that lie on a straight
line through the origin all have the same peak value (same overshoot).
The height of this overshoot is determined by the angle the straight line
4 use the cart2pol() function

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 Figure 7: Same real part

Figure 8: Same imaginary part

makes with the imaginary axis (poles located on the imaginary axis have
a 100% overshoot). See figure 9
For the three different movements of the poles in the s-plane,
ˆ draw conclusions about the characteristics of those step responses.
ˆ Plot the poles in the s-plane.
In parallel, always transform the system to its discrete counterpart (use Ts =
0.1s) and make the same plots.

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 Figure 9: Same angle wrt the imaginary axis

3.2 Second-order system with additional zero

In the literature, one can find formulas describing percent overshoot and set-
tling time based on second order systems parameters ζ (damping ratio) and ωn
(natural frequency), representing the transfer function as follows:
ωn2
H(s) =
s2 + 2ζωn s + ωn2
Consider a system H1 with:
ˆ ωn = 3
ˆ ζ = 0.4
ˆ Ts = 0.05
Solution: See figure 10
Additionally, create 3 new systems:
ˆ H2 , with the same poles as H1 , but with a zero at −1,
Solution: In this case, the initial response will be much faster than system
H1, since the derivative component will dominate. A consequence is also
that the overshoot is a lot higher. See figure 11. Also remark that the
first derivative in the origin is not zero, as in a pure second-order system.

ˆ H3 , with the same poles as H1 , but with a zero at −5,

Solution: Now, the system response is closer to that of H1, if we take
into account that we have to evolve to the same final value to correctly
compare these responses. We conclude that when the zero moves to the
left (or towards the origin for discrete systems), its influence becomes
weaker. See figure 12

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 Figure 10: System H1

Figure 11: System H2

ˆ H4 , with the same poles as H1 , but with a zero at 1,

Solution: In this case, the initial behavior of the system goes in the
opposite direction. These kind of systems are called Non-Minimum Phase
Systems. See figure 13

Plot the (normalized) step responses of these systems on the same plot, and
comment. How does a zero impact the transient response of a system? What is
remarkable about system H4 ? Explain.

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Figure 12: System H3

Figure 13: System H4

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