Introduction

Before we find out what control systems

are, let’s first understand what is meant by
a system. 
A system is a collection of things that
are put together with the intention to
perform a specific task.
When we excite a system with an input, we
get a certain response.
A resistor, a capacitor, an air conditioner,
an automobile are some examples of
systems. Sometimes a system is referred to
as a “plant.”
A control system is a system capable of
monitoring and regulating the operation of a
process or a plant. The study of control system
is essentially a study of an important aspect of
systems engineering and its applications. A
control system consists of subsystems and
processes (or plants) assembled for the
purpose of controlling the outputs of the
process.
A control system is a mechanism that
directs the input it receives through the
systems and regulates their output.

The above figure shows the block diagram

of a control system.
It is a system, which provides the desired
response by controlling the output. The
following figure shows the simple block
diagram of a control system.
Since, the output is controlled by varying
input, the control system got this name.

Examples − Traffic lights control system,

washing machine
Traffic lights control system is an
example of control system. Here, a
sequence of input signal is applied to this
control system and the output is one of the
three lights that will be on for some duration
of time. During this time, the other two lights
will be off. Based on the traffic study at a
particular junction, the on and off times of
the lights can be determined. Accordingly,
the input signal controls the output. So, the
traffic lights control system operates on
time basis.
 1. BASIC ELEMENTS OF A CONTROL
SYSTEM
There are four basic elements of a typical
motion control system.

These are;
 The controller,
 Amplifier,
 Actuator, and
 Feedback.
The complexity of each of these elements
will vary depending on the types of
application for which they are designed and
built.
1.1 The controller section of the AC drive is
the brain if the system. It typically consists
of a microprocessor based CPU and
memory that is used to process data once it
is collected and stored. This controller
section of the AC drive will process
information received from the inputs of the
drive and also from the feedback signals
that will usually be a representation of the
position or speed of the actuator.
The controller will then issue commands to
the amplifier section based on this
information.

1.2 The amplifier section of the drive

receives the commands from the control
section. The amplifier then generates the
power signal necessary for the actuator to
drive the load with the correct speed and
direction.
 The amplifier section of the AC drive
is usually able to be further broken down
into three sections of its own.
  The rectifier circuit,
 DC circuit, and
 Inverter circuit.
Most of the Rectifiers are essential circuits
for power supplies that convert an AC
input voltage into a DC voltage supply
that can be used to power electronic
circuits.
The DC circuit will contain both current and
voltage filter components including a choke
and parallel bus capacitors and may have
some type of regenerative discharge
circuitry.
The inverter section of the AC drive will
typically be comprised of insulated gate
bipolar transistors or IGBTs. The switching
control for the inverter circuit is provided by
the control section of the AC drive. Using
the switching control, the DC voltage
supplied by the DC circuit, is changed in the
inverter circuit to a pulse width modulated
output that feeds the actuator of the motion
control system.

1.3 The actuator portion of the system will

most often be an induction AC motor or
permanent magnet AC motor with windings
and insulation that are specially designed to
handle the heat and stress generated by a
pulse width modulated output.

1.4 The feedback element of the motion

control system may be handled by the
system in a number of ways depending on
the information needed. Encoders or
resolvers can be used to provide feedback
signals from the actuator in a closed loop
control or Hall Effect sensors can provide
feedback from the output of the AC drive in
an open loop control. These feedback
signals as previously mentioned will be a
representation of the speed or position of
the actuator and are used by the control
section of the drive to determine what
commands to provide to the other sections
of the drive.

Classification of Control Systems

Controls are classified with respect to:
• Technique involved to perform control (i.e.
human/machines): manual/automatic control
• Time dependence of output variable (i.e.
constant/changing): regulator/servo, (also
known as regulating/tracking control)
• Fundamental structure of the control (i.e. the
information used for computing the control):
Open loop/feedback control, (also known as
open-loop/closed-loop control)

Manual/Automatic Controls - Examples

A system that involves:
• A person controlling a machine is called
manual control.
Ex: Driving a car
• Machines only is called an automatic control.
Ex: Central AC
Based on some parameters, we can
classify the control systems into the
following ways.
Continuous time and Discrete-time
Control Systems

 Control Systems can be classified as

continuous time control systems and
 discrete time control systems based on
the type of the signal used.
 In continuous time control systems, all
the signals are continuous in time. But,
in discrete time control systems, there
exists one or more discrete time signals.

SISO and MIMO Control Systems

 Control Systems can be classified as

SISO control systems and MIMO control
systems based on the number of
inputs and outputs present.
 SISO (Single Input and Single Output)
control systems have one input and one
output. Whereas, MIMO (Multiple Inputs
and Multiple Outputs) control systems
have more than one input and more than
one output.

Open Loop and Closed Loop Control

Systems
Control Systems can be classified as open
loop control systems and closed loop
control systems based on the feedback
path.
In open loop control systems, output is
not fed-back to the input. So, the control
action is independent of the desired output.
The following figure shows the block
diagram of the open loop control system.

Here, an input is applied to a controller and

it produces an actuating signal or
controlling signal. This signal is given as an
input to a plant or process which is to be
controlled. So, the plant produces an
output, which is controlled. The traffic lights
control system which we discussed earlier
is an example of an open loop control
system.
In closed loop control systems, output is
fed back to the input. So, the control action
is dependent on the desired output.
The closed loop control systems are also
known as feedback control systems. Here,
the control action is dependent on the
desired output. A closed loop control
system can have one or more feedback
paths.
The following figure shows the block
diagram of negative feedback closed loop
control system.

In a closed loop system, the output is

compared with the reference input and an
error-signal is generated. This error signal
is fed to the controller to reduce this error
and hence obtain the desired output. This
process happens iteratively.
These types of control systems are very
reliable and the accuracy of the output is
very high.
The error detector produces an error signal,
which is the difference between the input
and the feedback signal. This feedback
signal is obtained from the block (feedback
elements) by considering the output of the
overall system as an input to this block.
Instead of the direct input, the error signal is
applied as an input to a controller.
So, the controller produces an actuating
signal which controls the plant. In this
combination, the output of the control
system is adjusted automatically till we get
the desired response. Hence, the closed
loop control systems are also called the
automatic control systems. Traffic lights
control system having sensor at the input is
an example of a closed loop control system.
The differences between the open loop and
the closed loop control systems are
mentioned in the following table.

Open Loop Closed Loop

Control Systems Control Systems
Control action is Control action is
independent of the dependent of the
desired output. desired output.
Feedback path is Feedback path is
not present. present.
These are also These are also
called as non- called as feedback
feedback control control systems.
systems.
Easy to design. Difficult to design.
These are These are costlier.
economical.
Inaccurate. Accurate.

What is this feedback?

Feedback is that which differentiates open
loop and closed loop systems. It can also
be said that feedback is that which turns an
open loop control system into a closed loop
control system. Feedback feeds a part of
the output back to the input by the means of
sensors / transducers. This feedback can
either be added to the input or subtracted
from the input and based on what is done,
we categorize feedback into positive
feedback and negative feedback. When the
feedback is added to the input, it is
called positive feedback. Here, the error
signal never decreases and hence positive
feedback has its application in only a very
few areas like signal generators and
oscillators. When the feedback is
subtracted from the input, it is called a
negative feedback. Here, the error signal
gradually decreases and the system attains
desired output. The majority of the control
systems out there are based on negative
feedback.
2. Mathematical models of systems:
 The control systems can be represented
with a set of mathematical equations
known as mathematical model.
 These models are useful for simulation,
prediction/forecasting, design/performance
evaluation, and analysis and design of
control systems.
 It also describe the relationships
among system inputs, outputs and other
inner variables.
 Analysis of control system means
finding the output when we know the input
and mathematical model.
 Design of control system means finding
the mathematical model when we know the
input and the output.
 Mathematical models may assume
many different forms. Depending on the
particular system and the particular
circumstances, one mathematical model
may be better suited than other models.
 For example, in optimal control
problems, it is advantageous to use
state-space representations. On the
other hand, for the transient-response
or frequency-response analysis of
single-input, single-output, linear, time-
invariant systems, the transfer-function
representation may be more convenient
than any other. Once a mathematical
 model of a system is obtained, various
analytical and computer tools can be
used for analysis and synthesis
purposes.
2.1 Laplace transformation
 A technique for solving differential equations.
 Differential equation of time domain form is first
transformed to algebraic equation of frequency
domain form.
 After solving the algebraic equation
in frequency domain, the result then is
finally transformed to time domain form
to achieve the ultimate solution of the
differential equation.
 In other words it can be said that the
Laplace transformation is nothing but a
shortcut method of solving differential
equation.
  They also provide a method to form
a transfer function for an input-output
system
 They provide the basic building
blocks for control engineering, using
block diagrams, etc.
 The Laplace transforms is usually
used to simplify a differential equation
into a simple and solvable algebra
problem.
 Even when the algebra becomes a
little complex, it is still easier to solve
than solving a differential equation.
To understand the Laplace transform
formula: First Let f (t) be the function of t,
time for all t ≥ 0

Then the Laplace transform of f(t), F(s) can

be defined as
Provided that the integral exists. Where the
Laplace Operator, s = σ + jω

2.2 Transfer Function Model

Transfer function model is an s-domain
mathematical model of control systems.
The Transfer function of a Linear Time
Invariant (LTI) system is defined as the ratio
of Laplace transform of output and Laplace
transform of input by assuming all the initial
conditions are zero.
If x(t) and y(t) are the input and output of
an LTI system, then the corresponding
Laplace transforms are X(s) and Y(s).
Therefore, the transfer function of LTI
system is equal to the ratio
of Y(s) and X(s).

i.e., transfer Function=Y(s) /X(s)

The transfer function model of an LTI
system is shown in the following figure.

Here, we represented an LTI system with a

block having transfer function inside it. And
this block has an input X(s) & output Y(s)

2.3 Block diagram manipulation

Block diagrams are a graphical representation
of the system model. The blocks represent
physical or functional components of the
system. Each block has inscribed the transfer
function of that component the relate the
output of the component to its input.
A block diagram is a means of modeling a
system by breaking it down into subsystems
each represented by a block.  The overall
response of the system is determined from a
knowledge of the transfer functions of the
blocks.
Arrows-are used to represent the direction
of signal flow.
 
Blocks-are used to represent any part of
the system that manipulates the
signal in to provide a signal out.
 
Summing point-represents a point where
signals are algebraically
combined.  Signals can be added
to or subtracted from each other.
 
Take-off point-indicates the point where a
signal is split into two
directions.
 
Block-this is usually drawn with its
transfer function inside.  Lower
 case letters indicate the time
domain and upper case letters
the frequency domain.
 
Forward path the route the signal takes
when moving from input to
output.
 
Feedback path the route the signal takes
when moving from output to
input.
 
Feed forward path-this is parallel to and in
the same direction as the
forward path
 2.4 OPEN LOOP SYSTEM
 Any physical system which does not
automatically correct the variation in its
output, is called an open loop system, or
control system in which the output quantity
has no effect upon the input quantity are
called open-loop control system. This means
that the output is not feedback to the input
for correction.
 In open loop system the output can be
varied by varying the input.
 An open-loop control is applied to
achieve desired system response using a
controller or an actuator without feedback.

2.5 CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM

 Control systems in which the output has
an effect upon the input quantity in order to
maintain the desired output value are called
closed loop systems. 
 The open loop system can be modified
as closed loop system by providing a
feedback.
 The provision of feedback automatically
corrects the changes in output due to
disturbances.
 Closed loop system is also
called automatic control system. It consists
of an error detector, a controller, plant (open
loop system) and feedback path elements.
 A closed-loop control is used to achieve
desired system response using a controller
with the output measurement as a
feedback signal.
 The use of feedback enables us to
improve system performance at the cost of
introducing the measurement noise and
stability problem
 The general block diagram of an automatic
control system is shown in image

3 Time Domain Analysis:

In this article we will concentrate on time
domain analysis. Time domain gives the view
that how the state of dynamic system changes
with respect to time when specific input is
given. It gives you the manner of signal over
time characteristics of a measuring signal.
The analysis of a control system is done in a
way to determine the variation in output
with respect to the input. Basically the
response of any control system can be
analyzed in frequency as well as time
domain.
So, the analysis of a system that involves
defining input, output and other variables of
the system as a function of time is known
as time-domain analysis.
It is also known as the time response of
the control system. This is so because the
response is defined as the output provided
by the system when certain excitation is
given to it. Thus time response of the
control system provides the idea about the
variation in the output of the system with
respect to time.
Control systems are considered a dynamic
system and time is considered as an
independent variable in most of the
systems. Thus analyzing the response of
the system as a function of time is quite
necessary.
3.1 Time Response of Control System
In a control system, there may be some
energy storing elements attached to it.
Energy storing elements are generally
inductors and capacitors in case of an
electrical system. Due to the presence of
these energy storing elements, if the energy
state of the system is disturbed, it will take
a certain time to change from one energy
state to another. The exact time taken by the
system for changing one energy state to
another is known as transient time and the
value and pattern voltages and currents
during this period are known as the
transient response.
A transient response is normally associated
with an oscillation, which may be sustained
or decaying in nature. The exact nature of
the system depends upon the parameters of
the system. Any system can be represented
with a linear differential equation. The
solution of this linear differential equation
gives the response of the system. The
representation of a control system by a
linear differential equation of functions of
time and its solution is collectively called
time domain analysis of the control
system.

4. Modelling in frequency domain (frequency

domain analysis) – classical control
In engineering, frequency domain is a term
used to describe the analysis of mathematical
functions or signals with respect to frequency,
rather than time. 
The most common purpose for analysis of
signals in the frequency domain is the analysis
of signal properties.
The engineer can study the spectrum to
determine which frequencies are present in the
input signal and which are missing.
 Better identify the characteristics of signal 
Add or subtract frequencies to the original
signal  Signals are converted from time or
space domain to the frequency domain usually
through the Fourier transform.
Fourier Series  A continuous periodic function
f(t) with period T can be expressed as a linear
combination of sinusoids, which is known as
Fourier series.
Discrete Fourier Transform  Discrete time
signals can be analyzed or decomposed into a
series of sines and cosines. This representation
is called the discrete Fourier transform (DFT)
5. Design of classical control
Classical control is that deals with the
behavior of dynamical systems with inputs,
and how their behavior is modified
by feedback, using the Laplace transform as a
basic tool to model such systems.
To do this a controller is designed, which
monitors the output. The difference
between actual and desired output, called
the error signal, is applied as feedback to
the input of the system, to bring the actual
output closer to the reference.
Classical control deals with linear time-
invariant single-input single-output (SISO)
systems. The Laplace transform of the input
and output signal of such systems can be
calculated. The transfer function relates the
Laplace transform of the input and the
output.

Feedback
To overcome the limitations of the open-
loop controller, classical control
introduces feedback. A closed-loop
controller uses feedback to
control states or outputs of a dynamical
system. Its name comes from the
information path in the system: process
inputs (e.g., voltage applied to an electric
motor) have an effect on the process
outputs (e.g., speed or torque of the motor),
which is measured with sensors and
processed by the controller; the result (the
control signal) is "fed back" as input to the
process, closing the loop.
Closed-loop controllers have the following
advantages over open-loop controllers:
 disturbance rejection (such as hills in
a cruise control)
 guaranteed performance even
with model uncertainties, when the model
structure does not match perfectly the real
process and the model parameters are
not exact
 unstable processes can be stabilized
 reduced sensitivity to parameter
variations
 improved reference tracking performance

In some systems, closed-loop and open-

loop control are used simultaneously. In
such systems, the open-loop control is
termed feedforward and serves to further
improve reference tracking performance.
A common closed-loop controller
architecture is the PID controller.

Classical vs modern
A Physical system can be modeled in the
"time domain", where the response of a
given system is a function of the various
inputs, the previous system values, and
time. As time progresses, the state of the
system and its response change. However,
time-domain models for systems are
frequently modeled using high-order
differential equations which can become
impossibly difficult for humans to solve and
some of which can even become
impossible for modern computer systems to
solve efficiently.
To counteract this problem, classical control
theory uses the Laplace transform to
change an Ordinary Differential Equation
(ODE) in the time domain into a regular
algebraic polynomial in the frequency
domain. Once a given system has been
converted into the frequency domain it can
be manipulated with greater ease.
Laplace transform
Classical control theory uses the Laplace
transform to model the systems and
signals. The Laplace transform is a
frequency-domain approach for continuous
time signals irrespective of whether the
system is stable or unstable. The Laplace
transform of a function f(t), defined for
all real numbers t ≥ 0, is the function F(s),
which is a unilateral transform defined by
Closed-loop transfer function
A common feedback control architecture is
the servo loop, in which the output of the
system y(t) is measured using a
sensor F and subtracted from the reference
value r(t) to form the servo error e. The
controller C then uses the servo error e to
adjust the input u to the plant (system being
controlled) P in order to drive the output of
the plant toward the reference. This is
shown in the block diagram below. This
kind of controller is a closed-loop controller
or feedback controller.
This is called a single-input-single-output
(SISO) control system; MIMO (i.e., Multi-
Input-Multi-Output) systems, with more than
one input/output, are common. In such
cases variables are represented
through vectors instead of
simple scalar values. For some distributed
parameter systems the vectors may be
infinite-dimensional (typically functions).
If we assume the controller C, the plant P,
and the sensor F are linear and time-
invariant (i.e., elements of their transfer
function C(s), P(s), and F(s) do not depend
on time), the systems above can be
analyzed using the Laplace transform on
the variables. This gives the following
relations:

Y(s) =P(s) U(s)

U(s) =C(s) E(s)
E(s) =R(s)-F(s)Y(s)
Solving for Y(s) in terms of R(s)
6. Introduction to Modern control, PID,
fuzzy PID, Sliding Mode PID,
Modern control, instead of changing
domains to avoid the complexities of time-
domain ODE mathematics, converts the
differential equations into a system of
lower-order time domain equations
called state equations, which can then be
manipulated using techniques from linear
algebra
6.1 PID controller
A proportional–integral–derivative
controller (PID controller or three-term
controller) is a control loop mechanism
employing feedback that is widely used
in industrial control systems and a variety of
other applications requiring continuously
modulated control. A PID controller
continuously calculates an error value  as
the difference between a
desired setpoint (SP) and a
measured process variable (PV) and
applies a correction based
on proportional, integral,
and derivative terms (denoted P, I,
and D respectively), hence the name.
In practical terms, PID automatically applies
an accurate and responsive correction to a
control function. An everyday example is
the cruise control on a car, where
ascending a hill would lower speed if
constant engine power were applied. The
controller's PID algorithm restores the
measured speed to the desired speed with
minimal delay and overshoot by increasing
the power output of the engine in a
controlled manner.
The first theoretical analysis and practical
application of PID was in the field of
automatic steering systems for ships,
developed from the early 1920s onwards. It
was then used for automatic process
control in the manufacturing industry, where
it was widely implemented in pneumatic
and then electronic controllers. Today the
PID concept is used universally in
applications requiring accurate and
optimized automatic control.
6.2 Fuzzy PID Control
PID controllers are widely used in industrial
manipulators due to their simple structure
compared to other control algorithms. In
industrial operations each joint of the
robotic arm are independently controlled by
PID algorithms.
6.3 SLIDING MODE CONTROL
The Sliding Mode Controller approach is a
discontinuous nonlinear controller, also
called the variable structure control, is a
typical robust control scheme. MC can be
implemented to any dynamic system having
equal number of outputs and inputs.
Precise modeling of the system is not
possible due to UN modeled external
forces, frictions which affect the stability.
Sliding mode control is a robust and
adaptive control which can deal with
modeling inaccuracies suitable for nonlinear
systems. The design procedure of SMC
contains two steps:
1. Selection of sliding surface so as to
achieve desired system characteristics
when the system reaches the sliding
surface
2. Selection of a control law such that
the existence of sliding mode can be
guaranteed.

This example uses the following fuzzy logic

controller (FLC) structure as described in
[1] the output of the controller (u) is found
using the error (e) and the derivative of the
error (˙e). Using scaling factors Ce and Cd,
inputs e and ˙e are normalized to E and ΔE,
respectively. The normalized ranges for
both inputs are in the range [-1,1]. The
fuzzy logic controller also produces a
normalized output in the range [-1, 1].
Additional scaling factors C0 and C1 map
the fuzzy logic controller output U into u.