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BLACK-BOX MODELLING IN CONTROL

SYSTEM DESIGN - A case study
S. Strmcnik, M. Sega, J. PetrovCic and P. Tramte

J\J!~_ t:..r: "cJ_.

A c ase study is described :in which problems of control design
for a nonlinear system, using black-box modelling, simulation and
optimisation are c onsidered. Optimal parameters of a discrete general i zed
PlO controller for a voltage controlled induction motor were derived. The
c omplete design procedure, made by an original CAD package, is described
and some operating experiences are also discussed.
1. INTRODUCTION In the first part of the paper, a short
description of the system and the defi -
Nowadays, mathematical modelling and simu - nition of the problem is given. In the
lation are commonly accepted tools for the following section, the mathematical model-
analysis and design of different technical ling phase is described and the models
and non technical systems. The concepts of obtained are analysed. In the third part
mathematical modelling have been derived of the paper, the control design procedure
from different professional areas, and is described and the resulting control -
therefore no uniform methodology is avai ' - lers are compared and analysed. Then the
lable yet for this purpose. With the results are tested on a real drive in the
advent and development of systems theory, laboratory. Finally, some problems concer-
much effort has been spent on connecting ning the approa c h implemented are
many different prin c iples into a uniform discussed and a short conclusion is given.
systems approa c h to modelling ( Thesen,
1974 ) . Some elementary questions in this
context, such as e.g . the purpose of 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM AND PROBLEM
modelling, proper definition of the model DEFINITION
and the suitabl e complexity of the model
have been elaborated very well. In control The case study was p e rformed on a three -
theory, however, mathematical modelling -phase, two-speed induction motor of 6 KW
plays an especially c rucial role. So, it power. The values of the high and low
can be said that particularly in this speed of the motor are 1355 rpm and 280
scientific dis c ipline the problems of rpm. The motor is powered by means of a
mathematical modelling, and especialy the microcomputer controlled thyristor swit-
many different methods of modelling, have ching unit. The drive had been designed
been even more and b e tter elaborated for use in lifts. Both, the hardware and
software of this motor c ontroller have
A characteristi c feature of modelling me - been developed in our Department for
thodology in the fi e ld of control theory Computer Automation and Control and are
is that it can be divided into three sepa - described in detail elsewhere ( Petrovcic,
rate groups: theoretical modelling, expe- 1986). Here only a basic block diagram of
rimental modelling and the combination of the microcomputer controlled drive is
both, (Fasol, 1979 ) , ( Isermann, 1974 ) . If given (Fig. 1) .
we look at th e se principles from a
standpoint of a control engineer, theore -
tical modelling is not quite an easy way r - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - l
to obtain a model sin c e, in this case, a I WI ( lltlwptl(' I
deeper understanding of the system under
consideration is needed. On the other hand
I
I
i
I"
the experimental analysis is simplier and I
I
there are a lot of well elaborated me - I
thods, so it is v e ry attractive. Unfortu- I .
natelly, the simple experimental modelling
methods ( or black - box identification me -
L__ __ ____ ___ _'~ __ J
thods as we usually say ) cannot be always
directly applied, esp e cially when more
complex or even nonlinear systems are con-
sidered. ( Fasol, 1979 ) .

The aim of our work is to discuss the Fig.!. Block diagram of the microcomputer
black-box approach trough the example of controlled induction motor.
the design of a speed control for a vol-
tage controlled induction motor. We wish
to show that using the black - box modelling
approach, and combining it with simulation
and optimisation techniqes, all integrated As already mentioned the motor has two
in a CAD package, good results can be stator primary windings (4 pole and 16 po-
achieved even if a nonlinear system is le) of which the low - speed ones are used
being considered. as a D.C. current brake. The shaft of the
 S. Strmcnik (/ Ill.

motor ( M) drives a tachogenerator(TG).

After necessary conditioning, its signal
( w) is guided into the microcomputer.
There, the signal is compared with a
reference speed function ('~.), generated
by a special subroutine. The error signal
(~.) is used as the input to the
controller where the corresponding control
signal (u) is calculated. The control
signals for the motor ( uH ) and for the
brake ( u. ) are obtained from the same
control signal (u) by adding / subtracting
it to / from the corresponding threshold
values U for the motor and U" for the
brake .

The microcomputer controller realisation

enables the designer to change the refe-
rence speed function, the parameters of
the controller or even the control algo -
rithm relatively simply and quickly. For
the purpos e of our c ase study, some addi -
tional software permitted us to perform
all the experim e nts very easily and
effectively .

The goal of our study can be stated as the

sear c h for th e optimal parameters ( in the Fig. 2. Typical torque - speed characteris -
sense of a minimal square of the error tics of a voltage controlled indu-
signal ) of a PLO - type dis c rete controller ction motor for use in lifts.
for a drive with only a flywheel inertial
load, using methods of black-box model -
ling, simulation a nd optimisation which
are incorporated in the CAD package for Development of Linear Black-box Mathemati
analysis and control design, called ANA ~~.1 . 11.Q<LeJ!!.
( Sega, 1985 ).
We wish to derive a series of input - output
models in a form as given in Fig. 3.
3. MATHEMATICAL MODELLING

Creation of a math e matical model of a vol-

tage - controlled induction motor is, due to CO. TROI ,"PU T I". I SWIT CH I" U" T.
M01 0 R SPEEO 110.1 1
the nonlinearity of the system, quite a ~O TOR Ai O

difficult problem. It has been considered TAH OG[I[H TC'

by various authors . Mostly, the theoreti-
cal approach to modelling has been used,
with the obje c tive of performing a static
Fig. 3. Block diagram of a linear input-
( Bedford, 1970 ) or dynamic ( Sheperd, 1968 )
-output model.
analysis of the system. Such models are
mainly based on systems of nonlinear dif -
ferential equations with varying coeffici-
For reasons of simplicity, models were de-
ents. Alternatively a quasi theoretical
rived using measurements in comput e r units
approach can be used ( as e.g. in reference
(cu), with values of input and output
(Strmcnik, 1982 ) . Having this in mind, i t
signals being defined within the interval
would be unrealistic to expect that the
behaviour of the motor could be [0,256] .
approximated by a linear model for the
Since the motor signal (u n) and brake
entire working domain . An analysis of the
signal ( U e ) are related to the control
static torque-speed characteristics which
signal ( u) by a linear relation, in the
we performed initially, led us to the same
modelling derivation procedure only u
conclusion ( Fig. 2 )
was c hosen as the input signal .

The diagram in Fig. 2 shows th e dependence

of the motor and the brake torque, on the The time responses of motor speed, toge-
speed and the voltage control signal. th e r with the input signal, were recorded
in the computer memory. The experiment was
It can be seen clearly that the torque is repeated at three different initial speed
a nonlinear function of the speed and levels, corresponding to the three already
voltage control signal. mentioned speed areas . In this way, three
different time responses at the same input
signal were obtained, representing the
Having this in mind, we decided to split input-output data for the subsequent
the entire speed domain of the motor into black-box identification.
three regions (which on Fig. 2 are indica-
ted by Roman numbers I, 11 and Ill) and to
build a linear model for each area separa- To obtain corresponding set of measure-
tely. Since the analysis was performed on ments suitable for deriving the models, an
a drive with only a pure inertial load, experiment on the drive was performed in
small changes in the control signal were the following way. The motor drive was
expected. Therefore nonlinearity due to excited by a testing input (PRBS - like )
the control signal was neglected. signal, shown in Fig. 4.
 Black-box I\loclelling in Control System Des ign ,129

lJ[cuJ [E, 11 speed [CUI

1& simulated
5.40 measured

4.50
10 1II 11.)
3.60
~ L..
-16 r--- ~

270

I. SO

Fig. 4. Testing input signal used in the 0.90

experiment on the motor drive .
O. 00 .+-:-::--::-::::-----;;--;:-;;-------;;~-7:;;;__-;+-;2_;'';;;;_----:;__;_;;rc;__;)
0.00 0.30 0.60 0.90
-0.90 time 151
A series of simple mathematical model~ was
derived, using the CAD package ANA (Sega, f'i g. 6. Comparison of simulated and me -
1985) in which is incorporated a method asured time responses for the
for identification of disrete uni - and speed area I ( n ~ 2, T"O.ls).
multivariable systems from input-output
data (S trmcnik, 1979) The resulting models
are calculated in the following state-
·- space form

~(k+l) E~(k) + G\! ( k) + c! In selecting the resulting models, the

y(k ) E~(k) + ~!!(k) ( 1) only criteria used was quality of fit. The
best results were obtained for second
(Note the constant vector d which appears order models . Analysis of the eigenvalues
as a consequence of normali~ing the input shows that for the selected models no
and output signals .) continuous-time equivalent models exist
(because they all have a real negative
The basic sampling interval used in the eigenvalue) . In fact, this is a proof that
motor drive is 0.02s. However, measure- the models do not functionally correspond
ments were performed at a sampling inter - to the system, although the input-output
val 0.1 s. Using this sampl ing interval, a behaviour is almost co mplet e ly in c orr e-
series of models with different orders was spondance with the measurements. Thus we
derived for each speed area separately. are dealing with typi ca l black - box models.
The modelling results are illustrated in Let us now verify whether the behaviour of
Fig. 5, where a comparison of simulated the motor in n particular speed area can
and measured time responses in the area 11 be explained reasonably by the individual
for a second order model is given. models derived. For this reason a compa--
rison of step responses for models I, 11
and I I I was performed (see Fig. 7 ).
lE, 11 speed [CUI
simulated speed [Cui
21.60 measured
lEt 21

20.70 2.40
11
19. BO 2.00

lS .90
160
III
lS.OO
120
j) ID
O.SO
16 .20
I 0.40
l
15 300te0::0--:0-.]::O--:O c.;:;90:---1~. 2;:;0:---:1~.;::;50;---1;-.;:;80;---:2;-;-;1O;CIEC:'-;"lI'
c.6;:;0: ---:O
time Is)
o ~o 0.60 o 80 1. 00 lE' ~ 1
t 1 me (5)
fig. 5 . Comparison of simulated and me-
asured time responses for the Fig . 7. Comparison of step responses for
speed area 11 ( n=2, T=O.ls ) . models I, 11 and III ( step am -
plitude = 20 cu ).

It can be seen in Fig . 7 ( th e same has

It can be seen that the fit is very good. been confirmed by calculating the corre-
Similar results were obtained for the sponding eigenvalues) that models 1 and
speed area Ill. In contrast, results for III are stable, which is not the ca se for
the speed area I are hardly acceptable . model 11. This fact ca n be explained on
The comparison of simulated and measured the basis of the torque-speed characteris-
time responses for this area is given in tics in Fig. 2. Note that in the speed
Fig. 6. area 11 the torque of the motor at
constant input signal is approximately
 S. Strmcnik Pt al.

constant, which causes a proportionate The results achieved by the optimisation

increase of the speed. On the other hand procedure can be seen in Fig. 9. In this
the torque of the brake decreases with figure the results of the simulation of
increasing speed. Both effects can be the closed-loop system at optimal values
succesfully approximated with an unstable of controller parameters are shown. The
system. parameters were obtained on the basis of
model II.
A similar explanation could be found for
different gains of the models which can be
seen on Fig. 7.

On the basis of these observations we can [Et 2Jt speed [eU]

conclude that the selected models logi-

cally approximate the behaviour of the
system for particular speed areas.

4. CONTROL DESIGN

The control design was based on a PID type

discrete controller structure with the
following transfer function
0.0

r
00+0IZ-I+0 2 Z-2 (2 )
G(z) = K 3.5 [Et 1J
1-03 Z-1 -0. Z- 2 -0.3 ti me (5)
with
(3 )
-0 .61
03 = 1 - Q.
Fig. 9. Simulated time responses of actual
The constant K is hardware and software speed (w), reference speed (<.l r )
dependent and is known. Using the derived and control input ( IM ) at optimal
linear models, the closed loop behaviour parameters of the controller.
of the model with the controller given in
Eq. 2. was simulated for a typical
reference speed function. The simulation We can easily see that the simulated con-
scheme was part of an optimisation trol in this case is almost perfect. Simi-
procedure in which the parameters of thE lar results were obtained for other speed
controller (Eq. 2) were adapted. The cost areas.
function used in the CAD package had a
standard form.

J=~T (o)~o~(O)+~T (N)EF~(N)+yT (o)!loy(o)+ The optimal parameters were originaly ob-
" -- - (4) tained for sampling time To = O.Is. Later,
yT(N)~FY(N)+l/N[[~T(k)~x(k)+yT(k)RY(k)l they were transformed into parameters of
". 1 - To = 0.02s by a biIinear transformation. A
comparison of the transformed parameters
In our case we selected for different speed areas is given in
Tab. 1.
~(k) =t(k )

y(k) = UM (k) (5 ) 1. Comparison of the Controller

Tab.
Parameters (To = 0.02s )
0, ~ 500

Qo 02 Q.
The desired closed - loop structure can be
defined in our CAD package in an interac- 18.43 - 16.16 o 1 o
tive manner, starting with a very general 11 14.77 - 13.19 o 1 o
and sophisticated structure, as can be III 21.85 -18.94 o 1 o
seen in the photo of the screen shown in
Fig. 8.
It can be seen in Tab. 1 that there is not
significant difference in the parameters.
This fact is also confirmed by a compari-
son of the step responses of the con-
trollers, given in Fig. 10.

Our conclusion based on this analysis is

that in spite of the different behaviour
of the motor at different speeds, each
controller would be acceptable for the
entire speed domain.

A second characteristic of the optimal pa-

rameters obtained is 02=Q.=0. In this way
Fig. 8. A photo of the screen with a instead of a generalised PlO controller a
general closed-loop structure simple PI controller was obtained.
 Black-box i\[odcllill~ ill COlltrol S,stCIll D c si~1l

[Et 31 First, the problem was treated completely

Contra 1 deterministically and no noise was consi-
output [cu)
dered (e.g. quantisation noise, measure-
0.80 ment noise). A consequence of this is that
the resulting controllers were of pure PI
type without a high frequency filter,
although the str~cture was properly
0.60 III
chosen.
Secon~, in the optimisation procedure the
Il control signal was not penalised, and
0.40
therefore very high gains were obtained.

With the CAD package the last two

0.20 statements were very quickly verified . The
or'imisation procedure was repeated for
the model 11, including Gaussian noise
000 L-_ _ _ _~_ _ __ -~_:_:_~-__:~_=_,______ with mean value zero and variance 0.3. At
0.00 0 . 60 1.20 I .80 2. 40 3.00 3.60 4.20 4.80 5. 40 the same time the contro l input signal was
penalised with R = 0 . 1 in Eq. 4.
Fig. 10. Comparison of step responses for The optimal parameters obtained in this
controllers for different speed case are:
areas.
7.600 - 14.66 7.08
1.979 - 0.979
5. TESTING OF THE RESULTS Test of the new controller on th e drive
has shown that the level of oscilations in
The parameters of all thre e controllers the c ontrol input signal is cca 5 times
obtained with the optimisation procedure
lower, but still too high.
were tested on the real drive. The close -
-loop behaviour was in all cases very
To solve this problem, instead of the
similar. On Fig. 11 measurements of th e
control input signal, the difference
actual speed, reference speed and control between the actual value of the of the
signal for the controller 11 are shown. control input UM and its moving average UM
was introdu c ed in tbe cost function. The
[Et speed [eu) variables and parameters defined in Eg. 5
were so modified to:
2.4
~( k ) > (k )
2.1
y(k ) UM (k ) UM ( k ) (6)
1.8

1.5 .Eo , EF', Ro , ~F' o· !! 50; 1'. = 500

Results of the closed loop simulution in

this case are shown in Fig. 12.

s peed [eu1

tIme (5)

Fig . 11. Measurements of the actual speed

(", ) , reference speed ( ," , ) and
control signal ( I at optimal 0.6
parameters of the controller 11.
0.3

It can be seen that the controller has

good chara c teristi c s at low frequencies,
but, at high frequencies the control -0 .3
performance is significantly lower. The
reason is in the very high gain of the
controller and, on th e ot h e r hand, in the
absence of a filtering component. Fig. 12. Simulated time responses of ac -
tual speed ( ), reference speed
Nothing is more natural at this plac e than (- , ) and c ontrol input. ( ) in
to ask why, u sing these mathematical the presence of noise and
models, better results were not achieved. penulisation of os c ilations in
Is this mayb e a consequence of the black- control input.
- box identification used or are there
other causes . The analysis of the models
has shown that they can be very logically
explained by the torque-speed
c hara cteristics. So the models can hardly (Note thatin this case instead of the Ga '
be the cause for bad resul ts. But , there ussian noise a binary noise with amplitude
are at least two other reasons I was introduced.)
332 S. Strmcnik 1'1 (JI.

phases of experiment design and validation

The new optimal parameters are now: and interpretation of modelling results.

1.656 -1. 573 Q2 " 0.006 Let us conclude with the following
1.810 -0.810 opinion. In connection with methods of
simulation and optimisation, black-box
Test of the new controller on the drive is modelling is a very fast and efficient
shown in Fig. 13 tool for control design even for some non -
linear systems, but only in the hands of
an expert who realises its constraints.
[Et 2J11 Our experiences has also confirmed the
. speed [cui
2.4 t fact that for successful
at least a qualitative
use of this too]
understanding of
2.Q the system under consideration is
required.
1S I
r REFERENCES
1.5t
1.2 1 Bedford, R. E. and V.D. Nene (]970).
I
Voltage Control of the Three-Phase
0.9 1 Induction Motor By Thyristor Switch -'
I
0.6 ! ing: A Time - Domain Analysis Using the
Transformations, IEEE, Vo1. IGA - 6,
0.3 No . 6, Nov . 6.
Fasol, K.H . and H.P. Jorgl (1979 ) . Model --
ling and Identification, Tutorials on
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 [Et t) System Identification at the 5 - th
time (5] IFAC - Symposium on Identification and
System Parameter Estimation,
Fig. 13. Measurements of the actual speed Darmstadt, F.R. Germany, 24-28 Sept.
C'·' ), reference speed C,· ,) and Isermann, R. ( 1974). Prozessidentifikati ·,
control input signal C ;;) on, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidel -
berg, New York;
Petrovtit, J., S. Strmcnik and T. strukelj
The results obtained are very good, but ( 1986). Speed Conlroller for Squirrel -
cannot be considered as final, because -cage Induction Motors, YU-GER Work-
some questions such as, e.g. the relation shop on Process Automation, Ljubljana,
between weighting factors in the cost fun - Yugoslavia, 21-25 Apr .
ction and the statistics of the noise, sega, M., S. Strmcnik, H, Karba and D.
have still not been propertly solved. Matko C 1985 ). Interactive package ANA
for system analysis and control
design, Preprints of the 3rd IFAC / IFIP
International Symposium Computer Aided
6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Design in Control and Engineering
Syst e ms, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp
Let us now summarise some experiences, ob- 145-150 .
tained in this case study, which are rela- Sheperd, W. ( 19flfi). On the Analysis of the
ted with the black -' box modelling approch Three-Phase Induction Motor with Vol-
used, From this stand point very easy some tage Control by Thyristor Switching,
basic facts can be recognized, as for IEEE, Vol. 16A - 4, No . 3 .
example: Strmcnik, S. and F. Hremsak (1979). Some
new Transformation Algorithms in the
- with the CAD package models were very IdentificatIon of Continuous-Time Mul -
quickly derived tivariable Systems Using Discrete
- the obtained models were simple Identification Methods, Preprints of
- fitting of experimental data was good the 5-th IFAC Symposium "Identi -
- the nonlinearity of the motor was rela - fication and System Paramether
tively easy analysed and explained Estimation" Darmstadt, F.R. Germany,
- although discrete models without conti- 24 -- 2fl Sept. pp. 397-405.
nuous equivalent were used, acceptable Strmcnik, S., S. Divjak , A. Cizman and J.
control results were obtained Ple s tenjak ( 1982 ) . A Modelling and
Simulation Approach to the Design of
So, in this case black-box identification Digital Control of Lift Speed, Proce -
has proved to be an efficient tool. Bul, edings of the 2-nd lASTED Int. Symp.
although a black-box method was used, the on Applied Modelling and Simulation,
entire procedure cannot be assigned as Paris
black-box . In fact we were forced to Thesen, A. ( 1974). Some Notes on Systems
learn, at least to some extent., the inner Models and Modelling, Int . J. Systems ,
behaviour of the drive, especially in Sci., Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 145 - 152