Chapter 8

Steady-state Error
 Objectives
Objectives
Students should be able to:
 Understand steady state error for unity feedback system.
 Understand static-error constant and system types.
 Introduction
 Steady-state error is defined as the difference between the
input and output of a system in the limit as time goes to
infinity (i.e. when the response has reached the steady state).
 The steady-state error will depend on the type of input (step,
ramp, etc) as well as the system type (0, I, or II).
 Steady-state error analysis is only useful for stable systems. It
is important to check for system stability before performing a
steady-state error analysis.
 Most techniques used will give answer even if the system is
unstable; obviously this answer is meaningless for an unstable
system.
 Steady-state Error For Unity Feedback System

Steady-State Error Definition

Steady-state error is the difference between the input and
the output for a prescribed test input as time approaches
infinity.

Evaluating Steady-State Error

Steady-state error analysis only applicable when the system
response is stable. Unstable system cannot be analyzed for
steady-state error.
 Steady-state Error For Unity Feedback System

Difference between the actual output and the applied input.

Steady-state Error For Unity Feedback System
Steady-state Error For Unity Feedback System
Example
Steady-state Error For Unity Feedback System
Example
 Static-error Constant And System Types
The parameters that can be used as steady-state error performance
specifications for unit negative feedback systems are called static error
constants.
The three of these: Kp (position error constant), Kv (velocity error constant), and
Ka (acceleration error constant).  Once you have the proper static error constant,
you can find ess. The expressions for ess for the case of unity feedback
systems, namely:
o Step input: u(t)
o Ramp input: t*u(t)
o Parabolic input:0.5*t2*u(t)
The three terms in the denominator that are taken to the limit determine ess.
These are the static error constants. Note that the values of ess decreases as
the static error constants increases.
The static error constants are found
from the following formulae:
Static-error Constant And System Types
Example
For each system shown, evaluate the static error constants and find the
expected error for the standard step, ramp, and parabolic inputs.
Answer for (a)

Answer for (b)

Answer for (c)

 System Type
• As seen in the previous example, the values of static error constants
depend on the form of G(s) i.e. they depend on the number of
integrations in existing in G(s).
• Hence, define system type to be the value of n in the denominator of
G(s).

• The relationship between input, system type, static error constants, and
steady state error is summarized in the next table.
System Type
 Steady State Error Specifications

• A lot of information is contained within the specification of a static error

constant.
• For example, if a control system has the specification Kv=1000, we
can draw several conclusions:
o The system is stable.
o The system is of Type 1, since only Type 1 systems have Kv’s that
are finite constants.
o A ramp input is used as the test signal.
o ess between input ramp and output ramp is 1/Kv.