DIGITAL CONTROL

Automation and Robotics Area

Professor: Mario Alejandro Giraldo Vásquez, M. Sc.

SEMESTER 01-2024

SESSION 16
- Smith Predictor
Bonus
Design a compensator so that the system:
• Has a phase margin of 50°, a gain margin of at least 8 dB, and a
velocity error constant equal to 10.
• Assume the sampling period is 0.2 sec.
• Once the compensator is designed, plot the Bode diagram of the
compensated system and obtain its response to a unit step input
applied at the set-point. The transfer function of the process is

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Smith predictor

Method by which a structure is added to the control system that

allows predicting the effect of the delay in the control loop so that
the controller can compensate for the effect on the plant.

Considerations:
• It is not possible to eliminate the delay since it is
intrinsic to the process.
• The delay must be known.
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Smith predictor
Assuming that all delays in the system are located at the input
and/or output of the process, the transfer function is:

𝐺 ( 𝑠)

𝐺𝑟 ( 𝑠 ) −𝜃𝑠
𝑌 𝑝 ( 𝑠)
𝑈 (𝑠 )
𝑒 𝑌 (𝑠 )

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 Smith predictor
Ideally, would be measured and fed back into the process, and the
controller design could be carried out without considering
𝐺 ( 𝑠)

𝑅 ( 𝑠) 𝑈 (𝑠 )
𝐶 (𝑠 ) 𝐺𝑟 ( 𝑠 ) 𝑒
−𝜃𝑠 𝑌 (𝑠 )

It is not posible to obtain the measurement from the

physical process

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 Smith predictor
What is proposed is to predict the system's output if the control
action were applied to the plant without delay.
𝐺 ( 𝑠)

𝑅 ( 𝑠) 𝑈 (𝑠 )
𝐶 (𝑠 ) 𝐺𝑟 ( 𝑠 ) 𝑒
−𝜃𝑠 𝑌 (𝑠 )

𝐺𝑝 (𝑠 ) is the prediction model

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Smith predictor
The goal is then
• To incorporate the measurement of the controlled variable and
obtain a feedback system to compare it with the delayed
prediction of the controlled variable:

• Any discrepancies or disturbances between the model and the

actual process are fed back into the control system as a corrective
factor

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 Smith predictor
Let's evaluate the following structure in the discrete version:𝐺 ( 𝑧 )
𝐶′(𝑧)
𝑅(𝑧) 𝑈 (𝑧 )
𝐶 ( 𝑧) 𝐺𝑟 ( 𝑧 ) 𝑧
−𝑑 𝑌 (𝑧 )

𝐺(𝑧)
𝐺𝑟 ( 𝑧 )
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 Smith predictor structure

𝑅 ( 𝑠) 𝑌 (𝑠 )
𝐺 ( 𝑠)
𝐸 ( 𝑠)
𝐶 (𝑠 )
𝑈 (𝑠 )

𝐺𝑝 (𝑠 ) −𝜃𝑠
^ ( 𝑠)
𝑌
𝑒
𝑝

^ (𝑠 )
𝑌

𝐹 ( 𝑠) 𝐸𝑝 (𝑠 )

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 Smith predictor
Through block algebra, one can arrive at the following
representation:
𝐷 ( 𝑠)

𝑅 ( 𝑠) 𝑈 (𝑠 )
𝐶 𝑒𝑞 ( 𝑠 ) 𝐺 ( 𝑠) 𝑌 (𝑠 )

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Smith predictor
If it is assumed that the prediction model is equal to the plant, the
total TF of the compensated control system can be obtained as

The characteristic equation is then free of the delay effect.

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Smith predictor limitations
1. It only works for stable processes.
2. It cannot accelerate the dynamics of disturbance rejection.
3. The Smith Predictor structure cannot be used in integrating
processes or in unstable processes because the structure is
internally unstable, meaning that if a disturbance is introduced,
the structure will destabilize for these two types of processes.
4. Small model errors, for example when is different from , can
quickly lead the structure into instability.

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Filtered smith predictor
If a disturbance occurs, for example at the input of the process:

A modification known as the Filtered Smith Predictor (FSP) is

proposed, which is primarily characterized by correcting the main
limitations of the Original Smith Predictor:
• Accelerating the dynamics of disturbance rejection
• Controlling integrating and unstable processes
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 Filtered smith predictor
𝐷 ( 𝑠)

𝑅 ( 𝑠) 𝑌 (𝑠 )
𝐺 ( 𝑠)
𝐸 ( 𝑠)
𝐶 (𝑠 )
𝑈 (𝑠 )

𝐺𝑝 (𝑠 ) −𝜃𝑠
^ ( 𝑠)
𝑌
𝑒
𝑝

^ (𝑠 )
𝑌

𝐹 𝑟 (𝑠 )
𝐹 ( 𝑠) 𝐸𝑝 (𝑠 )
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Bonus

• To check the transfer function in response to an output

disturbance
• To check the total system transfer function
• To validate the block algebra from slides 21 and 22, and from the
first demonstration in class.
• Clue: only appears in the transfer functions for disturbances.

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Filtered smith predictor:
As a general rule, for a first-order system, one should design a filter
that cancels its slow dynamics (pole) and cancels the closed-loop
dynamics due to that pole, with the following form:

Where for a first-order plant of the form It can be arbitrarily

chosen to cancel the closed-loop dynamics of the control system.
is freely chosen, must be faster than the closed-loop dynamics.

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Filtered smith predictor:
For the discrete case, there is greater control over the desired
behavior of the system because the digital filter can be designed
based on the desired performance specifications.

Moreover, it can be more broadly generalized:

and are selected according to the desired closed-loop performance

specifications

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