CONTROL

SYSTEM [LAB]
Open-Loop and Closed-Loop
Speed Control of a DC
Motor.

Prepared by:
RABBY, MD. FAJLEY
Student ID : 15-29555-2
Title: Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Speed Control of a DC Motor.

Abstract:

In this experiment, the differences between open loop control system and closed loop control
system are introduced. Basic construction and working principles of closed loop control system
and operation of Error Detector are also described throughout the experiment. Finally, the
comparison between the characteristics of a dc motor using closed-loop versus open-loop speed
control is analyzed.

Introduction:

The main objective of this experiment was to compare the Characteristics of a closed loop dc
motor with an open loop dc motor. In doing so, followings were performed:

i. To design the circuit with relevant parameters and sources.

ii. To setup the circuits with appropriate connections, and sources and instruments.
iii. To compare the measured value with the theoretical estimated value.
iv. To understand the principle of various parts of experimental setup such as error detector,
amplifier etc.

The goal of this experiment is to learn the close loop components of the whole system. The
different features of the speed control were observed. The effect of load on both open loop speed
control and closed loop speed control were inspected.

Theory and Methodology:

Error Detector: A device that is able to add and subtract signals and give a resulting output
signal is called an error detector. The error detector in servomechanism trainer has four terminals
and one (unseen) ground terminal. The ground is common to all four terminals. Consequently, all
signals are measured between the respective terminals and ground.

Fig 1: Error detector.

 Fig 2: Error detector with input signals.

The schematic diagram of the detector is shown in Fig. 1&2. The input signals are e1, e2, e3
(with respect to ground) and the resulting output voltage is V1. The positive and negative
symbols on the error detector tell whether the signals are added or subtracted by the detector.
Thus, referring to Fig. 1, the output is given by V1= +e1–e2–e3. By referring to Fig. 2, a better
idea of how signals add and subtract can be obtained. The signals produced from three DC
sources. According to their polarities, it was seen that, e1=+10V, e2=+3V and e3=+6V.
Therefore, the output voltage is V1 = +e1 – e2 – e3 = + (+10V) – (+3V) – (+6V) = +1V.

Fig 3: Open loop control of a dc motor using error detector.

The (+) sign in +1V means that terminal V1 is positive with respect to ground. The error detector
can simultaneously accept both ac and dc input signals. Fig. 3 shows the open-loop circuit to
control a dc motor. The error detector uses only one input signal VC, therefore Control voltage,
VC = V1.

The open-loop gain G=V2/V1was previously determined for various conditions of no-load, full-
load and other disturbances. The gain varied from about 2.5 to 1.5 depending upon the nature of
the disturbance. The speed changed drastically even when the input control voltage V1 (=VC)
was held constant.
Closed-loop control of DC motor: Fig. 4 is identical to Fig. 5 except that the output signal V2 is
fed back to the error detector. The connections are made so that error detector output, V 1= VC –
V2.

This produces a negative feedback. In order to obtain the same speed in Fig. 4 as in Fig. 3, we
must increase the value of VC. For example, in Fig. 5, V1= 2V and V2= 6V. Obviously, VC is
equal to V1and so VC= 2Vin Fig. 3.

Fig 4: Closed loop control of dc motor using Error detector.

To turn motor at the same speed in Fig. 4 as in Fig. 5, V2 is still 6V. Since the amplifier gain has
not been changed, V1= 2V. Therefore, the control signals VC has to be raised to 8V in Fig. 4, as
compared to 2V in Fig. 3. The closed-loop gain V2/V1is much more constant than the open-loop
disturbance is introduced.
The closed-loop gain is designated by the symbol H and H = V2/VC, where VC= Control signal
and V2= output voltage.
The closed-loop gain H tends to become even more constant (in the face of a disturbance) after
increasing the open-loop gain G. In the following experiment the effect of increased open-loop
gain on closed-loop performance will be noted. A higher open-loop gain will keep the motor
speed much more constant (in closed-loop) for a given disturbance.
Pre-Lab Homework:

1) Construction and Working principle of DC motor.

Construction: the two major parts required to construction-

i. Stator: That houses the field winding.

ii. Rotor: Rotating parts that rotate in magnetic field.
iii. Other parts-
a) Yokes
b) Poles
c) Field winding
d) Armature winding
e) Commutator

Working principle of dc motor: When the coil is powered, a magnetic field is generated around
the armature. The left side of the armature is pushed away from the left magnet and drawn
towards the right, causing rotation.
o
When the coil turns through 90 , the brushes lose contact with the commutator and the current
stops flowing through the coil. However the coil keeps turning because of its own momentum.
o
Now when the coil turns through 180 , the sides get interchanged. As a result the commutator
ring C1 is now in contact with brush B2 and commutator ring C2 is in contact with brush B1.
Therefore, the current continues to flow in the same direction.

2) Speed control methods of dc motor.

Speed control of shunt motor:

i. Flux control method: It is seen that speed of the motor is inversely proportional to flux.
Thus by decreasing flux speed can be increased and vice versa. To control the flux, a
rheostat is added in series with the field winding. Adding more resistance in series with
field winding will increase the speed, as it will decrease the flux.

ii. Armature control method: Speed of the motor is directly proportional to the back emf Eb
and Eb = V- IaRa. That is when supply voltage V and armature resistance Ra are kept
constant, speed is directly proportional to armature current Ia. Thus if we add resistance
in series with armature, Ia decreases and hence speed decreases

iii. Voltage control method: Very smooth speed control of motor can be obtained by
this method.
Speed control of series motor:

i. Flux control method:

a. Field diverter
b. Armature diverter
c. Tapped field control
ii. Variable resistance in series with armature: By introducing resistance in series with
armature, voltage across the armature can be reduced. And hence, speed reduces in
proportion with it.
iii. Series-Parallel control: This system is widely used in electric traction, where two or more
mechanically coupled series motors are employed. For low speeds, motors are joined in
series, and for higher speeds motors are joined in parallel. When in series, the motors
have the same current passing through them, although voltage across each motor is
divided. When in parallel, voltage across each motor is same although current gets
divided.

Apparatus:

i. Enclosure/Power Supply
ii. Connections Leads and Accessories
iii.Potentiometer
iv. Power Amplifier/Phase Shifter
v. DC Motor/Generator
vi. Error Detector

Precautions:

Following precautions were taken during performing this experiment

i. All the connection was made carefully.

ii. During connecting the wires the power switch was turned off.
iii. The controlling of the motors was made carefully.
iv. The rotation during the speed regulation calculations was observed carefully.
v. DC motor speed control unit was handled carefully.

Experimental Procedure:

A. Open-Loop System:

a. The friction lever was placed in the zero position. Whether the inertia wheel is not
mounted on the shaft was made sure. The amplifier gain was adjusted to 5.
 b. The potentiometer was adjusted so that VC= +1V. The value of V1 was measured.
V1= 1.26 V.

c. The value of V2 was measured. V2= 2.61V.

d. The no-load speed of the output shaft by counting the number of turns in one
minute was measured. No-load speed = 66 r/min.

e. Without changing the setting of VC, the friction lever was moved down to the 10
position. To secure the friction lever in its position the knob was rotated. The new
value of V2 was recorded. If V2 fluctuates, indicate the upper and lower values. V2=
1.56 V.

f. The full-load speed by counting turns (Friction lever in position 10) was counted.
Full-load speed = 48 r/min.

g. the speed regulation was calculated in percent using the following equation:
Speed Regulation = (no load speed –full load speed) × 100% / full load
speed. Speed regulation = 37.5 %

B. Closed Loop System:

a. A wire (feedback loop) was connected from the generator output V2 to the error
detector as shown in fig 4. This provides the required negative feedback. The
friction lever was placed to zero position.

b. Vc was adjusted so the speed was in the same value as in step A (d).

c. Vc, V1 & V2 were measured. Vc= 1.036V, V1= 1.05V, V2= 2.63V.

d. The speed was measured by counting turns. No-load speed= 60 rev/min.

e. Without making any other change, the friction lever was moved down to the 10
position. The knob was rotated to source the friction lever in its position. Then
Vc, V1 & V2 were measured. VC= 3.23 V, V1= 1.25V, V2= 2.4 V.

f. The speed was measured by counting turns. Full-load speed= 66 rev/min.

g. The speed regulation in percent was calculated by using the following equation:
Speed Regulation = (no load speed –full load speed) × 100% / full load speed.
Speed regulation = 9.09 %

C. The speed regulation is now much better in close loop condition. V2 does not fluctuate as
like as open loop V2. The speed is therefore more uniform in closed loop operation.
Question and Answer:
Comparison between open-loop and closed-loop control system with respect to experimental
data:
Speed regulation is the percentage of the of the speed change. Here for open loop system speed
regulation is 37.5 % which is very high from the closed loop system that is 9.09 %. So here the
fluctuation is very high for open loop system which is bad for the system. So that the closed loop
system is very reliable system.

Discussion:
In this experiment we learnt about the characteristics of the closed loop system and learnt how to
improve an unstable system to a stable system. As closed loop system has lower speed regulation
percentage, its speed fluctuation is less than open loop system. We did the experiment very
carefully and we connected all the circuit correctly. So that we saw the results what we was
expected. Here we used negative feedback because negative feedback system is more stable than
positive feedback system. So that’s why the closed loop system is more stable than open loop
system.

References:

1. http://www.electricaleasy.com/2014/01/basic-working-of-dc-motor.html [accessed
at 14-10-17]
2. Norman S. Nise, “Control Systems Engineering”, available Edition,John Wiley & Sons
Inc.