Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU)

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Course: Introduction to Control Systems

Chapter One: Fundamentals of Control Systems

Inst. Tilahun, W.
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 Introduction to Control System
 A control system consists of subsystems and processes (or plants) assembled for
the purpose of obtaining a desired output with desired performance, given a
specified input.

Example

 Consider an elevator, when the 4th-floor button is pressed on the 1st floor, the
elevator rises to the 4th floor with a speed and floor-leveling accuracy designed
for passenger comfort.

 The push of the fourth-floor button is an input that represents our desired output,
shown as a step function in next figure. The performance of the elevator can be
seen from the elevator response curve in the figure.

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 Two major measures of performance are apparent the:

1. Transient response &

2. Steady-state error

 In this example, passenger comfort and passenger patience are dependent upon
the transient response.

 If this response is too fast, passenger comfort is sacrificed; if too slow, passenger
patience is sacrificed.

 The steady-state error is another important performance specification since

passenger safety and convenience would be sacrificed if the elevator did not
properly level.

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 Advantages of Control Systems

 The control systems is build for four primary reasons:

o Power amplification

o Remote control

o Convenience of input form

o Compensation for disturbances

 There are countless examples of control systems, from the everyday to the
extraordinary.

 As you begin your study of control systems engineering, you will become more
aware of the wide variety of applications.

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Elevator operator or Robe (a) Elevator derive by a motor (b)
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 A radar antenna, positioned by the low-power rotation of a knob at the input,
requires a large amount of power for its output rotation. A control system can
produce the needed power amplification, or power gain.

We alone could not provide the power required for the load and the speed; motors provide the
power, and control systems regulate the position and speed.
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 The purpose of this system is to have the azimuth angle output of the antenna , 𝜃0
 follow the input angle of the potentiometer, 𝜃𝑖 .
 The input command is an angular displacement. The potentiometer converts the angular
displacement into a voltage. INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 7
 Robots designed by control system principles can compensate for human
disabilities.

 Control systems can also be used to provide convenience by changing the form
of the input.

 For example, in a temperature control system, the input is a position on a

thermostat and the output is heat.

 Thus, a convenient position input yields a desired thermal output.

 A control system is ability to compensate disturbances such variables as:

o Temperature in thermal systems,

o Position and velocity in mechanical systems, and

o Voltage, current, or frequency in electrical systems

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 The system must be able to yield the correct output even with a disturbance.
Consider an antenna system that points in a commanded direction. If wind forces
the antenna from its commanded position, or if noise enters internally, the system
must be able to detect the disturbance and correct the antenna’s position.
Obviously, the system’s input will not change to make the correction.

 Consequently, the system itself must measure the amount that the disturbance has
repositioned the antenna and then return the antenna to the position commanded
by the input.

Control System Configurations

 There are two major configurations of control systems:

o Open loop Control system and

o Closed loop control system

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Open loop Control system

Closed loop Control system

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Example

 If the controller is an electronic amplifier and Disturbance1 is noise, then any

additive amplifier noise at first summing junction will also drive the process,
corrupting the output with the effect of the noise.

 The output of an open-loop system is corrupted not only by signals that add to the

controller’s commands ,but also by disturbances at the output (Disturbance 2).

• Example
Toasters are open-loop systems, as anyone with burnt toast can attest. The controlled
variable (output) of a toaster is the color of the toast.

The device is designed with the assumption that the toast will be darker the longer it
is subjected to heat.

The toaster does not measure the colour of the toast; it does not correct for the fact
that the toast is rye, white, or sourdough, nor does it correct for the fact that toast
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comes in different thicknesses.
Examples:
 Open-loop systems are mechanical systems consisting of a mass, spring, and
damper with a constant force positioning the mass.
 The greater the force, the greater the displacement. Again, the system position
will change with a disturbance, such as an additional force, and the system will
not detect or correct for the disturbance
Example
Washing Machine
Summary on Open Loop control system
 An open-loop system is unable to compensate any disturbances that add to the
controller’s driving signal.
 The system cannot correct for these disturbances, either.
 Open-loop systems, then, do not correct for disturbances and are simply
commanded by the input.
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 Closed-Loop (Feedback Control) Systems
 The disadvantages of open-loop systems are :
o Sensitivity to disturbances and
o Inability to correct for these disturbances,

 These can be overcome by using closed-loop systems.

 An output transducer or sensor is used to measures the output response and

converts it into the form used by the controller.

For example,

 If the controller uses electrical signals to operate the valves of a temperature

control system, the input position and the output temperature are converted to
electrical signals.

 The input position can be converted to a voltage by a potentiometer, a variable

resistor, & output temperature can be converted to voltage by thermistor, a device
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whose electrical resistance changes with temperature.
 The first summing junction algebraically adds the signal from the input to the
signal from the output, which arrives via the feedback path, the return path from
the output to the summing junction.

 The output signal is subtracted from the input signal and the result is called the
actuating signal.

 However, in systems where both the input and output transducers have unity gain
(means, the transducer amplifies its input by 1), the actuating signal’s value is
equal to the actual difference between the input and the output.

 Under this condition, the actuating signal is called the error.

 The closed-loop system compensates for disturbances by measuring the output

response, feeding that measurement back through a feedback path, and comparing
that response to the input at the summing junction.

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 If there is any difference between the two responses, the system drives the plant,
via the actuating signal to make a correction.

 If there is no difference, the system does not drive the plant, since the plant’s
response is already the desired response.

Closed-loop systems have an advantage

 Better accuracy than open-loop systems

 They are less sensitive to noise, disturbances changes in the environment

 Transient response and steady-state error can be controlled more conveniently &
greater flexibility

 A simple adjustment of gain (amplification) in the loop

Disadvantage closed-loop systems are:

o More complex and

o Expensive than open-loop systems

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 Homework
 A standard open-loop toaster serves as an example: it is simple and inexpensive.

 A closed-loop toaster oven is more complex and more expensive since it has to
measure both colour (through light reflectivity) and humidity inside the toaster
oven.

Conclusion on Open and Closed loop System

 Therefore, the control systems engineer must consider the trade-off between the
simplicity and low cost of an open-loop system and the accuracy and higher cost
of a closed-loop system.

Homework

How many types of feedback is available in control systems? And which one is
frequently used? Why?

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 Important Terminology in control system

 Analysis: It is the process by which a system’s performance is determined. For

example, we evaluate its transient response and steady-state error to determine if
they meet the desired specifications.

 Design: It is the process by which a system’s performance is created or changed.

For example, if a system’s transient response and steady-state error are analyzed
and found not to meet the specifications, then we change parameters or add
additional components to meet the specifications.

 A control system dynamic: It responds to an input by undergoing a transient

response before reaching a steady-state response that generally resembles the
input.

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 The three major objectives of systems analysis and design is:

o Producing the desired transient response,

o Reducing steady-state error and

o Achieving stability.

 We also address some other design concerns, such as cost and the sensitivity of
system performance to changes in parameters.

You have to clear understanding about the following three key concepts:

• Steady state Response

• Transient Response and

• Stability

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 Stability

 In order to explain stability, we start from the fact that the total response of a
system is the sum of the :

Natural response and

Forced response

• When you studied linear differential equations, you probably referred to these
responses as the homogeneous and the particular solutions, respectively.

• Natural response describes the way the system dissipates or acquires energy.
The form or nature of this response is dependent only on the system, not the
input.

• On the other hand, the form or nature of the forced response is dependent on
the input. Thus, for a linear system, we can write

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• For a control system to be useful, the natural response must eventually approach
zero, thus leaving only the forced response, or oscillate.
• In some systems, however, the natural response grows without bound rather than
diminish to zero or oscillate.
• Eventually, the natural response is so much greater than the forced response that
the system is no longer controlled and this condition, called instability, could lead to
self-destruction of the physical device if limit stops are not part of the design.
Example,
• The elevator would crash through the floor or exit through the ceiling;
• An aircraft would go into an uncontrollable roll;
• An antenna commanded to point to a target would rotate, line up with the target,
but then begin to oscillate about the target with growing oscillations and increasing
velocity until the motor or amplifiers reached their output limits or until the antenna
was damaged structurally.
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 A time plot of an-unstable system would show a transient response that grows
with out bound and without any evidence of a steady-state response.

 Control systems must be designed to be stable.

 That is, their natural response must decay to zero as time approaches infinity, or
oscillate.

 In many systems, the transient response you see on a time response plot can be
directly related to the natural response.

 Thus, if the natural response decays to zero as time approaches infinity, the
transient response will also die out, leaving only the forced response.

 If the system is stable, the proper transient response and steady-state error
characteristics can be designed.

 Stability is our third analysis and design objective

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 END

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