ProcessControl

Automati
cControl
:
Automati
ccontr
ol i
sthemai nt
enanceofadesi redv al
ueofaquanti
tyor
condi
ti
onbymeasuringtheexisti
ngv al
ue,comparingittothedesir
edval
ue,and
employi
ngthedi
ffer
encetoini
tiat
eact i
onforreducingthisdif
fer
ence.

Bl
ockDi
agr
am ofAut
omat
icCont
rolSy
stem :

Fi
g:Basi
cst
ruct
ureofaf
eedbackcont
rol
syst
em.

Thecontrolledv ari
ableoftheprocessi sthatvari
ablewhi
chmostdi rectl
y
i
ndicatesthedesiredf orm orstateofthepr oduct.
Themani pulatedv ari
ableoftheprocessi sthatvari
abl
ewhichisselectedfor
adjust
mentbyt heaut omaticcontrol
lersoast omai ntai
nthecontr
oll
edvariableat
thedesir
edv al
ue.
Theloadv ariablesoftheprocessar eallotheri
ndependentvar
iabl
esexcept
thecontrol
ledvariableandt hemani pulat
edv ari
able.

Thesummi ngj unctioni sasy mbolfortheerrordetectorwhi chcomparesthe

̂
r
eferenceinput'r
'witht hefeedbacksi gnal'
b'andgener atesasi gnale=( r-
b).
Thefeedbackel ement sblocki soft
enasensorf ormeasur ingthecontr
oll
ed
v
ariable'y
'.
̂
Thesignaledef inest heactuati
ngerrorsignal.
Thecontrol
lerisasy stem t
hatcompar esther eferenceinputwiththe
f
eedbacksi gnalandisal sor esponsibl
eforasui t
ablecont rolacti
on.

Theactuatorel
ement sblock(f i
nalcontr
ol el
ement)consi
stsofdevi
cesthat
devel
openought orque, pressure,heat,et
c.(mani pul
atedvar
iabl
em) ,
toinf
luence
theobjectsundercontrol.
Thustheactuatorel ementsar ethe'muscle'ofacontr
olsyst
em whil
ethe
contr
ol l
ogicel
ement sar ethe'brain'
.
Exampl
esofAutomati
ccont
rol
syst
ems:
(i
)Homeheat
ingcont
rol

Fi
g:Homeheat
ingcont
rol

Fi
g:Act
ioni
nacl
osedl
oop

Fi
g:Asi
mpl
ether
most
atcont
rol
l
er.

I
nthehomeheatingcont
rol
,athermost
ati
ccontr
oll
erisi
nstal
led.
Thedesi
redv
alueofthetemperat
urei
ssetontheadjust
ingknob.The
exist
ingtemper at
urei
smeasur edbyt hemetall
icstri
p,whichwi ndsandunwinds
sli
ghtlywit
hchangesint emper at
ure.
Whent hetemperatureincreasesabovethesetpoi nt,t
hebi metal
l
icstr
ip
mov esitscontacttot
hel ef
tandbr eakstheelectr
iccircui
t.Thisacti
onde-energi
zes
thesolenoidvalvewhi
cht urnsoffthegastot hefurnace.

(
ii
)Aut
omat
ict
anl
klev
elcont
rol
syst
em

Fi
g:Aut
omat
edt
ank-
lev
elcont
rol
syst
em.