Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB

LECTURE 3.1

Ref: Advanced Control Engineering Roland S. Burns

The use of Select MATLAB commands in Teaching

Applied Automatic Control Systems
The teaching of applied automatic controls for students in an
engineering program is always a challenge in terms of imparting the
necessary mathematical knowledge required for control analysis and
design. A few and important MATLAB commands are taught to enhance
the understanding of the subject. The 45 hour time-frame allocated to the
control systems course in a semester may not be sufficient for the
lecturer to make the students understand and digest the subject materials
in order to make them proficient in this subject. Such time-frame
difficulty cannot be avoided even if the course teaching time is extended
since this course is analytic, intensive and numerical in terms of the
control systems analysis and design. With no sufficient computational
and software skills, all students will get bogged down with many
intermediate calculations needed while generating time and frequency
domain plots of the system responses. The MATLAB software and its
control commands toolbox rescue the instructor and students in this
course with many advantages for both, especially for the student. Of
course, some special virtual laboratory time needs to be spent by
students to do self-training on the use of these select MATLAB control
systems commands.
The student can then concentrate efforts in the analysis and design of a
control system, leaving computational crunching to the virtual computer
program (MATLAB). This increases the student’s confidence and
understanding of the control systems subject. In addition, the benefits
are quite a lot to the student after graduation from this course in the
sense that the knowledge of the use of the MATLAB (software) as an
assistant will help in the control systems analysis and design, without
extra efforts or training, in their professional career.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Select MATLAB Commands

The five categories of select MATLAB commands are:
a) Time Response Commands;
b) Frequency Domain Plots-Creation Commands;
c) Blocks Reduction Commands;
d) Other Control Related Commands.
Time-Response Commands
There are three general ways to create the time-history response of any
system:
a) Use of MATLAB ‘dsolve’ command to solve the differential
equation of system;
b) Use of MATLAB ‘plot’ command on the analytical time
response function of system.
c) Use of MATLAB built-in ‘step’ or ‘impulse’ command
knowing the system transfer function;
It is possible to solve the differential equation of any system, either
directly or indirectly. The use of MATLAB ‘dsolve’ command can be
used on any system differential equation to obtain the system variable
time function in a symbolic (analytic) form. Such analytic function(s)
can be plotted by the use of MATLAB ‘plot’ command.
DSOLVE example 1

Use of DSOLVE to get general solution to DE

with unknown constants of integration (Initial conditions not used)

dsolve('D2y+10*Dy+100*y=0')

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

DSOLVE example 2

Use of DSOLVE to get general solution to DE with integration constants computed from Initial
Conditions (IC). IC: at time t=0, y(0)=1 and Dy(0)=0

dsolve('D2y+10*Dy+100*y=0', 'y(0)=1', 'Dy(0)=0')

DSOLVE example 3 Use of DSOLVE to get Total solution to DE with integration constants
computed from Initial conditions.
IC: at time t=0, y(0)=1 and Dy(0)=0 and particular solution for given forcing function
f(t)=3sin(2t)

dsolve('D2y+10*Dy+100*y=3*sin(2*t)', 'y(0)=1', 'Dy(0)=0'

Plot the resulting analytic time function by the use of MATLAB ‘plot’
command.
Spring-mass-damper forced response. Forced Response to zero Initial Condition.
Analytic time function for the response known, derived, or given spring constant k=2,
spring mass m=1kg, natural frequency 𝜔n=Ök/m, dumping coefficient z=0.5, b=2*z*𝜔n
step response with f = 10N.

t=[0:0.01:5];
k=2; m=1; z=0.5;
b=2*z*𝜔n ; f = 10;
𝜔d= 𝜔n *Ö(1-z^2); damped natural frequency

System response analytic function, y(t)

y=(f/k)*(1-(𝜔n/𝜔d)*( exp(-z*𝜔n*t)*sin(𝜔d*t+acos(zeta)) ))

Plot forced Response with grids

grid;xlabel('Time (sec)');ylabel('y(t) (meters)');plot(t,y,'r')

If the system transfer function is known or derived from the differential

equation, then the time response of the system due to step or impulse
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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

input can be obtained directly by the use of MATLAB ‘step’ or

‘impulse’ command.
STEP example

num=[5400]; den=[2 2.5 5402];

sys=tf(num,den)
t=[0:0.005:3];
grid; xlabel('Time (sec)'); ylabel('Wheel velocity'); title('STEP example');
step(sys,t)
for impulse response you can use ‘impulse’ command instead of ‘step’

Blocks Reduction Commands

These commands are:
1) Series Command:
2) Feedback Command
3) Parallel Command
The ‘series’ command allows two or four blocks in series to be
combined into a single block. The ‘feedback’ command reduces a closed
loop of an open block with a feedback block into a single open loop
block. The ‘parallel’ command allows two or four blocks in parallel to
be combined into a single block.
Application of the feedback function with unity feedback. Elimination of one loop

numg=[1]; deng=[500 0 0];

sys1=tf(numg,deng)

numc=[1 1]; denc=[1 2];

sys2=tf(numc,denc)

sys3=series(sys1,sys2)

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Frequency Domain Plot-Creation commands

There are three general ways to obtain the frequency response of any
system:
a) Use of MATLAB built-in ‘bode’ command knowing the system
transfer function;
b) Use of MATLAB ‘laplace’ command to solve for the frequency
response function;
c) Use of MATLAB ‘plot’ command for the analytical frequency
response function.
Since frequency domain plots in any control systems analysis are very
important, such plots can be done either using built-in MATLAB ‘bode’
command or using commands that perform calculations on and plotting
of transfer functions. The steps for direct calculations of the transfer
functional values for various frequencies, and hence, creating the bode
plot, are outlined in Appendix A. The use of ‘Laplace Transform’ on the
differential equation of motion is discussed thoroughly in many
mathematics texts, and hence is not discussed in these notes. The
MATLAB ‘laplace’ command can transform a given time function into
its corresponding transform function.
To define ‘s’ as a symbolic variable, we define in MATLAB as a character symbol, as in:

syms s

G(s)=80.8/(s^2 + 2s + 101) (given Transfer Function, for example)

Now define TF in MATLAB and assign it in the ‘system’ variable, G

(or in the feedback variable, H, if it is for feedback), as in this example

num = [80.8];

den = [1 2 101];

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

G=tf(num,den)

Now to create ‘bode’ plot in MATLAB with ‘omega’ limits, by using the ‘bode’
command:

bode(G,{ωL , ωU }) where ωL is the lower frequency limit, and ωU is the upper frequency
limit.

bode(G,{0.1,100000}) typed with specific omega values

Other Control -Related Commands

The use of ‘pzmap’, ‘zero’, and ‘pole’ commands with an appropriate
transfer function example. The ‘ode45’ command is also useful to obtain
the numerical time response solution without resorting to the analytical
system response functions. The use and discussion of ‘ode45’ command
is outside the scope of these lectures.

MATLAB 'pzmap' command example for G(s)

numg=[6 0 1]; deng=[1 3 3 1];

G=numg/deng

sysg=tf(numg,deng)

z=zero(sysg)

generate zeros of TF

p=pole(sysg) generate poles of TF

pzmap(sys) generate pole-zero map of TF

Conclusions
The MATLAB help facility can provide additional information on the
use of these individual commands. These notes have concentrated on the
application of these select commands for control systems analysis and
design. The elimination of the distraction of intermediate calculations in

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

the control systems analysis/design helps all students concentrate and

understand the important subject matter during the course. An additional
advantage of learning the MATLAB control commands is with regard to
the students increased ability to design any control system in his
professional career after graduation, without getting bogged down with
many numerical calculations.
References

1) Bateson, R. N., “Introduction to Control System Technology”, Second Edition,

Prentice Hall, 2002

2) Dorf, R. C., “Modern Control Systems”, Ninth edition, Prentice Hall, 2001

3) Kuo, B. C. and Golnaraghi, F., “Automatic Control Systems”, Eighth Edition, Wiley,
2003

4) Chapman, S. J., “MATLAB Programming for Engineers”, Second Edition,

Brooks/Cole, 2002

5) Magrab, E. B., Azarm, S., Balakrishnan, B., Duncan, J., Herold, K., and Walsh, G.,
“An Engineer’s Guide to MATLAB”, Prentice Hall, 2000

6) Etter, D. M., Kuncicky, D. C., and Hull, D., “Introduction to Matlab 6”, Prentice Hall
Engineering Source, 2002

7) Kuncicky, D. C., “MATLAB Programming”, Prentice Hall Engineering Source, 2004

Appendix A: How to Create Bode Plots

Given Transfer Function (TF) in the rational polynomial form, denoted
by G(s). For example, the function G(s) is given by:
G(s) = 80.8s2 +2s+101
Steps to create Bode plot are: (Do not forget to insert the semi-colon at
the end of the MATLAB command when you compute thousands of
values as a vector)

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Set the complex variable, s = iω in G(s);

now G(s) = 80.8(iω)2 +2(iω)+101
Open MATLAB
Define ω values in the range {0.1,100000};
In MATLAB, type omega = [0.1:1:100000];
Compute G(iω) for these values; In MATLAB, type
G = 80.8 ./ ( (i*omega) .^2 + 2* (i*omega) + 101 );
Compute Magnitude values of these G (complex) values;
In MATLAB, type
mag = abs(G);
The MATLAB ‘abs’ command is used to compute magnitude values
instead of sqrt(real(G).^2+imag(G).^2)
Compute DB equivalents of Magnitude values; In MATLAB, type
MDB = 20*log10(mag);
Create a Semi-Log plot of MDB vs. omega, with omega along log x-
axis;
Semilogx(omega, MDB)
The plot of the magnitude of G(s) in DB format is obtained.
Since omega values are defined for same frequency values, these same
frequency values are used for Phase values computation. To compute
phase values, type in MA TLAB:
phase = angle(G)*180/pi;

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

The MATLAB ‘angle’ command is used to compute

atan(imag(G)/real(G)).
Create a Semi-Log plot of Phase vs. omega;
semilogx(omega, phase) The plot of the phase of G(s) is obtained.
Note: Both plots can be shown in one figure.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Transient Response from State Space Representation

Contents
Ø Solution via State Space
Ø The State Transition Matrix
Ø Zero Input
• Alternate Derivation of the State Transition Matrix
• Properties of the State Transition Matrix
Ø Zero State
Ø Complete Response

Solution via State Space

Before starting this section make sure you understand how to create a
state space representation of a system.

Zero input and zero state solutions of a system can be found if a state
space representation of the system is known. Before solving an example,
first develop a generalized technique for finding the zero input and zero
state solutions of a problem. This is followed by several examples.
Recall that a state space system is defined by the equations

where q is the state vector, A is the state matrix, B is the input matrix, u is
the input, C is the output matrix, D is the direct transition (or feedthrough)
matrix, and y is the output. In general, single input and single output (SISO)
system is assumed so u(t), y(t) and D are defined as scalars. The
techniques are general in obvious ways to systems with multiple inputs and
multiple outputs.

The State Transition Matrix

Before considering the solution of a problem, first define the state transition
matrix and some of its properties. The state transition matrix is an important
part of both the zero input and the zero state solutions of systems

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

represented in state space. The state transition matrix in the Laplace

Domain, Φ(s), is defined as:

where I is the identity matrix. The time domain state transition matrix, φ(t),
is simply the inverse Laplace Transform of Φ(s).

Example: Find State Transition Matrix of a 2nd Order System

Find Φ(s) and φ(t) if

Solution:

The inverse of a 2×2 matrix.

To find φ(t), take the inverse Laplace Transform of every term in the matrix

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Now perform a partial fraction expansion of each term, and solve

Solution via MATLAB

MATLAB can be used to find the zero input response of a state space system:

Zero Input
Develop a method for finding the zero input solution to a system defined in
state space. The system is defined as;

The zero input problem is given by:

with a known set of initial conditions, q(0-).

Solve for q(t) by first taking the Laplace Transform and solving for Q(s)

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

But, (sI-A)-1=Φ(s), i.e., the state transition matrix. So

Since q(0-) is a constant multiplier the inverse Laplace Transform is simply

The solution for y(t) is found in a straightforward way from the output
equation;

Example: Zero Input Response from State Space (2x2)

Find the response for the system defined by:

with

and

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LECTURE 3.1

Solution:

The zero input problem was solved previously

with the state transition matrix given by

For the given A matrix, Φ(s) and φ(t) were calculated previously (above);

\
So

and

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Solution via MATLAB

A=[0 1; -2 -3]; %Define Matrices

B=[0; 1;]; C=[1 -1]; D=0;

mySys=ss(A,B,C,D); %Define State Space system

q0=[1; 2;]; %Define initial conditions

initial(mySys,q0); %Plot zero input solution

Key Concept: Zero Input Response from State Space Representation

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Given a state space system:

The zero input response is given by;

where Φ(s) is the state transition matrix:

Alternate Derivation of the State Transition Matrix

There is an alternate, more intuitive, derivation of the state transition

matrix. This derivation is made in analogy with that of a scalar first order
differential equation. The scalar and matrix equations are shown below,
side-by-side.

Description Scalar Equation Matrix Equation

Define the
problem
(a 1st order
differential
equation)
Write
solution in
terms of
initial
conditions
and

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

(Taylor
expansion
of
exponential)

Examining the third row of the table, a matrix exponential has been
introduced that is exactly analogous to the scalar exponential, and this
matrix exponential is in the solution of the first order matrix differential
equation:

Comparing this to the solution in terms of the state transition matrix

shows that

Example: Evaluation of the Matrix Exponential

Solution:

Since

and (from above) that for the A matrix specified that

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

then

It is perhaps not surprising that the series form of the matrix exponential

yields such a compact closed form solution, but this makes it possible to evaluate
eAt (and φ(t)) precisely and efficiently.

Properties of the State Transition Matrix

From the matrix exponential definition of the state transition matrix we can
derive several properties.

Zero State
Finding the zero state response of a system given a state space
representation is a bit more complicated. In the Laplace Domain the
response is found by first finding the transfer function of the system.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

In the time domain, this last equation (multiplication in the Laplace domain),
is just a convolution (the asterisk (*) denotes convolution):

Note: this last equation assumes a single input system. For multi-input systems
the u(t) term must stay to the right of B.

Example: Zero State Solution from State Space (2x2)

Find the zero input solution (qzi(t) and yzi(t)) for the system defined by:

with

and

Solution:

First, find the transfer function from the state space representation

Φ(s); found earlier.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

so

(Check this with MATLAB)

>> mySys=ss([0 1; -2 -3], [0; 1], [1 -1], 0); %

Define system in state space

>> [n,d]=tfdata(mySys,'v') % Get

numerator and denominator

n =

0 -1.0000 1.0000

d =

1 3 2

Also

so

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

The partial fraction expansion can be done by hand or with MATLAB. The MATLAB
solution is shown.

>> [r,p,k]=residue([1 -1],[1 3 2 0 0]) % Perform

partial fraction expansion

r =

0.7500

-2.0000

-1.2500

0.5000

p =

-2

-1

k = []

Complete Response
Example: Complete Response from State Space (2x2)
Find the response for the system defined by:

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

with

and

Solution:
The zero input problem was solved previously

The zero state problem was also solved previously

The complete response is simply the sum of the two

Solution via MATLAB

A numerical solution can be found with MATLAB

t=linspace(0,10); %Define time vector

A=[0 1; -2 -3]; %Define Matrices

B=[0; 1;]; C=[1 -1]; D=0;

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

mySys=ss(A,B,C,D); %Define State Space

system

u=t; %Define input

q0=[1; 2;]; %Define initial

conditions

yzi=initial(mySys,q0,t); %Find zero input

response

yzs=lsim(mySys,u,t); %Find zero state

response

yc=yzi+yzs; %Find complete response

Note that the complete response converges to the zero state response at long times as the
zero input response decays to zero.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Example: Another transient response of a state space system

The system shown is a simplified model of a part of a suspension system of a wheel
on a car or motorcycle. The mass, m, represents the weight of the vehicle supported
by the wheel, and the spring and dashpot represent the suspension system. For our
purposes let m=500 kg, k=3000 N/m, b=2500 N-m/s.

Find the output if the system starts at rest (the velocity is zero) but xout(0-)=0.05 and
xin(t)=0.1·γ(t).

Solution:
First develop a state space model. Techniques for doing so are
discussed earlier. Start from the system transfer function:

Transform this to Observable Canonical form as;

From the output equation

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

From the top row of the state variable equation we see that:

or

Zero State Solution:

Start by finding the state transition matrix. This could be done by hand, or use
MATLAB's symbolic toolbox:

>> syms s

>> A=[-5 1; -6 0];

>> Phi=inv(s*eye(2)-A)

Phi =

[ s/(s^2 + 5*s + 6), 1/(s^2 + 5*s + 6)]

[ -6/(s^2 + 5*s + 6), (s + 5)/(s^2 + 5*s + 6)]

The zero input solution is

with

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Again turn to MATLAB to find Yzi(s)

>> C=[1 0];

>> q0=[0.05; 0.25];

>> Yzi=C*Phi*q0

Yzi =

s/(20*(s^2 + 5*s + 6)) + 1/(4*(s^2 + 5*s + 6))

>> pretty(simple(Yzi))

s + 5

-----------------

20 (s + 5 s + 6)

At this point perform a partial fraction expansion, using MATLAB to do the work

>> [r,p,k]=residue([1 5],20*[1 5 6])

r =

-0.1000

0.1500

p =

-3.0000

-2.0000

k = []

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

So

As expected this agrees with the solution obtained using the transfer function above.

Zero State Solution:

Start by finding the transfer function, which was derived at the start of the problem.

Rather than solving this again, refer to the solution above

Complete Solution:

The complete response is simply the sum of the zero input and zero state response.

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Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

Laboratory Exercise 3 – Individual Work

For problems 2-4 Use the following two methods to Solve for the Time Response:
MATLAB Commands, Convert to State Space and use MATLAB to solve the problems;
Upload your individual solution in Word including appropriate MATLAB screen shots on
the Google Drive after the Lab Session Monday 29th May, 2023

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! !

Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB

LECTURE 3.1

2-6 Control System Fundamentals

Appendix 1 Properties of Laplace Transforms
TABLE 2.3 Properties of the (One-Sided) Laplace Transform
Property Transform/Property
Linearity L[af (t) + bg(t)] = aF(s) + bG(s) for any scalars a, b
Right shift in t L[f (t − t0 )u(t − t0 )] = F(s) exp(−st0 ) for any t0 > 0
Time scaling L[f (at)] = (1/a)F(s/a) for any real number a > 0
dn
Multiplication by a power of t L[t n f (t)] = (−1)n n F(s), n = 1, 2, . . .
ds
Downloaded by [Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU Consortium)] at 00:54 11 January 2017

Multiplication by eαt L[f (t)eαt ] = F(s − α) for any real or complex number α
Multiplication by sin(ω0 t) L[f (t) sin(ω0 t)] = (j/2)[F(s + jω0 ) − F(s − jω0 )]
Multiplication by cos(ω0 t) L[f (t) cos(ω0 t)] = (1/2)[F(s + jω0 ) + F(s − jω0 )]
! "
d
Differentiation in the time domain L f (t) = sF(s) − f (0)
dt
# $
d2 d
Second derivative L 2
f (t) = s2 F(s) − sf (0) − f (0)
dt dt
! n "
d d d n−1
nth derivative L n f (t) = sn F(s) − sn−1 f (0) − sn−2 f (0) − · · · − n−1 f (0)
dt dt dt
!% t "
1
Integration L f (τ)dτ = F(s)
0 s
Convolution in the time domain L[f (t) ∗ g(t)] = F(s)G(s)
Initial-value theorem f (0) = lim sF(s)
s→∞
Final-value theorem If f (t) has a finite limit f (∞) as t → ∞, then f (∞) = lim sF(s)
s→0

In Equations 2.20 and 2.21, m and n are positive integers and the coefficients bm , bm−1 , . . . , b1 , b0 and
an−1 , . . . , a1 , a0 are real numbers. In Equation 2.19, it is assumed that N(s) and D(s) do not have any
common factors. If there are common factors, they should always be cancelled. Also note that the poly-
nomial D(s) is monic; that is, the coefficient of sn is equal to 1. A rational function F(s) can always be
written with a monic denominator polynomial D(s). The integer n, which is the degree of D(s), is called
the order of the rational function F(s). It is assumed that n ≥ m, in which case F(s) is said to be a proper
rational function. If n > m, F(s) is said to be strictly proper.
Given a rational transform F(s) = N(s)/D(s) with N(s) and D(s) defined by Equations 2.20 and 2.21,
let z1 , z2 , . . . , zm denote the roots of the polynomial N(s), and let p1 , p2 , . . . , pn denote the roots of D(s);
that is, N(zi ) = 0 for i = 1, 2, . . . , m and D(pi ) = 0 for i = 1, 2, . . . , n. In general, zi and pi may be real or
complex numbers, but if any are complex, they must appear in complex conjugate pairs. The numbers
z1 , z2 , . . . , zm are called the zeros of the rational function F(s) since F(s) = 0 when s = zi for i = 1, 2, . . . , m;
and the numbers p1 , p2 , . . . , pn are called the poles of F(s) since the magnitude |F(s)| becomes infinite as
s approaches pi for i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
If F(s) is strictly proper (n > m) and the poles p1 , p2 , . . . , pn of F(s) are distinct (nonrepeated), then
F(s) has the partial fraction expansion

c1 c2 cn
F(s) = + +···+ , (2.22)
s − p1 s − p2 s − pn
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where the ci are the residues given by

ci = [(s − pi )F(s)]s=pi , i = 1, 2, . . . , n (2.23)

Kenyatta University Control Systems: Time Response – Examples with MATLAB
LECTURE 3.1

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Appendix 1 Table of Laplace Transforms

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LECTURE 3.1

Appendix 1 Table of Laplace Transforms

Eng. Prof. Mwangi Mbuthia May 2023 Page 32 of 32