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RV College of world
Engineering

CONTROL ENGINEERING
(18AS62)
Department of Aerospace Engineering
R V College of Engineering
Bangalore
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RV College of world
Engineering

UNIT-1
INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL
ENGINEERING
COURSE COORDINATOR
Promio Charles F
Assistant Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
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CONTENTS
1. Representation of Systems or Processes
2. Comparison Elements
3. Representation of Feedback Control Systems
4. Block Diagram and Transfer Function Representation
5. Signal Flow Graphs
6. Representation of Temperature Control System
7. Control objectives and tasks
8. Open- and closed-loop control structures
9. Negative and positive feedback (Flipped Class)
10. System response: Impulse response
11. Convolution integral
12. Response of higher order systems to arbitrary and standard inputs in Laplace and time domains (Flipped Class)
13. Qualitative dependence on poles and zeros, dominant (Flipped Class)

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BASIC DEFINITION

System: A system is an arrangement of (or) a combination of different physical

components connected (or) related in such a manner, so as to form an entire unit to
attain a certain objective.
Control System: Control system is an arrangement of different physical elements
connected in such a manner so as to regulate, director command itself to achieve a
certain objective. (OR)
The control system is that means by which any quantity of interest in a machine,
mechanism or other equipment is maintained or altered in accordance with a desired
manner.

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EXAMPLE: DRIVING SYSTEM OF AN

AUTOMOBILE
 Speed of the automobile is a function of the position of its accelerator.
 The desired speed can be maintained (or a desired change in speed can be achieved) by
controlling pressure on the accelerator pedal.
 This automobile driving system (accelerator, carburettor and engine vehicle) constitutes a
control system.

Figure 1.1: Basic Control System (Driving System of an Automobile)

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Any control system consists of three essential components namely input, system and output.

• The input is the stimulus or excitation applied to a system from an external energy source.
• A system is the arrangement of physical components and
• Output is the actual response obtained from the system.

The control system may be one of the following type.

1) Man made
2) Natural and / or biological and
3) Hybrid consisting of man-made and natural or biological.

The requirements of good control system are accuracy, sensitivity, noise, stability, bandwidth, speed,
oscillations.

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CONTROL SYSTEMS
• Systems designed to perform without requiring human input are called automatic control
systems (such as cruise control for regulating the speed of a car). Multi-disciplinary in
nature, control systems engineering activities focus on implementation of control systems
mainly derived by mathematical modelling of a diverse range of systems.
• Automatic control has played a vital role in the advance of engineering and science. In
addition to its extreme importance, space-vehicle systems, missile-guidance systems,
robotic systems, and the like, automatic control has become an important and integral
part of modern manufacturing and industrial processes.
Example: Automatic control is essential in the numerical control of machine tools in the
manufacturing industries, in the design of autopilot systems in the aerospace industries, and in
the design of cars and trucks in the automobile industries. It is also essential in such industrial
operations as controlling pressure, temperature, humidity, viscosity, and flow in the process
industries.

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REPRESENTATION OF A SYSTEM OR
PROCESSES
Controlled Variable and Manipulated Variable:
The controlled variable is the quantity or condition that is measured and controlled.
The manipulated variable is the quantity or condition that is varied by the controller so as
to affect the value of the controlled variable. Normally, the controlled variable is the output
of the system.
Control
Control means measuring the value of the controlled variable of the system and applying
the manipulated variable to the system to correct or limit deviation of the measured value
from a desired value.

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REPRESENTATION OF A SYSTEM OR
PROCESSES
Plants:
A plant may be a piece of equipment, perhaps just a set of machine parts functioning
together, the purpose of which is to perform a particular operation. In this course, we shall
call any physical object to be controlled (such as a mechanical device, a heating furnace, a
chemical reactor, or a spacecraft) a plant.

Processes (a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end):

In other words, process is defined as natural and persistent operation leading to a
development marked by a series of gradual changes that succeed one another in a
relatively fixed way and lead toward a particular result or end.

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REPRESENTATION OF A SYSTEM OR
PROCESSES
Systems:
A system is a combination of components that act together and perform a certain objective. A system is
not limited to physical ones. The concept of the system can be applied to abstract, dynamic phenomena
such as those encountered in economics. The word system should, therefore, be interpreted to imply
physical, biological, economic, and the like, systems.
Disturbances:
A disturbance is a signal that tends to adversely affect the value of the output of a system. If a disturbance
is generated within the system, it is called internal, while an external disturbance is generated outside the
system and is an input.
Feedback Control:
Feedback control refers to an operation that, in the presence of disturbances, tends to reduce the
difference between the output of a system and some reference input and does so on the basis of this
difference. Here only unpredictable disturbances are so specified, since predictable or known
disturbances can always be compensated for within the system.

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WHAT IS A CONTROL SYSTEM?

A control system consists of subsystems and processes assembled for the purpose of
obtaining a desired output with the required desired performance, given a specified
input.

TYPES OF CONTROL SYSTEM

1) Open Loop Control System
2) Closed Loop Control System

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OPEN LOOP CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure 1.2: Open loop System

Advantages of open loop system:
1. They are simple in construction and design.
2. They are economic.
3. Easy for maintenance.
4. Not much problem of stability.
5. Convenient to use when output is difficult to measure.
Disadvantages of open loop system
1. Inaccurate and unreliable because accuracy is dependent on accuracy of calibration.
2. Inaccurate results are obtained with parameter variations, internal disturbances.
3. To maintain quality and accuracy, recalibration of controller is necessary from time to time.

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CLOSED LOOP CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure 1.3: Closed loop system

Advantages of closed loop system:
1. Accuracy is very high as any error arising is corrected.
2. It senses changes -in output due to environmental or parametric change, internal disturbance etc. and corrects the same.
3. High bandwidth.
4. Facilitates automation.
Disadvantages

1. Complicated in design and maintenance costlier.

2. System may become unstable.

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ELEMENTS OF CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM ARE:

1. Command: The command is the externally produced input and independent of the feedback control
system.
2. Reference Input Element: It is used to produce the standard signals proportional to the command.
3. Error Detector: The error detector receives the measured signal and compares it with reference input.
The difference of two signals produces error signal.
4. Control Element: This regulates the output according to the signal obtained from error detector.
5. Controlled System: This represents what we are controlling by feedback loop.
6. Feedback Element: This element feedback the output to the error detector for comparison with the
reference input.

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EXAMPLES OF CONTROL SYSTEM

TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure 1.4: Temperature Control System

Figure 1.5: Temperature control of Passenger compartment of a car

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EXAMPLES OF CONTROL SYSTEM

MISSILE LAUNCHING AND GUIDANCE SYSTEM

Figure 1.6: Missile launching and guidance system

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EXAMPLES OF CONTROL SYSTEM

AUTOMATIC AIRCRAFT LANDING SYSTEM

Figure 1.7: Schematic diagram of aircraft landing system

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TRANSFER FUNCTION
The transfer function of a linear time-invariant system is defined to be the ratio of the
Laplace transform of the output variable to the Laplace transform of the input variable
under the assumption that all initial conditions are zero.

Then the transfer function is

In control theory, functions called transfer functions are commonly used to characterize
the input-output relationships of components or systems that can be described by
linear, time-invariant, differential equations. We begin by defining the transfer function
and follow with a derivation of the transfer function of a mechanical system. Then we
discuss the impulse-response function.
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TRANSFER FUNCTION
The transfer function of a linear, time-invariant, differential equation system is defined
as the ratio of the Laplace transform of the output (response function) to the Laplace
transform of the input (driving function) under the assumption that all initial conditions
are zero. Consider the linear time-invariant system defined by the following differential
equation:

where y is the output of the system and x is the input. The transfer function of this
system is the ratio of the Laplace transformed output to the Laplace transformed input
when all initial conditions are zero, or

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IMPORTANT COMMENTS CONCERNING THE
TRANSFER FUNCTION
1. The transfer function of a system is a mathematical model in that it is an operational method of expressing the
differential equation that relates the output variable to the input variable.

2. The transfer function is a property of a system itself, independent of the magnitude and nature of the input or driving
function.

3. The transfer function includes the units necessary to relate the input to the output; however, it does not provide any
information concerning the physical structure of ' the system. (The transfer functions of many physically different
systems can be identical.)

4. If the transfer function of a system is known, the output or response can be studied for various forms of inputs with a
view toward understanding the nature of the system.

5. If the transfer function of a system is unknown, it may be established experimentally by introducing known inputs and
studying the output of the system. Once established, a transfer function gives a full description of the dynamic
characteristics of the system, as distinct from its physical description.
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CONVOLUTION INTERGRAL
For a linear, time-invariant system the transfer function G(s) is

where X(s) is the Laplace transform of the input and Y (s) is the Laplace transform of the
output, where we assume that all initial conditions involved are zero. It follows that the
output Y (s) can be written as the product of G(s) and X(s), or

Note that multiplication in the complex domain is equivalent to convolution in the time
domain (see Section 2-4), so the inverse Laplace transform of Equation (3-1) is given by
the following convolution integral:

where both g(t) and x(t) are 0 for t < 0.

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IMPULSE RESPONSE FUNCTION

Consider the output (response) of a system to a unit-impulse input when the initial
conditions are zero. Since the Laplace transform of the unit-impulse function is unity, the
Laplace transform of the output of the system is

The inverse Laplace transform of the output given by Equation (3-2) gives the impulse
response of the system. The inverse Laplace transform of G(s), or

is called the impulse-response function. This function g(t) is also called the weighting
function of the system.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM

The pictorial depiction, representing the cause and effective relationship between
input and output of the system is called a Block. The input signal flowing into the block
is processed by the transfer function, characterising the block and flows out as the
output signal.
Simultaneously, a subsystem is represented as a block with an input, output and a
transfer function. It is a known fact that a complex system is made up of multiple sub-
systems that are interconnected using elements such as summing point and take-off
point.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM
1. Summing Point: This element in control system represents the addition or subtraction of
the incoming signals. As indicated in the figure, it is represented as small circle
connected by arrows that represents the signal lines. Generally, input signal lines are
identified with a positive or negative sign, whereas no sign is attached to the outgoing
signal.

2. Take-off point: This element is required when a signal needs to be routed to two or more
blocks. It can be thought of as an electrical junction with voltage being sent to all
connected terminals. As represented in the figure below, it is seen as a dot with arrows
pointing away.

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BLOCK DIAGRAM MANIPULATION

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BLOCK DIAGRAM MANIPULATION

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SIMPLIFY THE BLOCK

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SIGNAL FLOW GRAPHS

Block diagrams are very successful for representing control systems, but for complicated
systems, the block diagram reduction process is tedious and time consuming. An alternate
approach is that of signal flow graphs developed by S.J. Mason, which does not require any
reduction process because of availability of a flow graph gain formula which relates the input and
output system variables.

Figure 1.8: Signal flow graph of a closed loop system

Figure 1.9: Node as a summing point and as a transmitting point.

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The formulation of this signal flow graph is explained through the various signal flow terms defined below.

1. Node: It represents a system variable which is equal to the sum of all incoming signals at the node. Outgoing signals from
the node do not affect the value of the node variable. For example, R, E, B and C are nodes in Fig. 1.8. These symbols also
represent the corresponding node variables.

2. Branch: A signal travels along a branch from one node to another in the direction indicated by the branch arrow and in the
process gets multiplied by the gain or transmittance cu of the branch. For example, the signal reaching the node C from the
node E is given by GE where G is the branch transmittance and the branch is directed from the node E to the node C in Fig.
1.8. Thus the value of the node variable C = GE.
(a) Node as a summing point: With reference to the signal flow graph of Figure
1.9, the node variable x is expressed as

(b) Node as a transmitting point A node variable is transmitted through all

branches outgoing from the node. Thus in the signal flow graph of Figure

As already stated in (1) above the value of the node variable is not affected by the
outgoing branches.
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3. Notation: aij is the transmittance of the branch directed from node z to node x,

4. Input node or source: It is a node with only outgoing branches. For example, R is an input node in
the Figure.

5.Output node or sink. It is a node with only incoming branches. However, this condition is not
always met. An additional branch with unit gain may be introduced in order to meet this specified
condition. For example, the node C in Fig. 1.8 (a) has one outgoing branch but after introducing an
additional branch with unit transmittance as shown in Fig. 1.8 (b) the node becomes an output node.
arrows

6. Path: It is the traversal of connected branches in the direction of the branch arrows such that no
node is traversed more than once.

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7. Forward path: It is a path from the input node to the output node. For example, R-E-C is a
forward path in Figure 1.8(a).

8. Loop: It is a path which originates and terminates at the same node. For example, E-C-B-E is a
loop in Figure 1.8(a) above.

9. Non-touching loops: Loops are said to be non-touching if they do not possess any common node.

10. Forward path gain: It is the product of the branch gains encountered in traversing a forward
path. For example, forward path gain of the path R-E-C in Figure 1.8(a) above is G.

11. Loop gain: It is the product of branch gains encountered in traversing the loop. For example,
loop gain of the loop E-C-B-E in Figure 1.8(a) above is -GH.

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CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNAL FLOW GRAPHS

The signal flow graph of a system is constructed from its describing equations. To
outline the procedure, let us consider a system described by the following set of
equations:

where x1 is the input variable and x5 is the output variable.

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MASON’S GAIN FORMULA

The relationship between an input variable and an output variable of a signal flow
graph is given by the net gain between the input and output nodes and is known as the
overall gain of the system. Mason's gain formula for the determination of the overall
system gain is given by

where PK = path gain of K-th forward path; ∆ = determinant of the graph = 1 - (sum of
loop gains of all individual loops) + (sum of gain products of all possible combinations
of two non-touching loops) - (sum of gain products of all possible combinations of three
non-touching loops) +. , i.e.,

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where Pmr = gain product m-th possible combination of r non-touching loops; ∆K = the
value of ∆ for the part of the graph not touching the K-th forward path; and T = overall
gain of the system.
Let us illustrate the use of Mason's formula by finding the overall gain of the signal flow
graph shown in Fig. 2.35. The following conclusions are drawn by inspection of this
signal flow graph.

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OPEN-LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION AND

FEEDFORWARD TRANSFER FUNCTION

Figure 1.8: Block Diagram of closed loop system

Referring to Figure 1.8, the ratio of the feedback signal B(s) to the actuating error signal
E(s) is called the open-loop transfer function. That is

The ratio of the output C(s) to the actuating error signal E(s) is called the feedforward
transfer function, so that

If the feedback transfer function H(s) is unity, then the open-loop transfer function and the
feedforward transfer function are the same.

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CLOSED-LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION

For the system shown in Figure 1.8, the output C(s) and input R(s) are related as follows:
since

eliminating E(s) from these equations gives

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CLOSED-LOOP TRANSFER FUNCTION

The transfer function relating C(s) to R(s) is called the closed-loop transfer function. This
transfer function relates the closed-loop system dynamics to the dynamics of the
feedforward elements and feedback elements.

Thus the output of the closed-loop system clearly depends on both the closed-loop
transfer function and the nature of the input.

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TYPES OF CONTROLLERS
An automatic controller compares the actual value of the system output with the reference
input (desired value), determines the deviation, and produces a control signal that will
reduce the deviation to zero or a small value. The manner in which the automatic controller
produces the control signal is called the control action.
The controllers may be classified according to their control actions as,
[1] Proportional controllers.
[2] Integral controllers.
[3] Proportional-plus- integral controllers
[4] Proportional-plus-derivative controllers.
[5] Proportional-plus- integral-plus-derivative controllers

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