SPECIMEN Exam Question Paper

College: Engineering, Design, and Physical Sciences

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Exam Author(s):

Module Code: ME3618

Module Title: Mechatronics and Control Engineering

Sample No: 1 Year:

Duration: 2 hours

Question Instructions: Please answer COMPULSORY question A1 and one

more question from SECTION A, each carry 25
marks, and a further TWO questions from SECTION
B, each carrying 25 marks.
If you submit answers to more questions than
specified, final marks for the examination will be
determined using the best marks which satisfy the
rubric.

Are Calculators Permitted? Yes.

Permitted Reference
Materials: Table of Laplace transform
Additional Required
Stationery:

By continuing beyond this point, you confirm that you have read the information and instructions
above, and understand the conditions of this examination.
A1
Consider the mechanical system shown in Figure B3. m is the mass of the body. k1
and k2 are stiffnesses of the springs. F is the applied force.

k1
F
m
k2
Figure B3

(a) Draw the free body diagram for the system.

[10%]
(b) Write the differential equations for the system.
[10%]
(c) Consider the force F is the input and the displacement of body of mass
m is the output of the system. Write the transfer function for the
system.
[20%]
(d) A proportional controller Kp is applied. Draw the closed loop block
diagram for the system.
[20%]
(e) Write the closed loop transfer function for the system with controller Kp.
[20%]
A2

(a) What is the mathematical expression in the time domain of a Proportional

Integral (PI) controller?
[20%]
(b) What is the transfer function of a PI controller?
[20%]
(c) What is the definition of rise time, settling time, peak time, and overshoot?
Illustrate with assistance of a sketch.
[30%]
(d) What is the Z-N First Method for PI tuning?
[30%]
A3

(a) Find the Laplace transform of the following time functions:

(i) F ( t )=1+5 t+ 9 t 2

[20%]

(ii) F ( t )=(1+5 t )2+ 9 t 3

[20%]

(iii) F ( t )=5 sin ⁡(3 t)+4 cos ⁡( 2t )

[20%]

(b) When x=x ( t ) is a function of time, use Laplace transforms to solve

2
d x dx
(i) =5, with initial conditions x ( 0 )=0 and (0)=1
dt
2
dt

[20%]

dx
(ii) +5 x=5 , with initial conditions x ( 0 )=0
dt

[20%]
B1

(a) Find the Frequency Response of the system with the transfer function
6
G ( s )= .
s +10

(b) What is the characteristic equation for the following Close-Loop system
B2.
(a) The open loop transfer of a unity negative feedback control system is
shown below
K
G ( s )=
(s+1)(s+7)( s+ 12)
(i) Find the value of K when the polar plot passes through the point
(-1 j) on the complex plane. Please note:
−1 −1 −1 A+ B
tan A +tan B=tan
1−AB

(ii) When K = 10, find the stability gain margin of the system
B3.
(a) The open loop transfer of a unity negative feedback control system is
shown below. Find the approximate phase margin of the system

16
G ( s )=
s (s+ 4)
Properties of the Laplace transform Laplace transform pairs
Property f (t ) F(s) f (t ) F(s)
Linearity a 1 f 1 ( t ) +a2 f 2 (t ) a 1 F 1 ( s ) +a 2 F 2 (s ) δ (t ) 1

f ( at )
() u (t ) 1
Scaling 1 s
F
a a s
Time shift f ( t−a ) u ( t−a ) e
−as
F (s ) t 1
2
s
Frequency e
−at
f (t ) F ( s+ a ) t
n
n!
shift n+1
s
Time df sF ( s ) −f (0) e
−at
1
differentiation dt s +a
2
d f
2
s F ( s )−sf ( 0 ) −f (0)
' n −at
t e n!
n+1
dt
2
( s+ a)
n
d f
n
s F ( s )−s
n−1
f ( 0 )−s
n−2 '
f ( 0 )−⋯−f
(n−1)
sin ωt ( 0 ) ω
2 2
dt
n
s +ω
Time t
1 cos ωt s
integration ∫ f (x )dx s
F( s) 2
s +ω
2
0

Frequency tf ( t ) −d sin(ωt+ θ) s sinθ+ω cos ⁡θ

differentiation F (s )
ds 2
s +ω
2

Frequency f (t) ∞
cos (ωt +θ)s cosθ−ω sinθ
integration
t ∫ F (s)ds 2
s +ω
2
s

Table of Derivatives Differentiation Rules

y=f ( x ) dy ' Constant Rule d
=f (x ) [c ]=0
dx dx
K , any constant 0 Power Rule d n n−1
x =n x
dx
x 1 Product Rule d
dx
[ f ( x ) g ( x ) ] =f ( x ) g ( x )+ f ( x ) g (x)
' '

2x
[ ]
x
2 Quotient Rule ' '
d f (x ) g ( x ) f ( x )−f ( x )g ( x )
=
dx g( x) g 2 (x)
x
n
nx
n−1 Chain Rule d
¿
x x dx
e e
 kx kx
e ke
sin x cos x
sin kx k cos kx
cos x −sin x
cos kx −k sin kx