Chapter 1

Introduction to Control Engineering

 Objective of control

Make a dynamic system behave in a desired manner, according to some

performance specifications
Note that for real dynamic systems
▪ Complex system (many inputs and many outputs, dynamic coupling,
nonlinear, etc.)
▪ Unknown excitations
▪ Unknown dynamic

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 Basic definitions

A system is a combination of elements that acts together and perform a

certain function not possible with any of the individual parts. There are
various systems, e.g., physical, biological, economical, technical systems

Signal is a function of time that conveys information about the behavior

or attributes of some phenomenon

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 Applications of control engineering

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 Examples of control systems
Water level control: Manual control

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 Examples of control systems
Water level control: Feedback control system (I. Puzunov, 1765)

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 Examples of control systems
Engine speed control: A primitive control system – Flyball governor
(James Watt, 1769)

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 Selected historical development

Feng-Li Lian @2020

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 Selected historical development

Feng-Li Lian @2020

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 Selected historical development

Feng-Li Lian @2020

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 Selected historical development

Feng-Li Lian @2020

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 Selected historical development

Feng-Li Lian @2020

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 Terminology
▪ Plant or Process: Physical object, system or process that is to be controlled
▪ Inputs: Excitations (know, unknown) to the system
▪ Outputs: Responses of the system
▪ Sensors: They measure system variables (excitations, responses, etc.)
▪ Actuators: They drive various parts of the system
▪ Disturbance: unwanted input that tends to adversely affect the system’s
output
▪ Controller: Device that generates control signal
▪ Control law: Relation or scheme according to which the control signal is
generated
▪ Control system: Plant+Controller (at least)
(can include sensors, signal conditioning, etc.)
▪ Feedback control: Control signal is determined according to plant “response”
▪ Open-loop control: No feedback of the plant response to controller
▪ Feed-forward control: Control signal is determined according to plant
“inputs” not “outputs”
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 Control Architecture
Open loop control:
Disturbance
inputs
Desired plant
Plant Outputs
behavior
Controller Or
Process

▪ The output has no effect on the control action

▪ The output is neither measured nor fed back for comparison
with the reference input
▪ Plant has to be stable and completely and accurately known
(through an analytical or experimental model)
▪ A general rule of thumb: Any control system working on time
basic is open loop

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 Control Architecture
Open loop control:
Example: Room temperature control

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 Control Architecture
Open loop control:
Example: Gasoline engine control

Pump load

Throttle angle Shaft speed

Controller Plant
carburetor Engine

Engine speed (rpm)

Nominal load

4000
3000
2000 different load
1000

300 600 900 1200 1500 Throttle position (angle)

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 Control Architecture
Open loop control:
More examples:

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 Control Architecture
Closed loop (feedback) control
▪ Some or all of the system outputs are measured and used by the
controller
▪ The controller may then compare a desired plant output with the
actual output and act to reduce the difference between the two
▪ Thus a closed loop control system contains additional elements:
sensor or transmitter, actuator, comparator
Disturbance
Desired plant inputs
behavior
Plant Outputs
Controller Or
Process

Measurements
measured outputs

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 Control Architecture
Closed loop (feedback) control
Example: Room temperature control

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 Control Architecture
Closed loop (feedback) control
Example: Gasoline engine control
Input
voltage
Pump
proportional Error load
to desired voltage Throttle Shaft
speed angle speed
Voltage Plant
Throttle
difference carburetor Engine
actuator
amplifier

Measurement
Voltage proportional to tachometer
shaft speed

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 Control Architecture
Closed loop (feedback) control
More examples

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 Control Architecture
Open loop control vs. Closed loop control
Open loop control Closed loop control
▪ Simple, low cost ▪ More elements, high cost
▪ Stability is not a major ▪ Stability is a major problem
problem ▪ Increased accuracy: reduce (can be
▪ Performance is highly zero) the difference between
dependent on the properties desired and measured response)
of the plant ▪ Reduced sensitivity to changes in
▪ Cannot function properly in components
the presence of disturbances ▪ Reduced effects of disturbances
and parameter variations ▪ Increased speed of response and
bandwidth
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 Control Architecture
Feedforward control

▪ Unknown inputs (variables of plant its self, disturbances) are

measured and used to generate control signals

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 Control System Classification

Regulator Servomechanism

▪ Objective is to keep the ▪ Objective is to keep the

controlled output at a constant controlled output following a

value at all time in the time varying command input

presence of disturbances ▪ In its original use, a

▪ The command input is either servomechanism is a control

zero or constant system with mechanical

position, velocity, acceleration
as the controlled output

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 Control System Classification
Analog control system vs. digital control system

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 Control System Classification
Another classification of control system
▪ Linear control system vs. nonlinear control system
▪ Time invariant system vs. time varying system
▪ SISO system vs. MIMO system

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 Performance of a control system
A good control system
1. Sufficiently stable response (stability)
▪ Asymptotic stability: Response to an initial-condition excitation
decay back to initial steady state
▪ BIBO stability: Response to an bounded input should to be
bounded
2. Sufficiently fast response (speed of response or bandwidth): The
system should react quickly to a control input
3. Low sensitivity to noises, external disturbances, modeling errors, and
parameter variations (sensitivity and robustness)
4. High sensitivity to control inputs (input sensitivity)
5. Low error; for example, tracking error and steady-state error
(accuracy)
6. Reduced coupling among system variables (cross sensitivity or
dynamic coupling)
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 Control system design process

Goal, variable
to controlled,
and
specifications

System
definition and
modelling

Control system
design,
simulation and
analysis

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 Review questions

▪ Give two examples of open-loop control

▪ Give two example of closed-loop control
▪ What are the main components of a feedback control system?
▪ Draw the block diagram of Puzunov’s water-level control system

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