ECEN 315

Fundamentals of Control
Lecture #6: Steady State Error and Stability

By

Mohamed Saeed Darweesh

Associate Professor
Electronics and Computer Engineering Program
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Nile University
IEEE R8 Young Professionals Chairman
IEEE Egypt Section Secretary ْ َ
‫ِبحم ِد ِه تعالى‬
This Lecture Logistics

❑ Chapter 5

❑ K. Ogata, “Modern Control Engineering,” 5th Edition, 2010

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Agenda

❑ The Final Value Theorem

❑ Steady State Errors

❑ The Concept of Stability

❑ Routh’s Stability Criterion

3
2nd Order System Time Domain Specs

❑ The time response characteristics of the system is drawn below.

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The Final Value Theorem

❑ Sometimes, it is important to know the final value (FV) of the

system response or the steady state value, 𝑦(∞).

❑ Finding the 𝑦(∞) is impossible mathematically. So, we can find

the final value by computing the limits when time approaches
infinity ( lim 𝑦(𝑡)).
𝑡→∞

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The Final Value Theorem
[1] [2] [3] [4]

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The Final Value Theorem

❑ If the output converges to a single value, the final value is exist.

❑ If the output diverges to infinity or oscillates continuously, no

meaning for the final value.

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Definition and Test Inputs
❑ Steady-state error is the difference between the input and the
output for a prescribed test input as 𝑡 → ∞.

❑ The below test inputs will be used for steady-state error

analysis and design.

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Application to Stable Systems

❑ Since we are concerned with the difference between the input

and the output of a feedback control system after the steady
state has been reached, our discussion is limited to stable
systems, where the natural response approaches zero as 𝑡 → ∞.

❑ Unstable systems represent loss of control in the steady state

and are not acceptable for use at all.

❑ Thus, the engineer must check the system for stability while
performing steady-state error analysis and design.

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The Steady State Error

❑ Any physical control system inherently suffers steady-state

error in response to certain types of inputs.

❑ A system may have no steady-state error to a step input, but

the same system may exhibit non-zero steady-state error to a
ramp input.

𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim 𝑒 𝑡 = lim 𝑠𝐸(𝑠)

𝑡→∞ 𝑠→0 Final value theorem
at Lecture 4
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The Steady State Error

Consider the unity-feedback control system with the following

open-loop transfer function:

❑ It involves the term 𝑠 𝑁 in the denominator, representing 𝑁

poles at the origin.

❑ A system is called type 0, type 1, type 2, ... , if 𝑁 = 0, 𝑁 = 1,

𝑁 = 2, ... , respectively.

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System Type Example

Type 1

Type 2

Type 3

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The Steady State Error

The closed-loop transfer function is:

𝐶(𝑠) 𝐺(𝑠)
=
𝑅(𝑠) 1 + 𝐺(𝑠)

❑ The transfer function between the error signal 𝐸(𝑠) and the
input signal 𝑅(𝑠) is:

𝐸(𝑠) 1 1
= 𝐸(𝑠) = 𝑅(𝑠)
𝑅(𝑠) 1 + 𝐺(𝑠) 1+𝐺 𝑠

❑ The steady state error is:

𝑠𝑅(𝑠)
𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim 𝑒 𝑡 = lim 𝑠𝐸(𝑠) = lim
𝑡→∞ 𝑠→0 𝑠→0 1 + 𝐺(𝑠)

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Test Signals

The three test signals we use to establish specifications for a

control system’s steady-state error characteristics are:

1. Step

2. Ramp

3. Parabolic

Let us take each input and evaluate its effect on the steady-state
error by using the following Eq.:

𝑠𝑅(𝑠)
𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim
𝑠→0 1 + 𝐺(𝑠)

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Static Error Constants
❑ The static error constants are figures of merit of control
systems.
❑ In a given system, the output may be the position, velocity,
pressure, temperature, etc.
❑ Therefore, in what follows, we shall call the output “position,”
the rate of change of the output “velocity,” and so on.
❑ This means that in a temperature control system “position”
represents the output temperature, “velocity” represents the
rate of change of the output temperature, and so on.

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The Steady State Error for Unit Step

𝑠
𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim 𝑅(𝑠)
𝑠→0 1 + 𝐺 𝑠

Static Position Error Constant (𝐾𝑃 )

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The Steady State Error for Unit Step

Type 0 System

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The Steady State Error for Unit Step

Type 1 system and higher

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The Steady State Error for Unit Ramp

𝑠
𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim 𝑅(𝑠)
𝑠→0 1 + 𝐺 𝑠

Static Velocity Error Constant (𝐾𝑣 )

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The Steady State Error for Unit Ramp

Type 0 System

Type 1 System

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The Steady State Error for Unit Parabolic

𝑠
𝑒𝑠𝑠 = lim 𝑅(𝑠)
𝑠→0 1 + 𝐺 𝑠

Static Acceleration Error Constant (𝐾𝑎 )

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The Steady State Error for Unit Parabolic

Type 0 System

Type 2 System

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The Steady State Error

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The Steady State Error

Example 1

For the system shown in the figure shown, find the expected
steady-state errors for the following standard inputs:

❑ Step
❑ Ramp
❑ Parabolic

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The Steady State Error

Solution

Step Input

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The Steady State Error

Solution

Ramp Input

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The Steady State Error

Solution

Parabolic Input

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The Steady State Error

Solution

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The Concept of Stability

Stable

Pole in the LHS

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The Concept of Stability

Un-Stable

Pole in the RHS

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The Concept of Stability

Stable

All Poles are in the LHS

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 The Concept of Stability

Un-Stable

At least one of the poles is in RHS

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The Concept of Stability

Marginally (Critically)
Stable

At least one pole is on 𝒋𝒘

axis and other poles may
be in 𝒋𝒘 or in LHS

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The Concept of Stability

❑ The pole’s location of the system transfer function in 𝑠-plane

are used to check the stability of the system i.e., the roots of
the characteristic equation.

❑ If all the poles of the system lie in left half side (LHS) the
system is said to be Stable.

❑ If any of the poles lie in right half side (RHS) the system is said
to be Unstable.

❑ If pole(s) lie on imaginary axis the system is said to be

Marginally Stable.

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The Concept of Stability

Examples

Stable

Pole = -1

Un-Stable

Poles = 0, 4, -4

Critically Stable

Poles = 0, -j4, -j5

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Stability has two forms:

❑ Absolute Stability:

Determine if a system is stable or not.

❑ Relative Stability:

Determine the degree of stability (rise time, overshoot

etc).

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

❑ This method gives absolute stability information without the

need to solve for the closed-loop system poles.

❑ This method tells how many closed-loop system poles are in

the left half-side, in the right half-side, and on the 𝑗𝑤-axis.

❑ Two steps in this method:

◼ Generate a data table called a Routh table.

◼ From the Routh table find how many closed-loop system poles are
in the LHS, the RHS, and on the 𝑗𝑤-axis.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Consider a closed-loop transfer function:

Step 1: Factor out any roots at the origin to obtain the characteristic
equation in the form.

Step 2: Label the first column from highest power to the lowest
power of 𝑠.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Consider a closed-loop transfer function:

Step 1: Factor out any roots at the origin to obtain the characteristic
equation in the form.

Step 2: Label the first column from highest power to the lowest
power of 𝑠.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 3: In the first row, write the coefficients of the characteristic

equation starting with the coefficient of the highest power and skip
every other power of 𝑠.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 4: In the second row, write the coefficients of the

denominator skipped in the previous step.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 5: Obtain the other coefficients for the remaining table. The
table is continued horizontally and vertically until zeros are
obtained.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 5: Obtain the other coefficients for the remaining table. The
table is continued horizontally and vertically until zeros are
obtained.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 5: Obtain the other coefficients for the remaining table. The
table is continued horizontally and vertically until zeros are
obtained.

Stop
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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Step 6: Determine stability: Count the number of sign changes in

the first column of the array.

Sign changes in the first

column = twice.
The characteristic equation
has two roots in the RHS,
then system is Unstable

The Routh-Hurwitz criterion declares that the

number of roots of the polynomial that are
lies in the right half-plane is equal to the
number of sign changes in the first column.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Example 2

Consider the system shown in the following figure. Let us

determine the range of 𝐾 for stability.

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Solution

The closed-loop transfer function is:

The characteristic equation is:

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Solution

Construct Routh table

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Routh’s Stability Criterion

Solution
For stability, all coefficients in the first column must be the same
sign.
9
𝐾 and 2 − 𝐾 must be positive
7

𝐾>0
9
2− 𝐾 >0
7
14
𝐾<
9
14 14
For Critical Stability 𝐾 =
0<𝐾< 9
9
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Where to find me?

❑ My Office at UB2-S09-B

❑ Email: [email protected]

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