NPTEL Online Course (Jan - May 2025)

Control Engineering
Instructor: Dr. Ramkrishna Pasumarthy
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Solution - Assignment 5

1. The open-loop poles of the system are at −4, −3 ± 2j and the open-loop zeros are at ±2j.
Since on the real line, there is only one pole at s = −4, all points on the real line to the
left of -4 will be included in the root locus. Hence, Option A is correct, and Option C is
incorrect. For the rest of the points, Evan’s angle criteria can be used:

∠(s − zi ) − ∠(s − pi ) = ±180◦

Thus, substituting for s in the open-loop transfer function, we get:

(−2 + 1.96j)2 + 4
= 0.775∠179.99◦
(−2 + 1.96j + 4)((−2 + 1.96j + 3)2 + 4)

Option (D):

(−2 + 0.96j)2 + 4
= 0.45∠ − 25.6◦
(−2 + 0.96j + 4)((−2 + 0.96j + 3)2 + 4)

Since the angle criteria are satisfied only by option B,

2. The angle of asymptotes can be found using:

180(2q + 1)
ϕ=± , q = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − m − 1
n−m
where n is the number of open-loop poles and m is the number of open-loop zeros.
For this case, n = 3 and m = 1. Thus,

ϕ = ±90(2q + 1), q = 0, 1

The correct answer is Option B.

1
3. At K = 0, the closed-loop poles will be at the open-loop poles. Assume p1 = 5. As
K approaches infinity, the closed-loop pole would approach the open-loop zeros, giving
z = 1.5. We need to find p2 and the centroid. The centroid is given by:
P P
p− z
σ=
n−m
Substituting the values,
−5 − p2 + 1.5 −3.5 − p2
σ= =
2 2
The only option satisfying this equation is Option D, giving p2 = 3 and σ = −3.25.
The correct answer is Option D.

dK
4. The breakaway point is found by solving for ds = 0 from the characteristic equation.
Given the characteristic equation:

s3 + 8s2 + 15s + K(s + 1.5) = 0

Differentiating,
dK
= 2s3 + 12.5s2 + 24s + 22.5
ds
Solving for s, we get the valid breakaway point:

s = −3.92

The correct answer is -3.92.

5. The characteristic equation can be written as

s(s + 6)(s + 9) + K = 0
K
1+ =0
s(s + 6)(s + 9)

So, the open-loop transfer function is

We try to plot the root locus for this system. Firstly, the root locus has three branches.
The asymptotes are at angles 60◦ , 180◦ , 300◦ with their centroid at −5. From the charac-
teristic equation, we can find

K = −(s3 + 15s2 + 54s).

The breakaway point is given by the solution to dK/ds = 0, which in this case is s = −2.35.
This information is sufficient to get an approximate root locus plot, as shown below.

2
 jω

−5
−9 −6 −2.35 0 σ

The correct answers are option C and option D.

6. We need not find the exact location of the breakaway points. The root locus on the real
axis is shown below.

jω

−6 −5 −4 −2 1 σ

From this, it is clear that the two breakaway points lie in the intervals [−4, −2] and
[−6, −5]. From this root locus, the correctness of all four statements in the choices can
be checked.
The correct answers are option A and option C.

7. The open-loop transfer function can be found from the characteristic equation by dividing
the entire equation by the term that does not contain the gain K:

K(s + 1)
KG(s)H(s) =
s(s2 + 2s + α)
√
So the open-loop poles will be at s = 0, −1 ± 1 − α and a zero at s = −1. The open-loop
poles become complex for α > 1 with the real part constant at -1.

3
 √
The angle of departure from the pole −1 + 1 − α is:
X X
ϕd = 180 + (∠(s − z)) − (∠(s − p))

√
= 180 + 90 − 90 − (180 − tan−1 (| 1 − α|))

√
= tan−1 (| 1 − α|)

Thus, the correct answer is Option B.

8. (A) There won’t be any breakaway points for the root locus as the pole at s = 0 approaches
the zero at s = −1 and the complex poles diverge away to infinity. Hence, this statement
is false.
(B) Using the Routh array to check stability:

s3 1 K +α
s2 2 K
K
s1 2 + α
s0 K

The first column has no sign changes for any α > 0. Hence, the system is always stable,
meaning the root locus remains in the left half-plane. This statement is true.
(C) For all values of α, the root locus has 2 branches going to infinity, as the difference in
the number of poles and zeros is always 2. This statement is false.
(D) The centroid is computed as:
P P √ √
(poles) − (zeros) −1 + 1 − α + −1 − 1 − α + 1
σ= = = −0.5
n−m 2
This is independent of α. Hence, this statement is true.
The correct answers are Options B and D.

9. When α = K, the characteristic polynomial is:

∆(s) = K(2s + 1) + s2 (s + 2)

The open-loop poles are at s = 0, 0, −2 and the open-loop zero is at s = −0.5. The angle
of asymptotes is ±90◦ , and the centroid is calculated as:

s = −0.75

The correct answer is -0.75.

10. The open-loop transfer function is:

K(s + 2)(s + 3)
G(s)H(s) =
s(s + 1)

4
 There are two open-loop poles at s = 0, −1 and two open-loop zeros at s = −2, −3. The
characteristic equation is:

s2 (K + 1) + s(5K + 1) + 6K = 0

Substituting s = σ + jω, equating the imaginary part to zero, and solving:

(σ + 1.5)2 + ω 2 = 0.75
√
This describes a circle centered at (−1.5, 0) with radius 0.75. The root locus plot can
be found below:

Thus, the correct answer is Option D.

11. The circle is formed after the root locus branches breaks away from the real axis, and till
it breaks in back into the real axis. Hence we have to nd the gains at the breakaway and
the break-in points. To find the breakaway and break-in points, we solve the characteristic
equation:
√
−(5K + 1) ± K 2 − 14K + 1
s=
2(K + 1)

Setting the discriminant to zero for equal roots:

K 2 − 14K + 1 = 0

Solving for K, the breakaway and break-in points are found at K = 0.0718, 13.9.
Thus, the correct answer is 13.9.

5
12. Maximum overshoot occurs when damping is at its minimum. The minimum damping
point on the root locus occurs where a line from the origin meets the root locus tangentially.
The minimum damping ratio occurs when the angle made by the line with the negative
real axis becomes maximum. since ζ = cos(θ), This angle, maximizing θ, is found using:
√
K 2 − 14K + 1
tan(θ) =
5K + 1
Taking the derivative and solving for the maximum θ (minimum damping/maximum over-
shoot), we get K = 0.33.
The correct answer is 0.33.