NPTEL

Control Engineering
Sept.-Dec. 2020
Solution: Assignment 1
1. Consider a system, call it System 1 : y(t) = x(t) + c, where x(t), y(t) and c are input, output and
bias(constant) respectively. Now consider another system, call it System 2 : z(t) = x(t) where
x(t) and z(t) are input and output respectively of the System 2.

(a) System 1 is linear and System 2 is not linear.

(b) System 1 is not linear and System 2 is linear. [Correct]
(c) Both System 1 and System 2 are linear.
(d) None of the system is linear.

Solution:
A linear system satisfies the properties of superposition and homogeneity.
• System 1 : y(t) = x(t) + c is not linear because, for y1 (t) = x1 (t) + c, y2 (t) = x2 (t) + c

a1 y1 (t) + a2 y2 (t) = a1 x1 (t) + a2 x2 (t) + 2c 6= a1 x1 (t) + a2 x2 (t) + c

• System 2 : z(t) = x(t) is linear because, for z1 (t) = x1 (t), z2 (t) = x2 (t)

a1 z1 (t) + a2 z2 (t) = a1 x1 (t) + a2 x2 (t)

satisfies both homogeneity and superposition property.

2. The system y(t) = 2x(t) + x2 (t − 1) + x(t + a) (where a < 0) is,
(a) Linear, Static and Causal
(b) Linear, Static and Non-Causal
(c) Nonlinear, Dynamical and Non-Causal
(d) Nonlinear, Dynamic and Causal [Correct]
Solution:

• The system is non linear since y(t) depends on x(t)2 which does not satisfies superposition
property.

a1 y1 (t) + a2 y2 (t) = 2a1 x1 (t) + a1 x21 (t − 1) + a1 x1 (t + a) + 2a2 x2 (t) + a2 x22 (t − 1) + a2 x2 (t + a)

6= 2(a1 x1 (t) + a2 x2 (t)) + (a1 x1 (t − 1) + a2 x2 (t − 1))2 + a1 x1 (t + a) + + + a2 x2 (t + a)

• The system is Dynamic since it depends on past values, since it contains the term x(t + a) and
x2 (t − 1).
• The system is causal since it only depends on past and present values of the input.
3. Consider the system y(t) = tx(2t + 2), where y(t) and x(t) are output and input respectively. The
system is

1
 (a) Linear, Time variant, Causal
(b) Linear, Time invariant, Causal
(c) Linear, Time variant, Non-Causal [Correct]
(d) Nonlinear, Time invariant, Causal
(e) Nonlinear, Time invariant, Non-Causal
(f) Nonlinear, Time variant, Causal
Solution:

• The system is linear since,

a1 y1 (t) + a2 y2 (t) = a1 tx1 (2t + 2) + a2 tx2 (2t + 2) = t(a1 x1 (2t + 2) + a2 x2 (2t + 2))

satisfies both homogeneity and superposition property.

• The system is time variant, since y(t − t1 ) = x(2(t − t1 ) + 2) 6= x(2t − t1 + 2).
• The system is non causal it depends on the future value of the input.
4. Which of the following term represents the loss of energy (friction) in the model equation of a cruse
control for a car, whose dynamics is given as
B F
v̇ + v=
M M
where v is the velocity of the car.

(a) v̇
B
(b) Mv [Correct]
F
(c) M
(d) There is no loss in the system
Solution:
B
The term associated with velocity Mv is due to the friction in the model.

5. In order to get the time period of a simple pendulum as half the initial time period, the length of
the string should be
(Hint: The time period of a simple pendulum is defined as the time taken by the pendulum to finish
one full oscillation.)
1
(a) 4 of the initial length [Correct]
1
(b) 2 of the initial length
(c) 2 times the initial length
(d) 4 times the initial length
Solution:
Time period of the simple pendulum is given by,
s
L
T = 2π
g

2
 For Time period,
1
T = Tprev
2
s s
L Lprev
2π =π
g g
s s
L Lprev
2 =
g g
L Lprev
4 =
g g
1
L= Lprev
4

6. Consider the system shown below.

y1

b
m1 u

k1

where u is the force applied to the cart, y1 is the position of the cart, m1 is the mass of the cart,
and k1 and b are spring and damping coefficients.
Which of the following equation correctly model the system?
2
(a) m1 ddty21 + b dy
dt − k1 y1 = u
1

2
(b) m1 ddty21 + b dy
dt + k1 y1 = u [Correct]
1

2
(c) m1 ddty21 − b dy
dt + k1 y1 = u
1

2
(d) m1 ddty21 − b dy
dt − k1 y1 = u
1

Solution:
The dynamics of the system is calculated by equating the applied force, force due to acceleration
of the body and the damping forces.
d2 y1 dy1
m1 =u−b − k 1 y1
dt2 dt
d2 y1 dy1
m1 2
+b + k1 y1 = u
dt dt

3
7. Consider the electrical circuit shown below.

R1 R2

i1 (t) i2 (t)

+ L +
v(t) vC (t)
−
C −

Which of the following differential equation represents the voltage v(t) dynamics?

(a) R1 i1 (t) − L didt

1 (t)
+ L didt
2 (t)
= v(t)
(b) R1 i1 (t) + L didt
1 (t)
− L didt
2 (t)
= v(t) [Correct]
(c) R1 i1 (t) − L didt
1 (t)
− L didt
2 (t)
= v(t)
(d) R1 i1 (t) + L didt
1 (t)
+ L di2dt(t)s = v(t)

Solution:
Applying KVL in the first loop we get,

di1 (t) di2 (t)

R1 i1 (t) + L( − ) = v(t)
dt dt

8. What is the equation pertaining to Kirchhoff’s current law at Node 1 in the following circuit

Node 1

+
L R
I V
−

where V is the voltage across the resistor R, L is the inductor, and I is the current source.

(a) I = VR + L V dt
R

4
 (b) I = V R + L dV
dt
(c) I = VR + L1 V dt [Correct]
R

(d) I = V R + L1 V dt
R

Solution:
The voltage at Node 1 is V . Applying KCL at Node 1, we get
Z
V 1
+ V dt − I = 0
R L
Z
V 1
I= + V dt
R L

9. Consider the following variant of predator-prey model, where x is the number of preys and y is the
number of predators.

dx
= 5x − 2x2 − 4xy
dt
dy
= y − 3y 2 + xy
dt
The equilibrium point(s) of the system are
(a) x = 0 , y = 0 [Correct]
(b) x = −∞ , y = 0
11 7
(c) x = 10 , y = 10 [Correct]
21 17
(d) x = 10 , y = 10

Solution:
The equilibrium points of the system are given by equating
dx
=0
dt
dy
=0
dt

which implies,

5x − 2x2 − 4xy = 0
y − 3y 2 + xy = 0

11 7
The solutions to above equations are x = 0, y = 0 and x = 10 , y = 10 .

10. Consider the predator prey model given in the previous question (Q9). What happens when the
number of preys are zero?
(a) Population of predators reaches to zero asymptotically
(b) Population of predators reaches to a constant asymptotically [Correct]
(c) Population of predators starts to increase

5
(d) Population of predators does not change from initial population.
Solution:
Given that the number of preys is zero, that is, x = 0. The system dynamics reduces to
dx
=0
dt
dy
= y − 3y 2
dt

So now we solve,
dy
= y − 3y 2
dt

to get the population of predators y.

dy
= dt
y − 3y 2
Z Z
dy
= dt
y(1 − 3y)
Z Z
1 3
( + )dy = dt
y (1 − 3y)
ln y − ln (1 − 3y) = t + C
y
ln ( )=t+C
1 − 3y
y
= C 1 et
1 − 3y
1
− 3 = C2 e−t
y
1
y=
C2 e−t + 3
1 1
So, y(t) = C2 e−t +3 , as t →
− ∞ y(t) →
− 3. Hence, population of predators reaches to a constant
asymptotically.