TE-403: Control Systems

Lecture # 1
DR. SYED HAIDER ABBAS
 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System
Learning Outcome
 What is control system
 What are major control system applications
 What are main terminologies in control system
 What are control system analysis and design objectives
 What is control system’s design process
 What are advantages of control system

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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 Controlled Variable: The controlled variable is the quantity or condition that is
measured and controlled. Normally, the controlled variable is the output of the
system
 The control signal or manipulated variable: is the quantity or condition that is
varied by the controller so as to affect the value of the controlled variable.
 Control: Control means measuring the value of the controlled variable of the
system and applying the control signal to the system to correct or limit
deviation of the measured value from a desired value..

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System
 System: A collection of components which are coordinated together to perform
a function.
 Control System: Interconnection of components forming a system
configuration that will provide a desired system response.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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 Plants: A plant may be a piece of equipment, perhaps just a set of machine
parts functioning together, the purpose of which is to perform a particular
operation. In control systems, we call any physical object to be controlled (such
as a mechanical device, a heating furnace, a chemical reactor, or a spacecraft) a
plant.
 Processes: Any operation to be controlled is called a process. Examples are
chemical, economic, and biological processes.
 Disturbances: A disturbance is a signal that tends to adversely affect the value
of the output of a system. If a disturbance is generated within the system, it is
called internal, while an external disturbance is generated outside the system
and is an input.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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 Feedback Control: Feedback control refers to an operation that, in the
presence of disturbances, tends to reduce the difference between the output
of a system and some reference input and does so on the basis of this
difference.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System
Why we need control system:
 To regulate certain variables about constant values even when there are
disturbances.
 To force some parameter to vary in a specific manner.
Control methods
 ‘Manual’ control
 ‘Automatic’ control

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System
Examples of
Control System

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
System
Open-Loop Control System:
 In Open-loop Control System, the control action is independent of the output.
 Comparison between desired output and input is not taken place.
 The open-loop configuration does not monitor or measure the condition of its
output signal as there is no feedback.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Main Characteristics of Open-Loop Control System:
 There is no comparison between actual and desired values.
 An open-loop system has no self-regulation or control action over the output
value.
 Each input setting determines a fixed operating position for the controller.
 Changes or disturbances in external conditions does not result in a direct
output change (unless the controller setting is altered manually).

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System:
 An electric clothes dryer. Depending upon the amount of clothes or how wet
they are, a user or operator would set a timer (controller) to say 30 minutes
and at the end of the 30 minutes the drier will automatically stop and turn-off
even if the clothes where still wet or damp.
 The control action is the manual operator assessing the wetness of the clothes
and setting the process (the drier).
 Output signal is the dryness of the clothes.
 The accuracy of the drying process, or success of drying the clothes will depend
on the experience of the user (operator).

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System:
 The user may adjust or fine tune the drying process of the system at any time
by increasing or decreasing the timing controllers drying time, if they think that
the original drying process will not be met.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System:
 DC motor controller shown below is another example of open-loop control
system.
 The speed of rotation of the motor will depend upon the voltage supplied to
the amplifier (the controller) by the potentiometer.
 The value of the input voltage could be proportional to the position of the
potentiometer..

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System:
 Then the position of the potentiometers slider represents the input, which is
amplified by the amplifier (controller) to drive the DC motor (process) at a set
speed representing the output of the system. The motor will continue to rotate
at a fixed speed determined by the position of the potentiometer.
 As the signal path from the input to the output is a direct path not forming part
of any loop, the overall gain of the system will the cascaded values of the
individual gains from the potentiometer, amplifier, motor and load.
 It is clearly desirable that the output speed of the motor should be identical to
the position of the potentiometer, giving the overall gain of the system as unity.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System: Toaster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FurC2unHeXI

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Open-Loop Control System: Toaster
 Trial and error
 Disturbance ?
 Variation ?

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Advantages of Open-Loop Control System:
 The advantages of this type of “open-loop motor control” is that it is potentially cheap
 Simple to implement making it ideal for use in well-defined systems were the relationship between input and
output is direct and not influenced by any outside disturbances.
 There is no stability problem.
 Convenient when output is hard to measure or measuring the output precisely is
 economically not feasible.
Disadvantages of Open-Loop Control System:
 the accuracy of the system depends on calibration.
 In the presence of disturbances, an open-loop control system will not perform the desired task.
 Variation in the system changes the output

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Closed-Loop Control System:
 In Closed-loop Control System, the control action is dependent of the output.
 Comparison between desired output and input take place.
 Closed-loop Systems use feedback where a portion of the output signal is fed
back to the input to reduce errors and improve stability.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Closed-Loop Control System:
 A Closed-loop Control System, also known as a feedback control system is a
control system which uses the concept of an open loop system as its forward
path but has one or more feedback loops (hence its name) or paths between
its output and its input.
 The reference to “feedback”, simply means that some portion of the output is
returned “back” to the input to form part of the systems excitation.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Main Characteristics of Closed-Loop Control System:
 To reduce errors by automatically adjusting the systems input.
 To improve stability of an unstable system.
 To increase or reduce the systems sensitivity.
 To enhance robustness against external disturbances to the process.
 To produce a reliable and repeatable performance.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Closed-Loop Control System: An electric clothes dryer
 Suppose we used a sensor or transducer (input device) to continually monitor
the temperature or dryness of the clothes and feed a signal relating to the
dryness back to the controller as shown below.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Closed-Loop Control System: An electric clothes dryer
 This sensor would monitor the actual dryness of the clothes and compare it with (or subtract it
from) the input reference.
 The error signal (error = required dryness – actual dryness) is amplified by the controller.
 The controller output makes the necessary correction to the heating system to reduce any
error. If the clothes are too wet the controller may increase the temperature or drying time.
Likewise, if the clothes are nearly dry it may reduce the temperature or stop the process so as
not to overheat or burn the clothes, etc.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Closed-Loop Control System: An electric clothes dryer
 Because a closed-loop system has some knowledge of the output condition, (via the sensor) it
is better equipped to handle any system disturbances or changes in the conditions which may
reduce its ability to complete the desired task.
 If the dryer door opens and heat is lost, the deviation in temperature is detected by the
feedback sensor and the controller self-corrects the error to maintain a constant temperature
within the limits of the preset value. Or possibly stops the process and activates an alarm to
inform the operator.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Closed-Loop Control System: Closed-loop Motor Control
 Any external disturbances to the closed-loop motor control system such as the motors load
increasing would create a difference in the actual motor speed and the potentiometer input
set point.
 This difference would produce an error signal which the controller would automatically
respond too adjusting the motors speed. Then the controller works to minimize the error
signal, with zero error indicating actual speed which equals set point.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Disadvantages of Closed-Loop Control System:
 They are more complex to build
 Expensive
 It may create oscillatory response of the system due to feedback
 Reduces overall gain of the system
 Potentially unstable, under fault conditions

Advantages of Closed-Loop Control System:

 Accuracy due to constant monitoring
 Effect of disturbances are mitigated
 Removes errors between input and output

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Examples of Closed-Loop Control System: Toaster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NVjIIi9fkY&pbjreload=10
1
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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Example: 1

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to Control
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Design process
1. Select the actuators and sensors to be used. This step is most critical, and will affect the overall control
design greatly. Some of the features to look for are linearity, noise immunity, sensitivity, reliability, and
accuracy
2. Develop a Mathematical model
3. Establish a set of performance specifications. To judge whether a particular design is good, effective, or
unacceptable the following are commonly used criteria: a) Transient Response b) Steady-state
Response c) Stability d) Robustness with respect to plant uncertainties e) Reliability with respect to
sensor or actuator failure f) Design simplicity g) Energy conservation
4. Develop the controller
5. Develop simulation to test the controller design
6. Hardware-In-loop (HIL) test

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Thank You

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