MTE 360 – Automatic Control Systems, W’13

University of Waterloo, Department of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering

Midterm Examination / February 15, 2013, 5:30-7:30 pm, E5-3101/3102

Closed book, one single-sided formula sheet, calculator and ruler allowed.

Note: Write your name and number on this sheet. Question and formula sheets will be collected at the end.

d(s)
G2(s)
r(s) + x(s)
K1(s) K2(s) G1(s) G3(s)
- -

Figure 1: Block diagram for Question 1.

Question #1 (30%): Figure 1 shows a control system, containing two cascaded loops, where the output x(s )
is influenced simultaneously by the command input r (s ) and the disturbance d (s ) , as:

x( s)  Gr  x ( s )r ( s)  Gd  x ( s) d ( s )

(a) Determine the command following transfer function Gr  x (s ) (12%)

(b) Determine the disturbance transfer function Gd  x (s ) (18%)

Question #2 (15%): Analyze the stability of the following characteristic polynomial using Routh criterion.

a( s )  s 6  5s 5  11s 4  15s 3  14s 2  10s  4

 ( s  10)
Question #3 (20%): An unstable plant with a transfer function: G ( s )  needs to be stabilized using
s( s  2)
feedback control. For this purpose, a PD controller in the form: K ( s)  K p  K d s is being considered.
Using Routh criterion:

(a) Investigate whether the PD controller can yield an internally stable closed-loop system;
(b) Illustrate the unstable (and, if any, stable) parameter tuning regions on a graph which considers the
proportional gain values ( K p ) as the x-axis, and the derivative gain values ( K d ) as the y-axis.

Question #4 (15%): The block diagram for an industrial servo system is shown in Figure 2, where r (s ) is the
commanded position, e(s ) is the tracking error, u (s ) is the control signal, and x(s ) is the output position. Find
the steady state value for the positioning error ( ess  lim e(t ) ), in terms of given control system parameters
t 
( K p , Ti , Td , Ta , L , K m , Tm ), when the position command is a constant acceleration input:
1 m!
r (t )  At 2 , where A : acceleration value, t : time [s]. Remember: L{t m }  .
2 s m 1

r e Kp (Ti s + 1) (Td s + 1) u Km x
e-Ls
- s (Ta s + 1) s (Tm s + 1)
Controller: K(s) Delay: D(s) Plant: G(s)

Figure 2: Industrial servo system block diagram.

MTE 360 Midterm Examination - p. 1 / 2

Question #5 (20%): The control system, shown in Figure 3, has been designed to control the revolute joint
angle (s ) of a robot arm. The control technique uses a proportional feedback gain K p , which multiplies the
positioning error e(s ) , and a derivative gain K d , which multiplies the measured rotational velocity (s ) , in
constructing the overall control signal u (s ) , such that u ( s )  K p e( s )  K d ( s ) . K p and K d were tuned by trial
and error to the values of K p = 2 Nm/rad, and K d = 0.05 Nm/(rad/s); until the position step response shown in
Figure 4 was obtained. Based on this information, determine the rotational inertia ( J ) and viscous damping
coefficient ( B ) values for the robot arm.

Response to 0.01 rad Step Command

0.012

0.010

e u 1 1 0.008
Kp
- - Js+B s
0.006
Kd
0.004
Figure 3: Joint angle control system.
0.002

0
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
time [s]
Figure 4: Response to step command, applied at t=0 [s].

Notes:

 In your solutions, show your derivations and calculation steps clearly.

 If you get stuck in one part of a problem and need to make an assumption to continue on, state your
assumption clearly.

!!! Good Luck !!!

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