University of Misan

College of Engineering CONTROL |

Electrical Engineering
Department Hisham Altai

Definitions:

1- Control Systems: A system is a combination of components that

act together to perform a specific goal.
2- Reference input: It is the actual signal input to the control
system.
3- Controlled variable (output): the quantity that must be
maintained at prescribed value.
4- Disturbance: An unwanted input signal that affects the output
signal.

Open-Loop control system: A system in which the output has no

effect on the input action. In other words, the output is neither
measured nor fed back for comparison with the input. One practical
example is a washing machine.

Disturbance
Input

Reference signal
Controlled
Plant variable
(Output)
Summing point

Figure 1 Open-Loop Control System.

1
1- Closed-Loop Control System: A system in which the output has
an effect on the input quantity in a way that can maintain the
desired output value. An example is a room temperature control
system.
Forward Path

Error Contro
Reference Signal l Controlled
Controller Signal Plant variable
(Output)

Measured
Sensor
Feedback Path

Figure 2 Closed-loop control system

Controller 2 Controller 1

Desired Actual
output Inner loop output
response

Outer loop Sensor 1

Sensor 2
Figure 3 Multiloop feedback system with an inner loop and an outer loop.

Closed-Loop versus Open-Loop Control Systems.

Closed-Loop:

 The use of feedback makes the system response insensitive to

external disturbances and internal variations in system parameters.
 More complicated and more expensive comparing with Open-Loop.
Open-Loop
 The open-loop control system is easier to build because system
stability is not a major problem.

2
  It is sensitive to external disturbances.

2- Plants: The device, process, or system that need to be controlled.

3- Control unit (dynamic element): the unit that reacts to an actuating
signal to produce a desired output. This unit does the work of
controlling the output and thus may be a power amplifier.
4- Feedback control system: The unit that provides the means for
feeding back the output quantity, or a function of the output, in order
to compare it with the reference input.
5- Actuating signal: The signal that is difference between the
reference input and the feedback signal if actuates the control unit
in order to maintain the output of the desired value.
6- The sensor or measuring element is a device that converts the
output variable into another suitable variable, such as a
displacement, pressure, voltage, etc.
7- The actuator is a power device that produces the input to the plant
according to the control signal so that the output signal will
approach the reference input signal.
8- Automatic Controllers. An automatic controller compares the actual
value of the plant output with the reference input (desired value), determines
the deviation, and produces a control signal that will reduce the deviation to
zero or to a small value.

3
Figure 4 Block diagram of an industrial control system, which consists of an automatic controller, an actuator, a plant, and a
sensor

 The controller detects the actuating error signal, which is usually at

a very low power level, and amplifies it to a sufficiently high level
Examples of control systems

Room temperature control system

The output signal from a temperature sensing device such as a

thermocouple or a resistance thermometer is compared with the desired
temperature. Any difference or error causes the controller to send a
control signal to the gas solenoid valve which produces a linear
movement of the valve stem, thus adjusting the flow of gas to the
burner of the gas fire. The desired temperature is usually obtained from
manual adjustment of a potentiometer.

4
 Figure 5 Room temperature control system

Figure 6 Block diagram of room temperature control system.

Steady conditions will exist when the actual and desired

temperatures are the same, and the heat input exactly balances the heat
loss through the walls of the building.

 The system can operate in two modes:

a) Proportional control: Here the linear movement of the valve
stem is proportional to the error. This provides a continuous
modulation of the heat input to the room producing very precise
temperature control. This is used for applications where
temperature control, of say better than l °C, is required (i.e.
hospital operating theatres, industrial standards rooms, etc.)
where accuracy is more important than cost.
5
 b) On-off control: Also called thermostatic or bang-bang control,
the gas valve is either fully open or fully closed, i.e. the heater is
either on or off. This form of control produces an oscillation of
about 2 or 3 °C, of the actual temperature about the desired
temperature, but is cheap to implement and is used for low-cost
applications (i.e. domestic heating systems).

Laplace transform

In order to compute the time response of a dynamic system, it is

necessary to solve the differential equations (system mathematical
model) for given inputs. Laplace transform is one of the favored ways
by control engineers to do this. This technique transforms the problem
from the time (or t) domain to the Laplace (or s) domain. The advantage
in doing this is that complex time domain differential equations
become relatively simple s domain algebraic equations. When a
suitable solution is arrived at, it is inverse transformed back to the time
domain.
∞
ℒ [𝑓(𝑡)] = ∫ 𝑓(𝑡)𝑒 −𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑡 = 𝐹(𝑠)
0

Where 𝑠 is complex variable 𝜎 ± 𝑗𝜔 and is called the Laplace operator.

Example: Find Laplace transform for

1- 𝒇(𝒕) = 𝟏
2- 𝒇(𝒕) = 𝒆−𝒂𝒕
1-

6
 ∞
𝓛[𝒇(𝒕)] = ∫ 𝟏𝒆−𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝟎

𝟏 −𝒔𝒕 ∞
= [− (𝒆 )]
𝒔 𝟎
𝟏 𝟏
= [− (𝟎 − 𝟏)] =
𝒔 𝒔
2-
∞
𝓛[𝒇(𝒕)] = 𝑭(𝒔) = ∫ 𝒆−𝒂𝒕 𝒆−𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝟎
∞
∫ 𝒆−(𝒔+𝒂)𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝟎
∞
𝟏 −(𝒔+𝒂)𝒕
[− (𝒆 )]
𝒔+𝒂 𝟎
𝟏
[− (𝟎 − 𝟏)]
𝒔+𝒂
𝟏
𝒔+𝒂

Derivatives: the Laplace transform of a time derivative is

𝒅𝒏
𝒏
𝒇(𝒕) = 𝒔𝒏 𝑭(𝑺) − 𝒇(𝟎)𝒔𝒏−𝟏 − 𝒇′ (𝟎)𝒔𝒏−𝟐 − ⋯
𝒅𝒕

Where 𝑓(0), 𝑓 ′ (0) are the initial conditions, or the values of

𝑑
𝑓(𝑡), 𝑓(𝑡) etc. 𝑎𝑡 𝑡 = 0.
𝑑𝑡

Example: Find the Laplace transform of the following differential

equation given:

𝑑𝑥0
(a) Initial conditions 𝑥𝑜 = 4, =3
𝑑𝑡

(b) Zero initial conditions

7
 𝒅𝟐 𝒙𝒐 𝒅𝒙𝒐
+ 𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙𝒐 = 𝟓
𝒅𝒕𝟐 𝒅𝒕

Solution
𝒅𝒙𝟎
(a) Initial conditions 𝒙𝒐 = 𝟒, =𝟑
𝒅𝒕
𝟓
(𝒔𝟐 𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) − 𝟒𝒔 − 𝟑) + 𝟑(𝒔𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) − 𝟒) + 𝟐𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) =
𝒔

𝟓
𝒔𝟐 𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) + 𝟑𝒔𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) + 𝟐𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) = + 𝟒𝒔 + 𝟑 + 𝟏𝟐
𝒔
𝟓 + 𝟒𝒔𝟐 + 𝟏𝟓𝒔
(𝒔𝟐 + 𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐)𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) =
𝒔
𝟒𝒔𝟐 + 𝟏𝟓𝒔 + 𝟓
𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) =
𝒔(𝒔𝟐 + 𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐)
(b) Zero initial conditions
𝒅𝒙𝒐
At 𝒕 = 𝟎, 𝒙𝒐 = 𝟎 =𝟎
𝒅𝒕

𝟓
𝒔𝟐 𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) + 𝟑𝒔𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) + 𝟐𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) =
𝒔
𝟓
𝑿𝒐 (𝒔) =
𝒔(𝒔𝟐 + 𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐)
Table 1 Common Laplace transform pairs

Time function 𝒇 ( 𝒕 ) Laplace transform 𝓛[𝒇(𝒕)] = 𝑭(𝒔)

1- Unit impulse 𝟏

𝟏
2- Unit step 1
𝒔

𝟏
3- Unit ramp 𝒕
𝒔𝟐

𝒏!
4- 𝒕𝒏
𝒔𝒏+𝟏

8
 𝟏
5- 𝒆−𝒂𝒕
𝒔+𝒂

𝟏
6- 𝟏 − 𝒆−𝒂𝒕
𝒔+𝒂

𝝎
7- 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝎𝒕
𝒔𝟐 +𝝎𝟐

𝒔
8- 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕
𝒔𝟐 +𝝎𝟐

𝝎
9- 𝒆−𝒂𝒕 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝎𝒕
(𝒔+𝝎)𝟐 +𝝎𝟐

𝒂 𝒔
10- 𝒆−𝒂𝒕 (𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎𝒕 − 𝝎 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝎𝒕)
(𝒔+𝝎)𝟐 +𝝎𝟐

Inverse transform

−1 [
1 𝜎+𝑗𝜔
𝑓(𝑡) = ℒ 𝐹(𝑠)] = ∫ 𝐹 (𝑠)𝑒 𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑠
2𝜋𝑗 𝜎−𝑗𝜔

In practice, inverse transformation is most easily achieved by using

partial fractions to break down solutions into standard components,
and then use tables of Laplace transform pairs

9
 Table 2 Common partial fraction pairs

Example: Find Laplace inverse transform for:

3𝑠+2
𝑠(𝑠+1)

Solution
𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐 𝑨 𝑩
= +
𝒔(𝒔 + 𝟏) 𝒔 𝒔 + 𝟏
𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐 = 𝑨(𝒔 + 𝟏) + 𝑩𝒔
𝟑𝒔 + 𝟐 = (𝑨 + 𝑩)𝒔 + 𝑨
𝑨=𝟐

10
 (𝟐 + 𝑩) = 𝟑
𝑩=𝟏
𝟐 𝟏
𝓛−𝟏 [ + ] = 𝟐 + 𝒆−𝒕
𝒔 𝒔+𝟏

Transfer function

The function of a linear time invariant differential equation system

is defined as the ratio of Laplace transform of the output( response
function) to the Laplace transform of the input(drive function) under
the assumption that all initial conditions are zero.

Where:

𝒙 is the input

𝒚 is the output

𝓛[𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕]
𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 = 𝑮(𝒔) = | |
𝓛[𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕] 𝒛𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔

𝒀(𝒔) 𝒃𝟎 𝒔𝒎 + 𝒃𝟏 𝒔𝒎−𝟏 + ⋯ + 𝒃𝒎−𝟏 𝒔 + 𝒃𝒎

= =
𝑿(𝒔) 𝒂𝟎 𝒔𝒏 + 𝒂𝟏 𝒔𝒏−𝟏 + ⋯ + 𝒃𝒏−𝟏 𝒔 + 𝒃𝒏

Block Diagrams. A block diagram of a system is a pictorial

representation of the functions performed by each component and of
the flow of signals.

11
 Figure 7 Element of a block diagram.

Summing Point: A circle with a cross is the symbol that indicates a

summing operation. The plus or minus sign at each arrowhead indicates
whether that signal is to be added or subtracted.

Figure 8 Summing point

Branch Point: A branch point is a point from which the signal from a
block goes concurrently to other blocks or summing points.
Open-Loop Transfer Function and Feedforward Transfer Function

 The ratio of the feedback signal B(s) to the actuating error signal E(s) is
called the open-loop transfer function. That is,

𝑩(𝒔)
𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏 − 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = = 𝑮(𝒔)𝑯(𝒔)
𝑬(𝒔)

 The ratio of the output C(s) to the actuating error signal E(s) is called the
feedforward transfer function, so that

𝑪(𝒔)
𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = = 𝑮(𝒔)
𝑬(𝒔)
12
 If the feedback transfer function H(s) is unity, then the open-loop transfer
function and the feedforward transfer function are the same.

 Closed-Loop Transfer Function. For the system shown above, the

output C(s) and input R(s) are related as follows: since

𝑪(𝒔) = 𝑮(𝒔)𝑬(𝒔)

𝑬(𝒔) = 𝑹(𝒔) − 𝑩(𝒔)

= 𝑹(𝒔) − 𝑯(𝒔)𝑪(𝒔)

 Eliminating E(s) from these equations gives

𝑪(𝒔) = 𝑮(𝒔) [𝑹(𝒔) − 𝑯(𝒔)𝑪(𝒔)]

𝑪(𝒔) 𝑮(𝒔)
=
𝑹(𝒔) 𝟏 + 𝑯(𝒔)𝑪(𝒔)

13
Closed-Loop System Subjected to a Disturbance.

Figure 9 Closed-loop system subjected to disturbance

 In examining the effect of the disturbance D(s), we may assume that the
reference input is zero; we may then calculate the response CD(s) to the
disturbance only. This response can be found from

𝑪𝑫 (𝒔) 𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)
=
𝑫(𝒔) 𝟏 + 𝑮𝟏 (𝒔)𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)𝑯(𝒔)

 On the other hand, in considering the response to the reference input

R(s), we may assume that the disturbance is zero. Then the response
CR(s) to the reference input R(s) can be obtained from

𝑪𝑹 (𝒔) 𝑮𝟏 (𝒔)𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)

=
𝑹(𝒔) 𝟏 + 𝑮𝟏 (𝒔)𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)𝑯(𝒔)

𝑪(𝒔) = 𝑪𝑫 (𝒔) + 𝑪𝑹 (𝒔)

𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)
= [𝑮 𝑹(𝒔) + 𝑫(𝒔)]
𝟏 + 𝑮𝟏 (𝒔)𝑮𝟐 (𝒔)𝑯(𝒔) 𝟏
References

1- Ogata, Katsuhiko, and Yanjuan Yang. "Modern control engineering." (1970): 1.

2- Burns, Roland. Advanced control engineering. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.

3- Dorf, Richard C. Modern control systems. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing

Co., Inc., 1995.

14