Control Systems I

Lecture 9: The Nyquist condition

Readings: Guzzella, Chapter 9.4–6

Åstrom and Murray, Chapter 9.1–4
www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/amwiki/index.php/First_Edition

Emilio Frazzoli

Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control

D-MAVT
ETH Zürich

November 17, 2017

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Tentative schedule

# Date Topic
1 Sept. 22 Introduction, Signals and Systems
2 Sept. 29 Modeling, Linearization
3 Oct. 6 Analysis 1: Time response, Stability
4 Oct. 13 Analysis 2: Diagonalization, Modal coordi-
nates.
5 Oct. 20 Transfer functions 1: Definition and properties
6 Oct. 27 Transfer functions 2: Poles and Zeros
7 Nov. 3 Analysis of feedback systems: internal stability,
root locus
8 Nov. 10 Frequency response
9 Nov. 17 Analysis of feedback systems 2: the Nyquist
condition
10 Nov. 24 Specifications for feedback systems
11 Dec. 1 Loop Shaping
12 Dec. 8 PID control
13 Dec. 15 Implementation issues
14 Dec. 22 Robustness

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Putting it all together: Bode plots for complicated transfer functions

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Example

Sketch the Bode plots of

s +4
G (s) = 100
s(s 2 + 10s + 100)

First thing: write the transfer function in the “Bode” form:

s/4 + 1
G (s) = 4
s(s 2 /100 + s/10 + 1)

Second: draw the Bode plot for each factor in the transfer function.

Third: add all of the above together to get the final Bode plot.

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Example

(s/4 + 1)
G (s) = 4
s(s 2 /100 + s/10 + 1)
Bode Diagram
60

40
Magnitude (dB)

20

-20

-40

-60
90

45

0
Phase (deg)

-45

-90

-135

-180

-225

-270
10 -2 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2
Frequency (rad/s)

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Example

(s/4 + 1)
G (s) = 4
s(s 2 /100 + s/10 + 1)
Bode Diagram
60

40
Magnitude (dB)

20

-20

-40

-60
90

45

0
Phase (deg)

-45

-90

-135

-180

-225

-270
10 -2 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2
Frequency (rad/s)

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Example

(s/4 + 1)
G (s) = 4
s(s 2 /100 + s/10 + 1)
Bode Diagram
60

40
Magnitude (dB)

20

-20

-40

-60
90

45

0
Phase (deg)

-45

-90

-135

-180

-225

-270
10 -2 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2
Frequency (rad/s)

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Bode’s Law

In the Bode plot, the magnitude slope and the phase are not independent.

In particular, if the system is open-loop stable and minimum-phase, then if

the slope of the Bode magnitude plot is  db/decade over a range of more
than ⇡ 1 decade, the phase in that range will be approximately  · 90 .

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 The polar plot

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The polar plot

In the polar plot, the frequency response G (j!) is plotted on the complex
plane as a parametric function of !.

No special rules for drawing it, but the same principles we used in the Bode
plot apply.

In fact, it is convenient to sketch a Bode plot first, so that we can have a

good idea of what the polar plot looks like, especially in view of the following.

The only things that really matter in the polar plot are:

Where the plot intersects the unit circle (|G (j!)| = 1)

Where the plot crosses the real axis (\G (j!) = l · 180 ).

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Polar plot — Integrator

Im

Re

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Polar plot — single real, stable pole

Im

Re

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Polar plot — complex-conjugate, stable poles

Im

Re

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Polar plot — complicated transfer function

Bode Diagram
60 Im
40
Magnitude (dB)

20

-20

-40

-60
90

45
Re
0
Phase (deg)

-45

-90

-135

-180

-225

-270
10 -2 10 -1 10 0 10 1 10 2
Frequency (rad/s)

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 Towards Nyquist’s theorem

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The principle of variation of the argument

Let D ⇢ C be a bounded, simply-connected region of the complex plane, and

let be its boundary.
As s moves along the closed curve , G (s) describes another closed curve.
Im Im
G(s)

D
Re Re

Remarkable fact: The number of times G (s) encircles the origin, or,
equivalently, the total variation in its argument \G (s), as s moves along ,
counts the number of zeros and poles of G (s) in D.

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No poles/zeros in D
Remember that if G (s) = (s z)/(s p), then \G (s) = \(s z) \(s p).
If D contains no poles/zeros, the net variation of the argument of \G (s)
across one complete cycle of is zero.

Im

Re

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A zero in D
Remember that if G (s) = (s z)/(s p), then \G (s) = \(s z) \(s p).
If D contains one zero, the net variation of the argument of \G (s) across
one complete cycle of is 2⇡.
Im

Re

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A pole in D
Remember that if G (s) = (s z)/(s p), then \G (s) = \(s z) \(s p).
If D contains one pole, the net variation of the argument of \G (s) across
one complete cycle of is 2⇡.

Im

Re

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The general case
Im

Re

N=Z-P
Theorem (Variation of the argument [Proof in A&M, pp. 277–278])
The number N of times that G (s) encircles the origin of the complex plane as s
moves along the boundary of a bounded simply-connected region of the plane
satisfies
N = Z P,
where Z and P are the numbers of zeros and poles of G (s) in D, respectively.
Note that the encirclements are counted positive if in the same direction as s
moves along , and negative otherwise.

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How do we use these results for feedback control?

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The Nyquist or D contour

For closed-loop stability, the closed-loop poles, which corresponds to the

roots (i.e., zeros!) of the characteristic polynomial 1 + kL(s), must have
negative real part.

The poles of 1 + kL(s) are also the poles of L(s).

Construct the region D as a D-shaped region containing an arbitrarily large

(but finite) part of the complex right-half plane.

As s moves along the boundary of this region, 1 + kL(s) encircles the origin
N = Z P times, where

Z is the number of unstable closed-loop poles (zeros of 1 + kL(s) in the rhp);

P is the number of unstable open-loop poles (poles of 1 + kL(s) in the rhp);

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The Nyquist plot

The previous statement can be rephrased:

As s moves along the boundary of this region, L(s) encircles the 1/k point
N = Z P times, where
Z is the number of unstable closed-loop poles (zeros of 1 + kL(s) in the
Nyquist contour);
P is the number of unstable open-loop poles (poles of 1 + kL(s) in the
Nyquist contour);

Symmetry of poles/zeros about the real axis implies that

\L( j!) = \L(j!),

hence the plot of L(s) when s moves on the boundary of the Nyquist contour
is just the polar plot + its symmetric plot about the real axis. This is what is
called the Nyquist plot.
The key feature of the Nyquist plot is the number of encirclements of the
1/k point.

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The Nyquist condition

Theorem
Consider a closed-loop system with loop transfer function kL(s), which has P
poles in the region enclosed by the Nyquist contour. Let N be the net number of
clockwise encirclements of 1/k by L(s) when s moves along the Nyquist contour
in the clockwise direction. The closed loop system has Z = N + P poles in the
Nyquist contour.

In particular:

If the open-loop system is stable, the closed-loop system is stable as long as

the Nyquist plot of L(s) does NOT encircle the 1/k point.

If the open-loop system has P poles, the closed-loop system is stable as long
as the Nyquist plot of L(s) encircles the 1/k point P times in the negative
(counter-clockwise) direction.

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Nyquist condition — single real, stable pole

2
L(s) =
s +1
Im Im

Re Re

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Nyquist condition — open-loop unstable system

s +2 s +2
L(s) = =
s2 1 s2 + 1
Im Im

Re Re

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Dealing with open-loop poles on the imaginary axis

Im

If there are open-loop poles on the

imaginary axis, make small
“indentations” in the Nyquist
contour, e.g., leaving the imaginary
poles on the left. Re
Be careful on how you close the
Nyquist plot “at infinity:” If moving
CCW around the poles, then close
the plot CW.

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Nyquist — poles on the imaginary axis

2
L(s) =
(s 2 + 1)(s + 1)
Im Im

Re Re

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The Nyquist condition on Bode plots

If the open-loop is stable, then we know that in order for the closed-loop to
be stable the Nyquist plot of L(s) should NOT encircle the 1 point.

In other words, |L(j!)| < 1 whenever \L(j!) = 180 .

On the Bode plot, this means that the magnitude plot should be below the 0
dB line if/when the phase plot crosses the 180 line.

Remember that this condition is valid only if the open loop is stable. In all
other cases (including non-minimum phase zeros) it is strongly recommended
to double check any conclusion on closed-loop stability using other methods
(Nyquist, root locus).

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Gain and Phase Margin
The “distance” from the Nyquist plot to the 1 point is a measure of robustness.
On the bode plot, it is easy to measure this distance in terms of gain and phase
margin.
Bode Diagram
40

20

0
Magnitude (dB)

-20

-40

-60

-80

-100

-120
-90

-135
Phase (deg)

-180

-225

-270
-1
E. Frazzoli 10
(ETH) 10 0 1
10 Systems I
Lecture 9: Control 10 2 103
17/11/2017 30 / 31
Summary
In this lecture, we learned:
How to sketch a polar plot (and hence a Nyquist plot), based on Bode plots
The Nyquist condition to determine closed-loop stability using a Nyquist plot.
How to check the Nyquist condition on a Bode plot.
How to quickly assess the “robustness” of a feedback control system.
Now we have three graphical methods to study closed-loop stability given the
(open-)loop transfer function.
1 Root locus: always correct if applicable (assumes finite-dimensional system)
2 Nyquist: always correct, always appplicable;
3 Bode: very useful for control system design, however may be misleading in
determining closed-loop stability (e.g., for open-loop unstable systems).

So far we have only looked at analysis issues, i.e., how to determine

closed-loop stability; from now on we will concentrate on control synthesis,
i.e., how to design a feedback control system that makes a system behave as
desired.

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