ECE 3151 - Spring 2010

Introduction to Control Systems

Prof. Marian S. Stachowicz

Laboratory for Intelligent Systems
ECE Department, University of Minnesota
Duluth

January 19 - 21, 2010

 Outline

1.1 Introduction
1.2 References for Reading
1.3 History of Automatic Control
1.4 Terms and Concepts
1.5 The Control System Design Process
1.6 Applications
1.7 Three Examples of the Use of Feedback

Control Systems
Introduction
 Control

• The word control is usually taken to

mean :
- regulate,
- direct,
- command.

Control Systems
 Control and politicians

• Control is a sequence of decisions aimed

at the attainment of specified objectives
in an environment of uncertainty and
presence of disturbances.

Control Systems
 Control system

• A control system is an arrangement of

physical components connected or
related in such a manner as to
command, direct, or regulate itself or
another system.

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Control Systems
 Input

• The input is the stimulus, excitation or

command applied to a control system.

• Typically from external energy source,

usually in order to produce a specified
response from the control system.

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 Output

• The output is the actual response

obtained from a control system.

• It may or may not be equal to specified

response implied by the input.

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 References for reading

2. R.C. Dorf and R.H. Bishop, Modern Control Systems,

10th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2008,
Chapter 1.1 - 1.10

2. J.J. DiStefano, A. R. Stubberud, I. J. Williams,

Feeedback and Control Systems, Schaum's Outline
Series, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1990
Chapters 1, 2

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History of Automatic Control

Control Systems
 Prior to World War II

A main impetus for the use of feedback in

the United States was the development of
the telephone system and electronic
feedback amplifiers by Bode, Nyquist,
and Black at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Control Systems
 Prior to World War II

The Russian theory tended to utilize a

time-domain formulation using differential
equations.

Control Systems
 World War II

Design and construct:

• automatic airplane pilots,
• gun-positioning systems,
• radar antenna control systems.

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 Sputnik and space age

The time-domain methods developed

by Liapunov, Minorsky, and others
have met with great interest in the
last two decades.

Control Systems
 Resent time

Recent theories of optimal control

developed by L.S. Pontryagin in the
former Soviet Union and R. Bellman
in the United States, and studies of
robust systems, have contributed to
the interest in time-domain methods.

Control Systems
Terms and Concepts

Control Systems
 Control system

• A control system is an interconnection of

components forming a system configuration
that will provide a desired system response.

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 Two Types of Control Systems

• Open Loop • Closed Loop

– No feedback – Must have feedback
– Difficult to control – Must have sensor on
output with accuracy output
– Almost always negative
feedback

Control Systems
 Open-loop control

An open-loop control system utilizes an

actuating device to control the process
directly without using feedback.

A common example of an open-loop

control system is an electric toaster in the
kitchen.

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Control Systems
 Closed-loop control

A closed-loop control system uses a

measurement of the output and feedback
of this signal to compare it with the
desired output.

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Control Systems
A person steering an automobile by looking at
the auto’s location on the road and making the
appropriate adjustments.

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Control Systems
 Manual control system

Goal: Regulate the level of fluid by adjusting the output valve.

The input is a reference level of fluid and is memorized by operator.

The power amplifier is the operator.
The sensor is visual.
Operator compares the actual level with the desired level and opens
or closes the valve ( actuator).

Intelligent Control 26
The level of fluid in a tank control.

Intelligent Control 27
Multivariable control system

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Control Systems