Electromechanical System Transfer Functions

An electromechanical systems is a hybrid system of electrical and mechanical variables. This system has
a lot of application for examples

• an antenna azimuth position control system

• robot and robot arm controls

• sun and star trackers

• disk-drive position controls

Kb dθm (t)
• vb(t)= where vb(t) is the back electromotive force (back emf); Kb is a constant of
dt
proportionality called the back emf constant.

• The relationship between the armature current, ia(t) , the applied armature voltage, ea(t), and the
back emf, vb(t) is:

La d i a (t)
Ra i a (t)+ +vb (t)=ea ( t)
dt

• The torque developed by the motor is proportional to the armature current; thus τm (t)=Ktia(t ),
where τm (t)is the torque developed by the motor, and Kt is a constant for proportionality, called the
motor torque constant.

• Taking the Laplace transform of both relationship and substituting Ia(s) into the mesh equation, we
have

The figure shows a typical equivalent mechanical loading on a motor. We have

Substituting ˆ τm( s)into the armature equation yields

Assuming that the armature inductance, La is small compared to the armature resistance, Ra, the
equation become

After simplification, the desired transfer function is

Example of Electromechanical System Transfer Functions:

DC motor driving a rotational mechanical load

A motor with inertia Ja and damping ba at the armature driving a load consisting of inertia JL and
damping bL. Assuming that Ja , JL , ba , and bL are known. Then, we have

At the load side, we obtain

Substituting the ˆ τ 1( s) back to the motor side equation, the equivalent equation is
Or the equivalent inertial, Jm, and the equivalent damping, bm , at the armature are

Next step, we going to find the electrical constants by using a dynamometer test of motor. This can be
done by measuring the torque and speed of a motor under the condition of a constant applied voltage.
Substituting Vb(s)=KbsΘm( s) and ˆ τm( s)=KtIa (s) in to the Laplace transformed armature circuit,
with La=0, yields

Taking the inverse Laplace transform, we get

If ea(t) is a DC voltage, at the steady state, the motor should turn a a constant speed, ωm, with a
constant torque, τm. With this, we have

• ¿ 0 , the value of torque is called the stall torque, τstall . Thus

•τm=0 , the angular velocity becomes no-load speed, ωno−load . Thus

Electromechanical Systems

 Potentiometers

Perhaps the simplest coupled electromechanical system is the rotary potentiometer. The image below
shows how a potentiometer works, followed by a photograph of an actual potentiometer.

Typically an arc of resistive material is laid between the connection labelled "A" and "B," as
shown. A conductive "wiper" lies upon the resistive material. This wiper can rotate about the center of
the potentiometer while maintaining electrical contact with the terminal labelled "w." The resistance
between the wiper and "A" is labelled R1, the resistance between the wiper and "B" is labelled R22. The
total resistance between "A" and "B" is constant, R1+R2=Rtot. If the potentiometer is turned to the
extreme counter clockwise position such that the wiper is touching "A" we will call this θ=0; in this
position R1=0 and R2=Rtot. If the wiper is in the extreme clockwise position such that it is touching "B"
we will call this θ=θmax; in this position R1=Rtot and R2=0.

To see one way in which a potentiometer can be used to sense angular position, consider the circuit
below. The image at the left shows the potentiometer. The image on the right shows the equivalent
circuit in terms of R1 and R2.
 Although the potentiometer discussed here encodes angular position, it is also possible to lay
out the resistive material in a straight line and encode linear position; this is called, unsurprisingly, a
linear potentiometer.

 Magnetically Couple Systems

A large class of electromechanical systems, including motors, generators, and speakers, depend on
the coupling between currents in moving wires and electromagnetic fields. The topic is an extremely
broad one, and we will consider only static magnetic fields and currents and motion that are
perpendicular to those fields.

 Loop of wire in a magnetic field

Many of the electromechanical devices we will discuss rely on multiple loops of wire moving in a
magnetic field. Before moving on to multiple loops, we will start with simple images involving only one
loop. The wire has the following characteristics:

-it is in a static magnetic field of strength β,

-it is connected to an external voltage source (ein) and the end of the loop connected toward the,
positive terminal of the source is red, the side connected to the negative terminal is brown,
-the wire has an intrinsic resistance R,
-the loop is free to rotate about the centerline (dashed grey line),
the "radius" of the wire (distance from centerline) is given by "a,"
-the length of wire in the magnetic field is given by ℓ,
-the positive direction of rotation is in the clockwise direction, and
-current is defined to be positive in the direction shown
 The induced force on the red section of the wire is downwards (current is into the page, and
magnetic field is to the right, so the cross product is down). The force on the brown section is upwards.

Likewise we find that the induced voltage on the red section has the positive side towards the back
(positive velocity of the wire is upwards, and magnetic field is to the right). The induced voltage on the
brown section has the negative side towards the back.

It is more common to write this equation in terms of the rotational velocity using the relationship
between linear velocity (v), roational velociy (ω) and radius (a), v=ωa.

We call the quantity α the "motor constant" or "torque constant." Note that it is the same
constant in the equation for the torque, τe, as for the back emf, em. The loop of wire described above is
a kind of motor. If we apply a voltage, a torque on the loop results. However there is a problem with
 this. Imagine that the wire has rotated 180° (note that the red wire is now on the right).

In this case the forces (and hence the torque) on the loop have reversed direction, so the device
isn't a useful motor. However we can eliminate this problem by the use of electric "commutators" and
"brushes" as shown below.

The ends of the wires are now attached to two semicircular pieces of metal called a commutator
that rotate with the wire. Electrical connection is made to the the circuit through brushes (shown by
small circles on the ends of the wire coming from the voltage source) that are stationary but are
physically touching the commutator. As the wire turns electrical contact is maintained, as shown below:
 When the angle is less than 90°, the current flows from the source into the left half of the loop,
i.e., red wire. As the commutator passes through 90° the positive side of the voltage source is now
connected to the brown wire. This maintains the direction of the current in the left half of the loop,
which is now the brown wire. This maintains an upward force on the left (brown) wire and downwards
on the right (red) wire, resulting in a continued clockwise torque.

 The Permanent Magnet DC Motor

We can expand the discussion above to a more realistic model of a dc motor. Consider the cross
section of a motor shown below that has several loops of wire.
In this diagram:

1. There is a static magnetic field created by a magnet with strength &beta going from left to right
(North to South). The thickness of the magnet (into the screen) is given by ℓ.
2. The loops are wrapped around a "rotor" which is an iron cylinder with radius "a" that is free to rotate
about its center.
3. There are "n" loops of wire (in this drawing n=5) with current going into the screen on the right side,
and coming out of the screen on the right), To better understand the wiring, consider a simpler drawing
with only 3 wires.

1. The current enters the first loop at the lower left, going into the screen. On the back side of the rotor
the wire crosses over (dotted red line) to the upper left wire and the current then flows out of the
screen. When the wire gets to the front of the rotor it has completed the first loop.
2. After the first loop, the wire crosses in front of the rotor (blue line) to the middle wire on the right
side. The current then goes into the screen, across the back of the rotor, and back to the front of the
rotor to form loop 2.
3. Likewise loop 2 connects to loop 3. At the end of loop 3, the current leaves the motor.

-the angle of rotation, θ, is defined to be positive in the clockwise direction,

-the wire has a resistance given by R
-The rotor has moment of inertia, "J," and a rotational friction "Br."
-not shown on the diagram are the commutator or brush, but we will assume that there are always n
loops of wire in the magnetic field.

We develop a mathematical model for this system as we did the single loop, but multiply the
results by "n" because of the multiple loops. To analyse such systems we will always employ two
diagrams, one for the mechanical system and one for the electrical system. Each of the systems will be
coupled to the other by a term (typically a force or torque proportional to current for the mechanical
system, and a back emf related to velocity for the electrical system).

We first must find the direction of the induced torque and polarity of the induced voltage. We
can do this by considering just one segment of wire from the right side of the rotor. Since the current in
each of these segments is into the screen and the magnetic field is left to right, the right hand rule tells
us that the induced force is downward, and the resulting torque is clockwise (see below). Likewise if θ
is moving in a positive direction, then the velocity, v, of a wire on the right side is downward. Using the
right hand rule tells us that the end of the wire towards us will have positive polarity. Since this is the
section of the coil attached to the resistor, we get the schematic shown below.

The motor takes as input an electrical source (in this case the voltage ein) and generates a mechanical
output (in this case a torque, τe).

 The Permanent Magnet DC Generator

A permanent magnet DC generator is physically the same device as a motor, but in this case we
drive the shaft of the motor and use the back emf to generate a voltage and/or current. The motor
takes as input a mechanical source and generates an electrical output. This is the mechanism used by
hybrid electric vehicles to take mechanical energy (from braking) and coverting it to electrical energy (to
charge batteries).

 The Speaker

Another commonly used electromechanical device is the loudspeaker. A voltage is typically applied
across the terminals of the loudspeaker and the "cone" moves in and out causing pressure waves
perceived as sound. A cutaway image of a loudspeaker is shown below.

To understand the operation of a speaker consider the diagram on the left below showing the side view
of a speaker (and compare with the cutaway view above).

1. The speaker consists of a fixed magnet that produces a uniform magnetic field of strength β.
2. The speaker has a cone with mass (M), that moves in the x direction. The cone is modeled with a
spring (K) to return it to its equilibrium position, and a friction (B).
3. Attached to the cone, and within the magnetic field is a coil of wire or radius "a." The coil consists on
"n" turns and it moves along with the cone.

4. The wire has resistance (R) and inductance (L).

 As a current passes through the coil, a force is generated that moves the cone. As the cone moves,
a back emf is generated in the coil.

Example Problems:

1. Transfer function of a motor

Derive the transfer function of a permanent magnet DC motor if the input is e in and the output is the
angle, θ
Solution:

From the free body diagram we get

and from the schematic we get

We want a solution in terms of ein and θ so we solve for current in the first equation and substitute into
the second one:
To get the transfer function we take the Laplace transform with inital conditions set to zero and solve for
the ration of output to input.

2. Transfer function of generator

Derive the transfer function of a permanent magnet DC generator if the input is τin and the output is the
current,

i. The rotor in this case is frictionless.

Note: For this problem I purposely chose current and direction to be in directions that seem to defy
intution, but if you follow through with the math everything works out properly.

Solution:

We must first draw a free body diagram and schematic. For the free body diagram we must find the
direction of the induced torque. Since a positive current is coming out of the screen on the left side of
the rotor and the field is to the right, the induced force is up, so the torque is clockwise. Likewise for the
back emf, since the positive direction is defined to be positive in the counterclockwise direction wires on
the left side have positive velocity downward, so the right hand rule tells us that the side of the wire
closest to us (the left side of the resistor) is positive.
We want to solve for the ratio of I(s) to Τ(s). Let us take the Laplace Transform of both equations and
then eliminate the angular velocity, Ω(s).

The negative sign in the transfer function merely indicates that a positive torque results in a current in
the negative direction (this is because of the chosen direction of current in the first step - if we had
chosen the opposite direction, the negative sign would not be present).

3. Derive a mathematical model of a speaker

Draw the free body diagram representing the speaker (including the induced force), as well as a
schematic (with induced voltage).

Solution:
In order to draw a free body diagram and schematic we need to determine the direction of the induced
force and the polarity of the induced voltage (or back emf).

Using the right hand rule we see that the direction of the induced force is to the right (on the top of the
coil the current is out of the screen and the magnetic field is downwards; these are both reversed on the
bottom of the coil). To find the polarity of the back emf consider the drawing on the left that shows a
front view of the system (with the cone removeed) with a partial schematic including part of a single
coil. Since the velocity (v) is positive coming out of the screen and the maghetic field (β) is towards the
center of the coil, the right hand rule tells us that the polarity of the induced voltage is such that the
positive end is on the part of the coil near the inductor.

The total length of wire in the field is given by ℓ. It is equal to the circumference of the coil (2·π·a) times
the number of turns (n). That is, ℓ=2·π·a·n).

4. Find the transfer function of a speaker

Derive the transfer function of the speaker if the input is ein(t) and the output is x(t). When finished,
repeat if the inductance is negligible, which it often is.

Solution:
To write the transfer function we need to eliminate current (i) from the two equations. Start by taking
the Laplace Transform of both equations.

Solve for current in the free body equation

and substitute into the electrical equation, and solve

This yields the transfer function

Note: this is a third order system, as expected, because there are three energy storage elements
(inductor, mass, spring)
If the inductance is negligibly small, we get a second order system

References:

lpsa.swarthmore.edu/System/Electromechanica/SysElectMechSystems.html