CHAPTER 12

ROBUST CONTROL
SYSTEMS
 This chapter seeks to

1. Appreciate the role of robustness in

control system design
2. Be familiar with uncertainty models,
including additive uncertainty,
multiplicative uncertainty, and parameter
uncertainty
3. Understand the various methods of
tackling the robust control design problem
using root locus, frequency response, ITAE
methods for PID control, internal model,
and pseudo – quantitative feedback
methods
 The process model will always be an
inaccurate representation of the actual
physical system because of

1. Parameter changes
2. Unmodeled dynamics
3. Unmodeled time delays
4. Changes in equilibrium point
5. Sensor noise
6. Unpredicted disturbance inputs
The goal of robust system design is to retain
assurance of system performance in spite of
model inaccuracies and changes. Thus, a
system is robust when the system has
acceptable changes in performance due to
model changes and inaccuracies.
 Robust Control Systems and System
Sensitivity

A control system is robust when

(1) It has low sensitivities
(2) It is stable over the range of parameter
variations
(3) The performance continues to meet the
specifications in the presence of a set of
changes in the system parameters
 For small – parameter peturbations,
differential sensitivities is use a measure of
robustness .

The system sensitivity is defined as

Figure 12.2
The root sensitivity is defined by
Consider the system shown, where
and a PID controller
 The system is stable for a gain
-2 < K < 1

The steady state error due to a negative unit

step input
ANALYSIS OF ROBUSTNESS

Figure 12.1
For physically realizable systems, the loop
gain L(s) = Gc(s)G(s) must be small for high
frequencies. This means that S(j)
approaches 1 at high frequencies.

An additive perturbation characterizes the

set of possible processes as follows (assume
Gc(s) = 1)

Ga(s) = G(s) + A(s)

Where G(s) is the nominal process and A(s) is
the perturbation that is bounded in
magnitude. We assume that Ga(s) and G(s)
have the same number of poles in the right-
hand s plane. Then the system stability will
not change if

A(j) < 1 + G(j) for all 

This assures stability but not dynamic

performance.
A multiplicative perturbation is modeled as

Gm(s) = G(s)[1 + M(s)]

The perturbation is bounded in magnitude,

and it is assumed that Gm(s) and G(s) have
the same number of poles in the right-hand
s-plane. Then the system stability will not
change if
 Example 1
System with Multiplicative Perturbation
 SYSTEMS WITH UNCERTAIN PARAMETERS

Many systems have several parameters that

are constants but uncertain within a range.
For example, consider a system with a
characteristic equation
 The analysis of only four polynomials is
sufficient, and they are readily defined for a
third – order system with characteristic
equation
 Example 2
Stability of uncertainty system
THE DESIGN OF ROBUST CONTROL SYSTEMS
THE DESIGN OF ROBUST PID-CONTROLLED
SYSTEMS
 Example 3 Robust control of temperature

Consider a temperature controller with a

control system as shown in the figure below

and a process