Lecture note on Control Systems

Chapter One

Introduction to Control System:

Introduction to Control Engineering

The subject of control engineering is inter disciplinary (relating to more than one branch of
knowledge) in nature. It embraces all the disciplines of engineering including Electronics,
Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Instrumentation
Engineering, and Chemical Engineering or any amalgamation of these. If we are interested to
control the position of a mechanical load automatically, we may use an electrical motor to drive
the load and a gearbox to connect the load to the motor shaft and an electronic amplifier to
amplify the control signal. So we have to draw upon our working experience of electronic
amplifier, the electrical motor along with the knowledge of mechanical engineering as to how
the motor can be connected with the help of a gearbox including the selection of the gear ratio.
If we are interested to regulate the DC output voltage of a rectifier to be used for a computer
system, then the entire control system consists purely of electrical and electronics components.
There will be no moving parts and consequently the response of such systems to any deviations
from the set value will be very fast compared to the response of an electromechanical system
like a motor. There are situations where we have to control the position of mechanical load that
demands a very fast response, as in the case of aircraft control system. Experts recommend a
hydraulic motor in place of an electrical motor for fast response. The Control systems may be
used in open loop or in close loop configuration. We will discuss these concepts in the following
section here in this chapter.

Definitions of some basic terminologies:

Systems: A system is a combination of components that act together and perform a certain
objective. A system need not be physical. The concept of the system can be applied to abstract,
dynamic phenomena such as those encountered in economics.
The word system should, therefore, be interpreted to imply physical, biological, economic, and
the like, systems.
Plants: A plant may be a piece of equipment, perhaps just a set of machine parts functioning
together, the purpose of which is to perform a particular operation. In this case, we shall call
any physical object to be controlled (such as a mechanical device, a heating furnace, a chemical
reactor, or a spacecraft) a plant.

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Process: a process to be a natural, progressively continuing operation or development marked

by a series of gradual changes that succeed one another in a relatively fixed way and lead
toward a particular result or end; or an artificial or voluntary, progressively continuing
operation that consists of a series of controlled actions or movements systematically directed
toward a particular result or end.

Controlled Variable: The controlled variable is the quantity or condition that is measured and
controlled. Normally, the controlled variable is the output of the system.
Control Signals (Manipulated Variables): The control signal or manipulated variable is the
quantity or condition that is varied by the controller so as to affect the value of the controlled
variable. Control means measuring the value of the controlled variable of the system and
applying the control signal to the system to correct or limit deviation of the measured value
from a desired value.
Disturbances: A disturbance is a signal that tends to adversely affect the value of the output of
a system. If a disturbance is generated within the system, it is called internal, while an external
disturbance is generated outside the system and is an input.

1.1 Open Loop versus Closed Loop Systems

Let us illustrate the essential difference between an open-loop system and a closed-loop system.
Consider a simple system for maintaining the liquid level in a tank to a constant value by
controlling the incoming flow rate as in Fig. 1.1(a). Liquid enters the tank at the top and flows
out via the exit pipe at the bottom.
One way to attempt to maintain the proper level in the tank is to employ a human operator to
adjust the manual valve so that the rate of liquid flow into the tank exactly balances the rate of
liquid flow out of the tank when the liquid is at the desired level. It might require a bit of trial
and error for the correct valve setting, but eventually an intelligent operator can set the proper
valve opening. If the operator stands and watches the system for a while and observes that the
liquid level stays constant, s/he may conclude that the proper valve opening has been set to
maintain the correct level.

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Figure 1.1: System for maintaining the proper liquid level in the tank
(a) Open Loop System (b) Closed Loop System
In reality, however, there are numerous subtle changes that could occur to upset the balance
s/he has taken trouble to achieve. For example, the supply pressure on the upstream side of the
manual valve might increase for some reason. This would increase the input flow rate with no
corresponding increase in output flow rate. The liquid level would start to rise and the tank
would soon overflow. Of course, there would be some increase in output flow rate because of
the increased pressure at the bottom of the tank when the level rises, but it would be a chance in
a million that this would exactly balance the new input flow rate. An increase in supply
pressure is just one example of a disturbing force that would upset the liquid level in the tank.
There may be other disturbing forces that can upset the constant level. For instance, any
temperature change would change the fluid viscosity and thereby changing the flow rates or a
change in a system restriction downstream of the exit pipe would also change the output flow
rate.

Now consider the setup in Fig. 1.1(b). If the liquid level falls a little too low, the float moves
down, thereby opening the tapered valve to increase the inflow of liquid. If the liquid level rises
a little too high, the float moves up, and the tapered valve closes a little to reduce the inflow of
liquid. By proper construction and sizing of the valve and the mechanical linkage between float
and valve, it would be possible to control the liquid level very close to the desired set point.

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In this system the operating conditions may change causing the liquid level to deviate from the
desired point in either direction but the system will tend to restore it to the set value. Our
discussion to this point has been with respect to the specific problem of controlling the liquid
level in a tank. However, in general, many different industrial control systems have certain
things in common. Irrespective of the exact nature of any control system, there are certain
relationships between the controlling mechanisms and the controlled variable that are similar. It
is tried here to illustrate these cause-effect relationships by drawing block diagrams of our
industrial systems. Because of the “similarity” among different systems, we are able to devise
generalized block diagrams that apply to all systems. Such a generalized block diagram of an
open loop system is shown in Fig. 1.2(a). The block diagram is basically a cause and effect
indicator, but it shows rather clearly that for a given setting the value of the controlled variable
cannot be reliably known in presence of disturbances. Disturbances that happen to the process
make their effects felt in the output of the process—the controlled variable. Because the block
diagram of Fig. 1.2(a) does not show any lines coming back around to make a circular path, or
to “close the loop,” such a system is called an open-loop system. All open-loop systems are
characterized by its inability to compare the actual value of the controlled variable to the
desired value and to take action based on that comparison.

On the other hand, the system containing the float and tapered valve of Fig. 1.1(b) is capable of
this comparison. The block diagram of the system of Fig. 1.1(b) is shown in Fig. 1.2(b). It is found
from the diagram that the setting and the value of the controlled variable are compared to each
other in a comparator. The output of the comparator represents the difference between the two
values. The difference signal, called “actuating signal”, then feeds into the controller allowing
the controller to affect the process.

Figure 1.2: Block diagram that shows the cause-effect relationships between the different parts of the system
(a) For an Open Loop System (b) For a Closed Loop System

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The fact that the controlled variable comes back around to be compared with the setting
makes the block diagram look like a “closed loop”. A system that has this feature is called a
closed-loop system. All closed-loop systems are characterized by the ability to compare the
actual value of the controlled variable to its desired value and automatically take action
based on that comparison. The comparator performs the mathematical operation of
summation of two or more signals and is represented by a circle with appropriate signs.

For our example of liquid level control in Fig. 1.1(b), the setting represents the location of the
float in the tank. That is, the human operator selects the level that s/he desires by locating
the float at a certain height above the bottom of the tank. This setting could be altered by
changing the length of rod A that connects the float to horizontal member B of the linkage in
Fig. 1.1(b). The comparator in the block diagram is the float itself together with the linkages
A and B in our example. The float is constantly monitoring the actual liquid level, because it
moves up or down according to that level. It is also comparing with the setting, which is the
desired liquid level, as explained above. If the liquid level and setting are not in agreement,
the float sends out a signal that depends on the magnitude and the polarity of the difference
between them. That is, if the level is too low, the float causes horizontal member B in Fig.
1.1(b) to be rotated counterclockwise; the amount of counterclockwise displacement of B
depends on how low the liquid is. If the liquid level is too high, the float causes member B
to be displaced clockwise. Again, the amount of displacement depends on the difference
between the setting and the controlled variable; in this case the difference means how much
higher the liquid is than the desired level. Thus the float in the mechanical drawing
corresponds to the comparator block in the block diagram of Fig. 1.2(b). The controller in the
block diagram is the tapered valve in the actual mechanical drawing.

1.2 Some Applications of Feedback Control Systems

The following list gives some of the areas of human activities where the feedback control system
is extensively used.
Domestic applications:
Regulated voltage and frequency of electric power, thermostat control of refrigerators and
electric iron, temperature and pressure control of hot water supply in cold countries, pressure of
fuel gas, automatic volume and frequency control of television and radio receivers, automatic
focusing of digital cameras.

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Transportation:
Speed control of the airplane engines with governors, control of engine pressure, instruments in
the pilot’s cabin contain feedback loops, control of rudder and aileron, engine cowl flaps,
instrument-landing system.

In Industries:
Process regulators, process and oven regulators, steam and air pressure regulators, gasoline and
steam engine governors, motor speed regulators, automatic machine tools such as contour
followers, the regulation of quantity, flow, liquid level, chemical concentration, position, light
intensity, color, electric voltage and current, recording or controlling almost any measurable
quantity with suitable transducers.

Military applications:
Positioning of guns from 30 caliber machine guns in aircraft to mighty 16-inch guns abroad
battle ships, rockets, torpedoes, surface to air missiles, ground to air or air to air missiles, gun
computers, and bombsights, and guided missiles.

Room temperature control is a specific example of a feedback control system. Here in this case,
let us consider the problem of controlling room temperature using a room air conditioner as an
example. The compressor of the room air conditioner may be switched off if the room
temperature is less than the set temperature and switched on if the room temperature is higher
than the set value. The compressor is kept on until the room temperature is equal to the set
temperature. A thermostat switch senses the temperature in the room and when the
temperature of the room goes below the set point, the power to the compressor is again
switched off. The variation of ambient temperature outside the room and the escape of cool air
due to opening of the door are the external disturbances to the control system and the change in
the number of occupants in the room is the load disturbance. The temperature of the room
could have been controlled by a central air conditioning system, where the volume of cool air
entering the room could have been controlled by opening and closing of a solenoid operated
valve.

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1.3 Task of Control Engineers

The control-engineering problem together with the task to be performed by a control engineers
are discussed below:
(a) Objective of the control system:
A control system is required to do a job and is specified to the control engineer by the user of
the control system. The engineer is expected to assemble the various components and sub
systems, based on the laws of the physical world, to perform the task. The quality of
performance is normally specified in terms of some mathematical specifications, that the control
system is required to satisfy. The specifications may be the accuracy of controlled variable in the
‘steady state’ (the behavior of the system as time goes to infinity following a change in set point
or disturbance) or it is concerned with the ‘transient response’- the way the control variable is
reaching the steady state following some disturbance or change in set value.
(b)Control problem:
Since the control system is required to satisfy a performance specification expressed in
mathematical terms, the control engineer needs to solve a mathematical problem.
(c) System modeling:
Since some mathematical problems are to be solved, a mathematical model of the dynamics of
the control system components and subsystems are to be formulated. The differential equation
and the state variable representation are very popular mathematical models for describing the
dynamics of a control system. The transfer function model is applicable if the system is linear. If
the description of the system behavior is linguistic, then fuzzy logic and fuzzy model of the
system will be needed.
(d) System analysis:
Once the mathematical model of the basic system is obtained, its analysis is performed by using
the existing mathematical tools available to the control engineer to study its behavior. The
analysis may be carried out in the frequency domain or in time domain.
(e) Modification of the control system:
If the analysis reveals some sort of shortcoming in meeting one or more of the performance
specifications in the steady state and /or transient state, the basic system needs to be modified
by incorporating some additional feedback or by incorporating compensator to modify the
system behavior. The lag-lead compensator and state feedback design method are widely used
for improving the system performance.