This document describes using root locus analysis to design a controller for a DC motor speed model. It begins by reviewing the open-loop transfer function and design requirements. The open-loop root locus is plotted, and rlocfind is used to select a gain that meets settling time and overshoot criteria. However, there is still steady-state error. A lag compensator is then added, with the goal of reducing steady-state error while maintaining other performance criteria. The compensated closed-loop response is simulated.
This document describes using root locus analysis to design a controller for a DC motor speed model. It begins by reviewing the open-loop transfer function and design requirements. The open-loop root locus is plotted, and rlocfind is used to select a gain that meets settling time and overshoot criteria. However, there is still steady-state error. A lag compensator is then added, with the goal of reducing steady-state error while maintaining other performance criteria. The compensated closed-loop response is simulated.
This document describes using root locus analysis to design a controller for a DC motor speed model. It begins by reviewing the open-loop transfer function and design requirements. The open-loop root locus is plotted, and rlocfind is used to select a gain that meets settling time and overshoot criteria. However, there is still steady-state error. A lag compensator is then added, with the goal of reducing steady-state error while maintaining other performance criteria. The compensated closed-loop response is simulated.
Design requirements Matlab representation and open-loop response Physical setup and system equations Photo courtesy: Pope Electric Motors Pty Limited A common actuator in control systems is the DC motor. It directly provides rotary motion and, coupled with wheels or drums and cables, can provide transitional motion. The electric circuit of the armature and the free body diagram of the rotor are shown in the following figure: For this example, we will assume the following values for the physical parameters. These values were derived by experiment from an actual motor in Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate controls lab. * moment of inertia of the rotor (J) = 0.01 kg.m^2/s^2 * damping ratio of the mechanical system (b) = 0.1 Nms * electromotive force constant (K=Ke=Kt) = 0.01 Nm/Amp CTM Example: DC Motor Speed Modeling http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/motor.html (1 of 5) [05/03/2002 11:50:52 p.m.] * electric resistance (R) = 1 ohm * electric inductance (L) = 0.5 H * input (V): Source Voltage * output (theta): position of shaft * The rotor and shaft are assumed to be rigid The motor torque, T, is related to the armature current, i, by a constant factor Kt. The back emf, e, is related to the rotational velocity by the following equations: In SI units (which we will use), Kt (armature constant) is equal to Ke (motor constant). From the figure above we can write the following equations based on Newton's law combined with Kirchhoff's law: 1. Transfer Function Using Laplace Transforms, the above modeling equations can be expressed in terms of s. By eliminating I(s) we can get the following open-loop transfer function, where the rotational speed is the output and the voltage is the input. 2. State-Space In the state-space form, the equations above can be expressed by choosing the rotational speed and electric current as the state variables and the voltage as an input. The output is chosen to be the rotational speed. CTM Example: DC Motor Speed Modeling http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/motor.html (2 of 5) [05/03/2002 11:50:52 p.m.] Design requirements First, our uncompensated motor can only rotate at 0.1 rad/sec with an input voltage of 1 Volt (this will be demonstrated later when the open-loop response is simulated). Since the most basic requirement of a motor is that it should rotate at the desired speed, the steady-state error of the motor speed should be less than 1%. The other performance requirement is that the motor must accelerate to its steady-state speed as soon as it turns on. In this case, we want it to have a settling time of 2 seconds. Since a speed faster than the reference may damage the equipment, we want to have an overshoot of less than 5%. If we simulate the reference input (r) by an unit step input, then the motor speed output should have: Settling time less than 2 seconds G Overshoot less than 5% G Steady-state error less than 1% G Matlab representation and open-loop response 1. Transfer Function We can represent the above transfer function into Matlab by defining the numerator and denominator matrices as follows: Create a new m-file and enter the following commands: J=0.01; b=0.1; K=0.01; R=1; L=0.5; num=K; den=[(J*L) ((J*R)+(L*b)) ((b*R)+K^2)]; CTM Example: DC Motor Speed Modeling http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/motor.html (3 of 5) [05/03/2002 11:50:52 p.m.] Now let's see how the original open-loop system performs. Add the following commands onto the end of the m-file and run it in the Matlab command window: step(num,den,0:0.1:3) title('Step Response for the Open Loop System') You should get the following plot: From the plot we see that when 1 volt is applied to the system, the motor can only achieve a maximum speed of 0.1 rad/sec, ten times smaller than our desired speed. Also, it takes the motor 3 seconds to reach its steady-state speed; this does not satisfy our 2 seconds settling time criterion. 2. State-Space We can also represent the system using the state-space equations. Try the following commands in a new m-file. J=0.01; b=0.1; K=0.01; R=1; L=0.5; A=[-b/J K/J -K/L -R/L]; CTM Example: DC Motor Speed Modeling http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/motor.html (4 of 5) [05/03/2002 11:50:52 p.m.] B=[0 1/L]; C=[1 0]; D=0; step(A, B, C, D) Run this m-file in the Matlab command window, and you should get the same output as the one shown above. User feedback We would like to hear about suggestions you have for improvement, difficulties you had with the tutorials, errors that you found, or any other comments that you have. This feedback is anonymous.
Modeling Examples Cruise Control | Motor Speed | Motor Position | Bus Suspension | Inverted Pendulum | Pitch Controller | Ball and Beam Motor Speed Examples Modeling | PID | Root Locus | Frequency Response | State Space | Digital Control: PID Tutorials Basics | Modeling | PID | Root Locus | Frequency Response | State Space | Digital Control | Examples
8/7/97 BRN 8/24/97 WM CTM Example: DC Motor Speed Modeling http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/motor.html (5 of 5) [05/03/2002 11:50:52 p.m.] Submit Feedback Reset Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control Drawing the open-loop root locus Finding the gain using the rlocfind command Adding a lag controller Plotting the closed-loop response From the main problem, the dynamic equations and the open-loop transfer function of DC Motor Speed are: and the system schematic looks like: For the original problem setup and the derivation of the above equations, please refer to the Modeling a DC Motor page. CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (1 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:32 p.m.] With a 1 rad/sec step reference, the design criteria are: Settling time less than 2 seconds G Overshoot less than 5% G Steady-state error less than 1% G Now let's design a controller using the root locus method. Create a new m-file and type in the following commands (refer to main problem for the details of getting those commands). J=0.01; b=0.1; K=0.01; R=1; L=0.5; num=K; den=[(J*L) ((J*R)+(L*b)) ((b*R)+K^2)]; Drawing the open-loop root locus The main idea of root locus design is to find the closed-loop response from the open-loop root locus plot. Then by adding zeros and/or poles to the original plant, the closed-loop response can be modified. Let's first view the root locus for the plant. Add the following commands at the end of your m-file. rlocus(num,den) sgrid(.8,0) sigrid(2.3) title('Root Locus without a controller') The command sigrid is the user-defined function. You need to copy the sigrid.m file to your directly before using it. For more information on how to use functions, refer to functions. Two arguments in the sgrid command are the damping ratio (zeta) term (0.8 corresponds to a overshoot of 5%), and the natural frequency (Wn) term (= 0 corresponds to no rise time criterion) respectively. The single argument in the sigrid command is the sigma term (4.6/2 seconds = 2.3). After you have saved sigma.m file to your directly, run the above m-file in the command window. You should get the root locus plot shown below: CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (2 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:32 p.m.] Finding the gain using the rlocfind command If you recall, we need the settling time and the overshoot to be as small as possible. Large damping corresponds to points on the root locus near the real axis. A fast response corresponds to points on the root locus far to the left of the imaginary axis. To find the gain corresponding to a point on the root locus, we can use the rlocfind command. We can find the gain and plot the step response using this gain all at once. To do this, enter the following commands at the end of your m-file and rerun it. [k,poles] = rlocfind(num,den) [numc,denc]=cloop(k*num,den,-1); t=0:0.01:3; step(numc,denc,t) title('Step response with gain') Go to the plot and select a point on the root locus half-way between the real axis and the damping requirement, say at -6+2.5i. Matlab should return the output similar to the following. selected_point = -5.9596 + 2.0513i k = 10.0934 CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (3 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] poles = -6.0000 + 2.0511i -6.0000 - 2.0511i Note that the values returned in your Matlab command window may not be exactly the same, but should at least have the same order of magnitude. You should also get the following plot: As you can see, the system is overdamped and the settling time is about one second, so the overshoot and settling time requirements are satisfied. The only problem we can see from this plot is the steady- state error of about 50%. If we increase the gain to reduce the steady-state error, the overshoot becomes too large (Try this yourself). We need to add a lag controller to reduce the steady-state error. Adding a lag controller From the plot we see that this is a very simple root locus. The damping and settling time criteria were met with the proportional controller. The steady-state error is the only criterion not met with the proportional controller. A lag compensator can reduce the steady-state error. By doing this, we might however increase our settling time. Try the following lag controller first: This can be done by changing your m-file to look like the following: CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (4 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] J=0.01; b=0.1; K=0.01; R=1; L=0.5; num=K; den=[(J*L) ((J*R)+(L*b)) ((b*R)+K^2)]; z1=1; p1=0.01; numa = [1 z1]; dena = [1 p1]; numb=conv(num,numa); denb=conv(den,dena); rlocus(numb,denb) sgrid(.8,0) sigrid(2.3) title('Root Locus with a lag controller') numa and dena are the numerator and denominator of the controller, and numb and denb are the numerator and denominator of the overall open-loop transfer function. You should get the following root locus, which looks very similar to the original one: CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (5 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] Plotting the closed-loop response Now let's close the loop and see the closed-loop step response Enter the following code at the end of your m-file: [k,poles]=rlocfind(numb,denb) [numc,denc]=cloop(k*numb,denb,-1); t=0:0.01:3; step(numc,denc,t) title('Step response with a lag controller') Rerun this m-file in the Matlab command window. When prompted to select a point, pick one that is near the damping requirement (diagonal dotted line). You should get the a plot similar to the following: Your gain should be about 20. As you can see the response is not quite satisfactory. You may also note that even though the gain was selected to correlate with a position close to the damping criterion, the overshoot is not even close to five percent. This is due to the effect of the lag controller kicking in at a later time than the plant. (its pole is slower). What this means is that we can go beyond the dotted lines that represent the limit, and get the higher gains without worrying about the overshoot . Rerun your m-file, place the gain just above the white, dotted line. Keep trying until you get a satisfactory response. It should look similar to the following (we used a gain of around 50): CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (6 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] The steady-state error is smaller than 1%, and the settling time and overshoot requirements have been met. As you can see, the design process for root locus is very much a trial and error process. That is why it is nice to plot the root locus, pick the gain, and plot the response all in one step. If we had not been able to get a satisfactory response by choosing the gains, we could have tried a different lag controller, or even added a lead controller. User feedback We would like to hear about suggestions you have for improvement, difficulties you had with the tutorials, errors that you found, or any other comments that you have. This feedback is anonymous.
Root Locus Examples Cruise Control | Motor Speed | Motor Position | Bus Suspension | Inverted Pendulum | Pitch Controller | Ball and Beam CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (7 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] Submit Feedback Reset Motor Speed Examples Modeling | PID | Root Locus | Frequency Response | State Space | Digital Control: PID Tutorials Basics | Modeling | PID | Root Locus | Frequency Response | State Space | Digital Control | Examples
8/29/96 YS 8/24/97 WM CTM Example: Root Locus Design Method for DC Motor Speed Control http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/examples/motor/rlocus2.html (8 of 8) [05/03/2002 11:56:33 p.m.] Steady-State Error Calculating steady-state errors System type and steady-state error Example: Meeting steady-state error requirements Steady-state error is defined as the difference between the input and output of a system in the limit as time goes to infinity (i.e. when the response has reached the steady state). The steady-state error will depend on the type of input (step, ramp, etc) as well as the system type (0, I, or II). Note: Steady-state error analysis is only useful for stable systems. It is your responsibility to check the system for stability before performing a steady-state error analysis. Many of the techniques that we present will give an answer even if the system is unstable; obviously this answer is meaningless for an unstable system. Calculating steady-state errors Before talking about the relationships between steady-state error and system type, we will show how to calculate error regardless of system type or input. Then, we will start deriving formulas we will apply when we perform a steady state-error analysis. Steady-state error can be calculated from the open or closed-loop transfer function for unity feedback systems. For example, let's say that we have the following system: which is equivalent to the following system: We can calculate the steady state error for this system from either the open or closed-loop transfer CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (1 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] function using the final value theorem (remember that this theorem can only be applied if the denominator has no poles in the right-half plane): Now, let's plug in the Laplace transforms for different inputs and find equations to calculate steady-state errors from open-loop transfer functions given different inputs: Step Input (R(s) = 1/s): G Ramp Input (R(s) = 1/s^2): G Parabolic Input (R(s) = 1/s^3): G When we design a controller, we usually want to compensate for disturbances to a system. Let's say that we have the following system with a disturbance: we can find the steady-state error for a step disturbance input with the following equation: Lastly, we can calculate steady-state error for non-unity feedback systems: CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (2 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] By manipulating the blocks, we can model the system as follows: Now, simply apply the equations we talked about above. System type and steady-state error If you refer back to the equations for calculating steady-state errors for unity feedback systems, you will find that we have defined certain constants ( known as the static error constants). These constants are the position constant (Kp), the velocity constant (Kv), and the acceleration constant (Ka). Knowing the value of these constants as well as the system type, we can predict if our system is going to have a finite steady-state error. First, let's talk about system type. The system type is defined as the number of pure integrators in a system. That is, the system type is equal to the value of n when the system is represented as in the following figure: Therefore, a system can be type 0, type 1, etc. Now, let's see how steady state error relates to system types: Type 0 systems Step Input Ramp Input Parabolic Input Steady State Error Formula 1/(1+Kp) 1/Kv 1/Ka Static Error Constant Kp = constant Kv = 0 Ka = 0 Error 1/(1+Kp) infinity infinity Type 1 systems Step Input Ramp Input Parabolic Input CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (3 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] Steady State Error Formula 1/(1+Kp) 1/Kv 1/Ka Static Error Constant Kp = infinity Kv = constant Ka = 0 Error 0 1/Kv infinity Type 2 systems Step Input Ramp Input Parabolic Input Steady State Error Formula 1/(1+Kp) 1/Kv 1/Ka Static Error Constant Kp = infinity Kv = infinity Ka = constant Error 0 0 1/Ka Click on the System Type to see examples Example: Meeting steady-state error requirements Given the following system, where G(s) is: K*(s + 3)(s + 5) -------------------------- s (s + 7)(s + 8) find the value of K so that there is 10% steady state error in open loop. Since this system is type 1, there will be no steady-state error for a step input and an infinite error for a parabolic input. The only input that will yield a finite steady-state error in this system is a ramp input. Let's look at the ramp input response for a gain of 1: num = conv( [1 5], [1 3]); den = conv([1,7],[1 8]); den = conv(den,[1 0]); [clnum,clden] = cloop(num,den); t = 0:0.1:50; u = t; [y,x] = lsim(clnum,clden,u,t); plot(t,y,t,u) xlabel('Time(secs)') ylabel('Amplitude') CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (4 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] title('Input-purple, Output-yellow') The steady-state error for this system is very large, since we can see that an input of time = 20 gives us an output with amplitude of approximately 16. We will talk about this in further detail in a few moments. We know from our problem statement that the steady state error must be 0.1. Therefore, we can solve the problem following these steps: Let's see the ramp input response for K = 37.33: k =37.33 ; num =k*conv( [1 5], [1 3]); den =conv([1,7],[1 8]); den = conv(den,[1 0]); [clnum,clden] = cloop(num,den); t = 0:0.1:50; u = t; [y,x] = lsim(clnum,clden,u,t); plot(t,y,t,u) xlabel('Time(secs)') ylabel('Amplitude') title('Input-purple, Output-yellow') CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (5 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] In order to get a better view, we must zoom in on the response. We choose to zoom in between 40 and 41 because we will be sure that the system has reached steady state by then and we will also be able to get a good view of the input and the output. axis([40,41,40,41]) The amplitude = 40 at t = 40 for our input, and time = 40.1 for our output. However, since these are parallel lines in steady state, we can also say that when time = 40 our output has an amplitude of 39.9, giving us a steady-state error of 10%. Let's zoom in further on this plot and confirm our statement: axis([39.9,40.1,39.9,40.1]) CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (6 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] Now let's modify the problem a little bit and say that our system looks as follows: Our G(s) is the same, but now we want zero steady-state error for a ramp input. From our tables, we know that a system of type 2 gives us zero steady-state error for a ramp input. Therefore, we can get zero steady-state error by simply adding an integrator (a pole at the origin) Let's view the ramp input response for a step input if we add an integrator and use a gain of one: num =conv( [1 5], [1 3]); den =conv([1,7],[1 8]); den = conv(den,[1 0]); den = conv(den,[1,0]); [clnum,clden] = cloop(num,den); t = 0:0.1:250; u = t; [y,x] = lsim(clnum,clden,u,t); plot(t,y,t,u) xlabel('Time(secs)') ylabel('Amplitude') title('Input-purple, Output-yellow') CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (7 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] As you can see, the response is not the most desirable one (we can see oscillations at 100secs, but you may have to zoom in to see them). However, at steady state we have zero steady-state error. Let's zoom in at 240 secs. (trust me, it doesn't reach steady state until then): axis([239.9,240.1,239.9,240.1]) As you can see, the steady-state error is zero. Feel free to zoom in at different areas on the diagram and observe how the response approaches steady state. User feedback We would like to hear about difficulties you had with the tutorials, suggestions you have for improvement, errors that you found, or any other comments that you have. This feedback is anonymous; include your email address if you want a reply. CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (8 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.]
Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page 8/28/96 LJO CTM: Steady State Error http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/extras/ess/ess.html (9 of 9) [06/03/2002 12:59:58 a.m.] Submit Feedback Reset