RME30002 Control and Automation

Assignment
Due on Monday, Week 9 (1 May 2023)
1. A force F is applied to the mass 𝑚𝑚2 in Figure 1, where 𝑘𝑘1 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑘𝑘2 are the
spring constants, 𝑏𝑏1 is the damping constant and 𝑏𝑏2 is the friction coefficient,
𝑥𝑥1 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥2 are the displacement. Find the transfer function 𝑋𝑋1 /𝐹𝐹.

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 𝑏𝑏2

Figure 1
(5 Marks)

2. Consider the torsional mechanical system in Figure 3(a). The torque due to the
twisting of the shaft is – 𝐾𝐾𝐾𝐾; the damping torque due to the breaking device is
– 𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏; the disturbance torque is 𝑑𝑑(𝑡𝑡); the input torque is 𝑟𝑟(𝑡𝑡); and the moment
of inertia of the mechanical system is J. the transfer function of the torsional
mechanical system is:
1�
𝐽𝐽
𝐺𝐺 (𝑠𝑠) =
𝑠𝑠 2 + �𝑏𝑏�𝐽𝐽� 𝑠𝑠 + 𝑘𝑘�𝐽𝐽

A closed loop control system for the system is shown in Figure 3(b).

Suppose the desired angle 𝜃𝜃𝑑𝑑 = 0° , 𝑘𝑘 = 6, 𝑏𝑏 = 1, 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝐽𝐽 = 0.9.

(a) Determine the open loop response 𝜃𝜃(𝑡𝑡) of the system for a unit step
disturbance 𝑑𝑑(𝑡𝑡) using MATLAB (set 𝑟𝑟(𝑡𝑡) = 0).
(b) With the controller gain 𝐾𝐾0 = 46, determine the closed loop response 𝜃𝜃(𝑡𝑡)
to a unit step disturbance 𝑑𝑑(𝑡𝑡) by calculating the value of percentage
overshoot, peak time and settling time (2% criterion),
(c) Using Matlab, plot the unit step response of the closed-loop system and
estimate the percentage overshoot from the plot. Compare the result with
part (b).
(d) Co-plot the open loop versus the closed loop response to the disturbance
input. Discuss your results and make an argument for using closed loop
feedback control to improve the disturbance rejection properties of the
system.
 Figure 2
(8 Marks)
3. The shoulder joint of a robotic arm uses a DC motor with armature control and
a set of gears on the output shaft. The model of the system is shown in Figure
3 with disturbance torque 𝑇𝑇𝑑𝑑 (𝑠𝑠) which represents the effect of the load.

(a) When the desired angle input is a step θ d ( s ) = A / s and the load disturbance
is zero, determine the steady-state errors when Gc ( s ) = K and Gc ( s ) = K / s
.
(b) When θ d ( s ) = 0 and the load disturbance is Td ( s ) = M / s , determine the
steady-state errors when Gc ( s ) = K and Gc ( s ) = K / s .
(c) Discuss the effects of the controller.

Figure 3

(7 Marks)

References:

1. “Modern Control Engineering”, Ogata.

2. “Modern Control Systems”, Dorf.
3. “Automatic Control Systems”, Kuo.