CONTROL AND ACTUATING DEVICES FOR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

1.02.2021

Consider the mechanical system represented in the figure placed in the vertical plane. A bar of length
L, with mass mb and moment of inertia Jb, is connected on one side (pin joint to the ground) to the
rotor of a permanent magnet DC motor (Ra, La and K), which provides the torque Cm. The other side
of the bar it is pinned to a disc with mass md, moment of inertia Jd and radius R. A string is winded
up to the disc and its extremities are connected to the ground. The stiffness of the two string
extremities is considered (k1 for the upper extremity and k2 for the lower extremity). A torque Cr,
nonlinear function of variable 𝜃 and its time derivative 𝜃̇, is applied to the disc.
All the moments of inertia are computed with respect to the centre of mass. Consider the elongations
of the springs to be null in the configuration depicted in figure.
Considering the DC motor as ideal (La → 0) and the stiffness k1 as completely rigid (k1 → ∞):
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the end of time defined for the first block.

Write the equation of motion of the system and linearize it around the static equilibrium position
depicted in the figure ( = 0).
1. Linearized equation of motion, indicating the equation of the generalized mass, damping,
stiffness and external force.
2. Stability analysis
Apply a Proportional-Derivative control on the rotation 𝜃 of the disc acting on the armature voltage.
3. Linearized equation of motion, indicating the equation of the generalized mass, damping,
stiffness and external force of the control system.
Compute the frequency response function between the input reference rotation 𝜃𝑟𝑒𝑓 = 𝜃0 𝑒 𝑗Ω𝑡 and the
rotation 𝜃.
4. Equation of the FRF between  and ref.
5. Plot the FRF between  and ref and highlight the effect of control gains.
Consider now the dynamics of the DC motor (La ≠ 0) and still consider the spring k1 as
completely rigid (k1→∞):
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the end of time defined for the second block.

Write the equation of motion of the system, introducing a Proportional-Derivative control on the
rotation 𝜃.
6. Equation of motion the controlled system in the Laplace domain
7. Draw the block diagram of the controlled system
Compute the open and closed loop transfer functions for the controlled system
8. Equation of the open-loop transfer functions
9. Equation of the closed-loop transfer functions

Analyse the stability of the controlled system in Laplace domain, assuming a stable uncontrolled
(open-loop) system and considering a coherent form of the electro-mechanical system poles. Consider
only the case corresponding to the best choice for the location of the zero introduced by the controller
in terms of stability requirements.
10. Plot of the Nyquist diagram and comment on the stability of the system
11. Plot of the root locus and comment on the stability of the system

Analyse the stability of the controlled system in Laplace domain, assuming an unstable uncontrolled
(open-loop) system and considering a coherent form of the electro-mechanical system poles. Consider
only the case corresponding to the best choice for the location of the zero introduced by the controller
in terms of stability requirements.
12. Plot of the Nyquist diagram and comment on the stability of the system
13. Plot of the root locus and comment on the stability of the system
Considering the DC motor as ideal (La → 0) and the spring k1 with a finite value of stiffness:
Collect only the required information (in red) into a single *.pdf document and upload it before
the end of time defined for the third block.

Write the equations of motion of the mechanical system, introducing a Proportional-Derivative

control on the rotation 𝜃 acting on the armature voltage.
14. Equation of matrices [M], [R] and [K] of the passive system, and of the vector x containing
the dofs of the system
15. Equation of matrices [Mc], [Rc] and [Kc] of the controlled system, and of the vector xref
containing the inputs to the system
16. Comment on the stability of the controlled system, making reference to matrices [Mc], [Rc]
and [Kc]. Is the system always stable? If not, which kind of instability may arise?
 +gL(m_b/2+m_D)

+gL(m_b/2+m_D)