ME 4330 (Automatic controls) – Homework 4

Pole location and transient responses

Due: Oct. 30

Problem 1. (10 points) A second-order control system has the closed-loop transfer function T (s) = Y (s)/R(s). The
system specifications for a step input follow:
(a) Percent overshoot ≤ 5%.
(b) Settling time Ts ≤ 4 seconds.
(c) Peak time Tp < 1 seconds.
Show the permissible area for the poles of T (s) in order to achieve the desired response. Use a 2% settling criterion
to determine settling time.

Problem 2. (15 points) A control system for positioning the head of a floppy disk drive has the closed-loop transfer
function
11.1(s + 18)
T (s) =
(s + 20)(s2 + 4s + 10)
Plot the poles and zeros of this system and discuss the dominance of the complex poles. What overshoot for a step
input do you expect? (Hint: Use MATLAB commands zero and pole and pzplot).
Problem 3. (10 points) Consider the closed-loop system in Figure 1. Determine values of the parameters k and a
so that the following specifications are satisfied:

(a) The steady-state error to a unit step input is zero.

(b) The closed loop system has a percentage overshoot of less than 5%.

R(s) 1 Y (s)
− s + 2k

1
s+a

Figure 1: Closed-loop system with parameters k and a, related to problem 3.

Problem 4. (10 points) (MATLAB problem) Consider a unity feedback system with loop transfer function
30
L(s) = Gc (s)G(s) =
s(s + 5)

Use MATLAB commands feedback() and stepinfo() to compute overshoot percentage of the closed-loop system’s
response to a unit step. Use the MATLAB command step() to verify that your result is correct and provide the
figure.