COEG 304

Chapter :1
Introduction: Definition of control systems, history
and examples, concept of feedback and closed loop
control, open-loop versus closed-loop systems, linear
system, time-invariant system

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 The Role of Control Theory
• To design a controller that makes a system behave in a desirable manner, there must
be a way to predict the behavior of the quantities of interest over time, specifically
how they change in response to different inputs.

• Mathematical models are most often used to predict future behavior, and control
system design methodologies are based on such models.

• The role of control theory is to help us gain insight on how and why feedback
control systems work and how to systematically deal with various design and
analysis issues. Specifically, the following issues are of both practical importance
and theoretical interest:
– 1. Stability and stability margins of closed-loop systems.
– 2. How fast and smooth the error between the output and the set point is driven to zero.
– 3. How well the control system handles unexpected external disturbances, sensor noises, and
internal dynamic changes.

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 Introduction
• Control is used to modify the behavior of a system so it behaves in a specific
desirable way over time.

• For example:
– Maintain the speed of a car on the highway to remain as close as possible to 60 miles per hour
in spite of possible hills or adverse wind;
– Adjust aircraft to follow a desired altitude, heading, and velocity profile independent of wind
gusts;
– Temperature and pressure in a reactor vessel in a chemical process plant to be maintained at
desired levels.

• All these are being accomplished today by control methods and the above are
examples of what automatic control systems are designed to do, without human
intervention.

• Control is used whenever a system is to be made to behave in some desirable way

over time.

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 Introduction

• A control system consisting of interconnected components

is designed to achieve a desired purpose. To understand the
purpose of a control system, it is useful to examine
examples of control systems through the course of history.
These early systems incorporated many of the same ideas of
feedback that are in use today.

• Modern control engineering practice includes the use of

control design strategies for improving manufacturing
processes, the efficiency of energy use, advanced
automobile control, including rapid transit, among others.

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 What do these two have in
common?

• Tornado • Boeing 777

• Highly nonlinear, complicated dynamics!

• Both are capable of transporting goods and people over long distances
BUT
• One is controlled, and the other is not.
• Control is “the hidden technology that you meet every day”
• It heavily relies on the notion of “feedback”

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 Introduction

System – Combination of components that act together and perform certain objective.
Disturbance– Signal/Quantity that adversely effect the value of output of system
- External
- Internal
Control System – An interconnection of components forming a system configuration
that will provide a desired response.

Process – The device, plant, or system under

control. The input and output relationship
represents the cause-and-effect relationship Input Process Output
of the process.

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 Introduction

• Control System Components

Input Plant Variable

Variable Process Measurement of Variable

Plant: Part of the system to be controlled.

Controlled Variable: Quantity or condition that is measured and controlled
(temperature /Speed)
Control Signal: Quantity or condition that is varied by controller to affect the value of
controlled variable (fuel)
Error: Difference of reference and measured signal

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 Introduction
Open-Loop Control Systems utilize a controller or control actuator to obtain the
desired response.
-Output has no effect on the control action
-Output is neither measured nor feedback is provided
Disturbance

Set Point Controller Process Controlled Variable

Closed-Loop Control Systems : Inputs are the function of system output and
system outputs are function of system input.
-Utilizes feedback to compare the actual output to the desired output response.

Disturbance

Set Point Controller Process Controlled Variable

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 History Balls fly out
Greece (BC) – Float regulator mechanism as speed
increases,
Holland (16th Century)– Temperature regulator
• “Flyball” Governor (1788)
– Regulate speed of steam engine
– Reduce effects of variations in load Valve closes,
(disturbance rejection) slowing engine
– Major advance of industrial
revolution Steam Flyball
engine governor

http://www.heeg.de/~roland/SteamEngine.html

Boulton-Watt steam engine

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History
18th Century James Watt’s centrifugal governor for the speed control of a steam
engine.
1920s Minorsky worked on automatic controllers for steering ships.
1930s Nyquist developed a method for analyzing the stability of controlled systems
1940s Frequency response methods made it possible to design linear closed-loop
control systems
1950s Root-locus method due to Evans was fully developed
1960s State space methods, optimal control, adaptive control and
1980s Learning controls are begun to investigated and developed.
Present and on-going research fields. Recent application of modern control theory
includes such non-engineering systems such as biological, biomedical, economic and
socio-economic systems

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Examples of Modern Control Systems

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 Examples of Modern Control Systems

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 Examples of Modern Control Systems

(a) Automobile steering

control system.
(b) The driver uses the
difference between the actual
and the desired direction of
travel to generate a
controlled adjustment of the
steering wheel.
(c) Typical direction-of-
travel response.

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 Examples of Modern Control Systems

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 Examples of Modern Control Systems

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 Examples of Modern Control Systems

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 Linear system
A system is said to be linear in terms of the system input x(t) and the system output
y(t) if it satisfies the following two properties of superposition and homogeneity.

Superposition：

x1 (t ) y1 (t ) x2 (t ) y2 (t )

x1 (t )  x2 (t ) y1 (t )  y2 (t )

Homogeneity：

x1 (t ) y1 (t ) ax1 (t ) ay1 (t )
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 Example

x(t ) y (t )
y (t )  x(t ) x(t  1)

let x(t )  x1 (t )
y1 (t )  x1 (t ) x1 (t  1)
let x(t )  ax1 (t )
y (t )  ax1 (t )ax1 (t  1)  a x1 (t ) x1 (t  1)  a y1 (t )
2 2

y(t )  ay1 (t ) Non linear system

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example

The system is governed by a linear ordinary differential equation (ODE)

y(t )  2 y(t )  y (t )  x(t )  3x(t )

x(t ) Linear time y (t )

invariant system

y1(t )  2 y1 (t )  y1 (t )  x1 (t )  3 x1 (t )

y2(t )  2 y2 (t )  y2 (t )  x2 (t )  3x2 (t )
x1 (t )  ax1 (t )  bx2 (t )
[ax1 (t )  bx2 (t )]  3[ax1 (t )  bx2 (t )]  ax1 (t )  bx2 (t )  a3x1 (t )  b3 x2 (t )
 a[ x1 (t )  3x1 (t )]  b[ x2 (t )  3 x2 (t )]
 a[ y1(t )  2 y1 (t )  y1 (t )]  b[ y2(t )  2 y2 (t )  y2 (t )]
linearity
 [ay1 (t )  by2 (t )]  2[ay1 (t )  by2 (t )]  [ay1 (t )  by2 (t )]

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 Time-Invariant (TI)
A system is time-invariant (TI) if its behavior does not
depend on what time it is.

• Mathematically: A system x(t) → y(t) is TI if for any

input x(t) and any time shift (t-t0)

If x(t) →y(t)
then x(t -to) →y(t -to) .

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 TIME-INVARIANT OR TIME-VARYING ?

y (t )  sin( x(t ))

y2 (t )  sin( x2 (t ))  sin( x1 (t  t0 ))  y1 ( x1 (t  t0 ))

The following system is time-invariant because it is

invariant to a time shift, i.e. x2(t) = x1(t-t0)

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 Time -Invariant

Fact: If the input to a TI System is periodic, then the

output is periodic with the same period.

“Proof”: Suppose x(t + T) = x(t)

and x(t) → y(t)
Then by TI
x(t + T) →y(t + T).
↑ ↑
These are the So these must be
same input! the same output,
i.e., y(t) = y(t + T).
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 Time varying systems

•Aircraft – Time variant characteristics are caused by different configuration of

control surfaces during take off, cruise and landing as well as constantly decreasing
weight due to consumption of fuel.
•The human vocal tract is a time variant system, with its transfer function at any
given time dependent on the shape of the vocal organs. As with any fluid-filled tube,
resonances (called formants) change as the vocal organs such as
the tongue and velum move. Mathematical models of the vocal tract are therefore
time-variant, with transfer functions often linearly interpolated between states over
time.
•Linear time varying processes such as amplitude modulation occur on a time scale
similar to or faster than that of the input signal. In practice amplitude modulation is
often implemented using time invariant nonlinear elements such as diodes.
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