INTRODUCTION

CONTROL SYSTEM
DEFINITION

A control system consists of subsystems and processes (or

plants) assembled for the purpose of obtaining a desired output
with desired performance, given a specified input. Figure 1.1
shows a control system in its simplest form, where the input
represents a desired output. For example, consider an elevator.
When the fourth-floor button is pressed on the first floor, the
elevator rises to the fourth floor with a speed and floor-leveling
accuracy designed for passenger comfort. The push of the
fourth-floor button is an input that represents our desired
output, shown as a step function in Figure 1.2.
CONTROL SYSTEM
DEFINITION

The performance of the elevator can be seen from the

elevator response curve in the figure. Two major measures of
performance are apparent: (1) the transient response and (2)
the steady-state error. In our example, passenger comfort and
passenger patience are dependent upon the transient response.
If this response is too fast, passenger comfort is sacrificed; if too
slow, passenger patience is sacrificed. The steady-state error is
another important performance specification since passenger
safety and convenience would be sacrificed if the elevator did
not properly level
CONTROL SYSTEM
DEFINITION
ADVANTAGES OF
CONTROL SYSTEM

With control systems we can move large equipment with

precision that would otherwise be impossible. We can point
huge antennas toward the farthest reaches of the universe to
pick up faint radio signals; controlling these antennas by hand
would be impossible. Because of control systems, elevators carry
us quickly to our destination, automatically stopping at the right
floor (Figure 1.3). We alone could not provide the power
required for the load and the speed; motors provide the power,
and control systems regulate the position and speed.

We build control systems for four primary reasons:

1. Power amplification
2. Remote control
3. Convenience of input form
4. Compensation for disturbances
HISTORY OF CONTROL
SYSTEM

• Liquid-Level Control
The Greeks began engineering feedback systems
around 300 B.C. A water clock invented by Ktesibios
operated by having water trickle into a measuring
container at a constant rate. The level of water in the
measuring container could be used to tell time. For water
to trickle at a constant rate, the supply tank had to be kept
at a constant level. This was accomplished using a float
valve similar to the water-level control in today’s flush
toilets.
HISTORY OF CONTROL
SYSTEM

• Steam Pressure and Temperature Controls

Also in the seventeenth century, Cornelis Drebbel in
Holland invented a purely mechanical temperature control
system for hatching eggs. The device used a vial of alcohol
and mercury with a floater inserted in it. The floater was
connected to a damper that controlled a flame. A portion
of the vial was inserted into the incubator to sense the
heat generated by the fire. As the heat increased, the
alcohol and mercury expanded, raising the floater, closing
the damper, and reducing the flame. Lower
temperature caused the float to descend, opening the
damper and increasing the flame.
HISTORY OF CONTROL
SYSTEM

• Speed Control
In 1745, speed control was applied to a windmill by
Edmund Lee. Increasing winds pitched the blades farther
back, so that less area was available. As the wind
decreased, more blade area was available. William Cubitt
improved on the idea in 1809 by dividing the windmill sail
into movable louvers.
Also in the eighteenth century, JamesWatt invented
the flyball speed governor to control the speed of steam
engines. In this device, two spinning flyballs rise as
rotational speed increases. A steam valve connected to
the flyball mechanism closes with the ascending flyballs
and opens with the descending flyballs, thus regulating
the speed.
HISTORY OF CONTROL
SYSTEM

• Stability, Stabilization, and Steering

Control systems theory as we know it today began to
crystallize in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In
1868, James Clerk Maxwell published the stability criterion
for a third-order system based on the coefficients of the
differential equation. In 1874, Edward
John Routh, using a suggestion from William Kingdon
Clifford that was ignored earlier by Maxwell, was able to
extend the stability criterion to fifth-order systems. In
1877, the topic for the Adams Prize was ‘‘The Criterion of
Dynamical Stability.’’
HISTORY OF CONTROL
SYSTEM

• Twentieth-Century Developments
It was not until the early 1900s that automatic
steering of ships was achieved. In 1922, the Sperry
Gyroscope Company installed an automatic steering
system that used the elements of compensation and
adaptive control to improve performance. However,
much of the general theory used today to improve the
performance of automatic control systems is attributed to
Nicholas Minorsky, a Russian born in 1885. It was his
theoretical development applied to the automatic steering
of ships that led to what we call today proportional-plus-
integral-plus-derivative (PID), or three-mode, controllers,
which we will study in Chapters 9 and 11.
SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Open-Loop Systems
A generic open-loop system is shown in Figure 1.6(a). It
starts with a subsystem called an input transducer, which
converts the form of the input to that used by the controller. The
controller drives a process or a plant. The input is sometimes
called the reference, while the output can be called the
controlled variable. Other signals, such as disturbances, are
shown added to the controller and process outputs via summing
junctions, which yield the algebraic sum of their input signals
using associated signs. For example, the plant can be a furnace
or air conditioning system, where the output variable is
temperature. The controller in a heating system consists of fuel
valves and the electrical system that operates the valves.
SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Open-Loop Systems
The distinguishing characteristic of an open-loop system is
that it cannot compensate for any disturbances that add to the
controller’s driving signal (Disturbance 1 in Figure 1.6(a)). For
example, if the controller is an electronic amplifier and
Disturbance 1 is noise, then any additive amplifier noise at the
first summing junction will also drive the process, corrupting the
output with the effect of the noise. The output of an open-loop
system is corrupted not only by signals that add to
the controller’s commands but also by disturbances at the
output (Disturbance 2 in Figure 1.6(a)). The system cannot
correct for these disturbances, either.
SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Open-Loop Systems
Open-loop systems, then, do not correct for disturbances
and are simply commanded by the input. For example, toasters
are open-loop systems, as anyone with burnt toast can attest.
The controlled variable (output) of a toaster is the color of the
toast. The device is designed with the assumption that the toast
will be darker the longer it is subjected to heat. The toaster does
not measure the color of the toast;
it does not correct for the fact that the toast is rye, white, or
sourdough, nor does it correct for the fact that toast comes in
different thicknesses.
SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Open-Loop Systems

Figure 1.6 Block diagram of Control System – Open-loop system

SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Close-loop (Feedback Control) System

The disadvantages of open-loop systems, namely sensitivity
to disturbances and inability to correct for these disturbances,
may be overcome in closed-loop systems. The generic
architecture of a closed-loop system is shown in Figure 1.6(b).
The input transducer converts the form of the input to the
form used by the controller. An output transducer, or sensor,
measures the output response and converts it into the form used
by the controller. For example, if the controller uses electrical
signals to operate the valves of a temperature control system,
the input position and the output temperature are converted to
electrical signals. The input position can be converted to a
voltage by a potentiometer, a variable resistor, and the output
temperature can be converted to a voltage by a thermistor, a
device whose electrical resistance changes with temperature.
SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Close-Loop Systems

Figure 1.6 Block diagram of Control System – Close-loop system

SYSTEM
CONFIGURATIONS

• Close-loop (Feedback Control) System

The closed-loop system compensates for disturbances by
measuring the output response, feeding that measurement back
through a feedback path, and comparing that response to the
input at the summing junction. If there is any difference between
the two responses, the system drives the plant, via the actuating
signal, to make a correction. If there is no difference, the system
does not drive the plant, since the plant’s response is already the
desired response.
In summary, systems that perform the previously described
measurement and correction are called closed-loop, or feedback
control, systems. Systems that do not have this property of
measurement and correction are called open-loop systems.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
OBJECTIVES

Analysis is the process by which a system’s performance is

determined. For example, we evaluate its transient
response and steady-state error to determine if they meet
the desired specifications. Design is the process by which
a system’s performance is created or changed. For
example, if a system’s transient response and steady-state
error are analyzed and found not to meet the
specifications, then we change parameters or add
additional components to meet the specifications.
A control system is dynamic: It responds to an input
by undergoing a transient response before reaching a
steady-state response that generally resembles the input.
We have already identified these two responses and cited
a position control system (an elevator) as an example.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
OBJECTIVES

• Transient Response
Transient response is important. In the case of an
elevator, a slow transient response makes passengers
impatient, whereas an excessively rapid response makes
them uncomfortable. If the elevator oscillates about the
arrival floor for more than a second, a disconcerting
feeling can result. Transient response is also important for
structural reasons: Too fast a transient response could
cause permanent physical damage.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
OBJECTIVES

• Steady-State Response
Another analysis and design goal focuses on the
steady-state response. As we have seen, this response
resembles the input and is usually what remains after the
transients have decayed to zero. For example, this
response may be an elevator stopped near the fourth
floor. We are concerned about the accuracy of the steady-
state response. An elevator must be level enough with the
floor for the passengers to exit, and a read/write head not
positioned over the commanded track results in computer
errors.
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
OBJECTIVES

• Stability
Discussion of transient response and steady-state
error is moot if the system does not have stability. In order
to explain stability, we start from the fact that the total
response of a system is the sum of the natural response
and the forced response. When you studied linear
differential equations, you probably referred to these
responses as the homogeneous and the particular
solutions, respectively. Natural response describes the
way the system dissipates or acquires energy. The form or
nature of this response is dependent only on the system,
not the input.