EE342 Spring 2007 Midterm Exam

Problem 1. (15 points) Determine whether the standard feedback system is stable for the
following cases, and justify your answers. If the feedback system is unstable determine how
many of its poles are in the right half plane.

v
+
r e uc + u y
+ Gc Gp
−

10 2
(a) Gc (s) = ; Gp (s) =
(s + 1) (s + 1)(s + 2)
5 (s + 1) 1
(b) Gc (s) = ; Gp (s) =
s s−2
5 (0.1s + 1) (s − 2)2
(c) Gc (s) = ; Gp (s) =
s (s2 + 6s + 10)(s + 5)
Problem 2. (25 points) The Root Locus for the system with

(s + 1) 1
Gc (s) = K Gp (s) =
s s(s + 7)2

is as shown in the figure. Design K > 0 such that maximum of the real parts of the closed loop
system poles is minimized, i.e,

max {Real(ri )} ≤ −σ where σ > 0 is to be maximized.

i=1,2,3,4

Root Locus

7.5

2.5
Imaginary Axis

0 xx xx

−2.5

−5

−7.5
−10 −9 −8 −7 −6 Real Axis−4
−5 −3 −2 −1 0 1
Problem 3. (30 points) A proportional controller Gc = K is to be used for a plant in the form
Gp (s) = d Gpn (s) where d is an uncertain paramater; nominally d = 1. We also know that Gpn (s)
is unstable with only one unstable pole. The system’s Nyquist plot (for ω ≥ 0) is shown below
for K = 1 and d = 1.
We know that we can find values of K for which the feedback system is stable for a range of
d ∈ (dmin , dmax ). Clearly dmin and dmax depend on the value of K chosen.
(a) Determine dmin and dmax , for K = 1.
1
(b) Find the best value of K which maximizes the sum dmax + .
dmin

0.4

0.2

−0.2
Imaginary

G(jω)
−0.4

−0.6

−0.8

−1
−3.25 −3 −2.75 −2.5 −2.25 −2 −1.75 −1.5 −1.25 −1 −0.75 −0.5 −0.25 0
Real
Problem 4. (30 points) Given a plant

e−hs
Gp (s) =
s

and a proportional controller Gc (s) = K we study three different cases listed below.

π
(a) Let K = 10 and h = . Roughly sketch the Bode plot of G = Gc Gp . What are the gain
20
and phase margins?
π
(b) Let h = , design K so that the phase margin is greater or equal to 45◦ and the steady
8
state error for a unit ramp reference input is as small as possible.

(c) We know that for all h > 0, the feedback system is stable for all values of K in some
interval (0 , K1 ), where K1 > 0. Let K1 be such that when K = K1 the impulse response
2π
in steady state is a sinusoidal signal with period seconds. Find K1 and h.
3