NPTEL Online Course: Control Engineering

Ramkrishna Pasumarthy

Assignment-11 : Solutions

1. Consider a system described by state space model

   
0 1 1
ẋ = x+ u
5 −1 2
 
y= 1 2 x

What is the transfer function of the system?

5s+13
(a) s2 +s+5
5s+13
(b) s2 +s−5 [Correct]
5s
(c) s2 +s+5
5s+13
(d) s2 −s−5

Solution

Given  
01
A=
−1
5
 
1
B=
2
 
C= 1 2
The transfer function is given by C(sI − A)−1 B. Substituting A,B and C,
we get:
5s + 13
G(s) = 2
s +s−5
2. In Problem No.1, is the system controllable?
(a) Yes [Correct]
(b) No
(c) Cannot be determined with given information

1
 Solution

We find the controllability matrix as follows:

C = [BAB]
 
1 2
C=
2 3

The rank of C is 2. Therefore the system is controllable.

3. In Problem No. 1, is the system observable?
(a) Yes [Correct]
(b) No
(c) Cannot be determined with given information

Solution

We find the observability matrix as follows:

 
C
O=
CA
 
1 2
O=
10 −1

The rank of O is 2. Therefore the system is observable.

4. In Problem No.1, if the closed-loop characteristic equation is determined
for a feedback of the form u = −[K1 K2 ]x, what is the coefficient of ‘s’
given K1 = 2; K2 = 2, rounded to the nearest integer?

Solution

Using state feedback u = −Kx, we get:

ẋ = (A − BK)x
    
0 1 1  
ẋ = − K1 K2 x
5 −1 2
 
−K1 1 − K2
ẋ = x
5 − 2K1 −1 − 2K2

The characteristic equation becomes s2 + (1 + K1 + 2K2 )s + (3K1 + 5K2 −

5) = 0
Substituting k1 = 2; k2 = 2, we get the coefficient of ‘s0 to be 7.
5. For K1 = 1; K2 = −1, the closed loop system is:

2
 (a) Stable
(b) Unstable [Correct]
(c) Marginally Stable

Solution

By substituting K1 = 1; K2 = −1 in the characteristic equation obtained

in the previous problem, we get s2 − 7 = 0. Therefore the system will have
poles on the right half plane and it will be unstable.
6. Given the system
      
ẋ1 −4 1 x1 0
= + u(t)
ẋ2 −2 −1 x2 1
For u(t) being a step input, what is the steady state value of x1 rounded
to two decimal places?

Solution

At steady state, the values of x1 and x2 do not change i,e,. ẋ1 = ẋ2 = 0
We get the following equations by substituting ẋ1 = ẋ2 = 0 in the model:
−4x1 + x2 = 0
−2x1 − x2 + u = 0
As u(t) is a step input, we can substitute u(t) = 0 and solve the above
equations to get steady state values of x1 & x2 . We get
x1 = 0.17
x2 = 0.67

7. In Problem No.6, what is the steady state value of x2 rounded to two

decimal places?

Solution

x2 = 0.67
8. Consider a system with state space equations
   
−5 1 1 0
ẋ =  0 −3 −2 x + 1 u
0 0 −4 1
 
y= 1 0 0 x
What is the transfer function?

3
 2s+5
(a) s3 +2s2 −23s−60
2s+5
(b) s3 +12s2 +47s+60 [Correct]
2s+10
(c) s3 +4s2 −23s−60
2s−5
(d) s3 +2s2 +23s+60

Solution

The transfer function is given by C(sI − A)−1 B. Substituting A,B and C

as per the given model, we get:
2s + 5
G(s) =
s3 + 12s2 + 47s + 60
9. In Problem No.8, what is the DC gain of the system rounded to two
decimal places ?

Solution

DC gain is given by:

K = lim G(s)
s→0
2s + 5
K = lim
s→0 s3 + 12s2 + 47s + 60
5
K=
60
K = 0.08

10. In Problem No. 8, is the system observable?

(a) Yes [Correct]
(b) No
(c) Cannot be determined with given information

Solution

We find the observability matrix as follows:

 
C
O =  CA 
CA2
 
1 0 0
O = −5 1 1 
25 −8 −11
The rank of O is 3. Therefore the system is observable.

4
11. For the state space system
   
0 1 0
ẋ = x+ u
−6 −5 1
 
y= 1 0 x

We design a state feedback controller u = −Kx, K = [k1 k2 ], such that the

closed-loop poles have a damping coefficient ξ = 0.707 and step response
peak time tp = 3.14. What should the natural frequency ωn of the system
with desired closed loop poles rounded to two decimal points? [Ans: 1.41]

Solution

The step response peak time is given as:

π
tp =
p
ωn 1 − ζ 2
3.14
3.14 = √
ωn 1 − 0.7072
√
∴ ωn = 2 = 1.41

12. In Problem No.10, what is the value of k1 in the designed state feedback
controller rounded to nearest integer? [Ans: -4]

Solution

Using the values of omegan and ζ in the previous problem, the desired
characteristic equation is s2 + 2s + 2 = 0.
Using state feedback u = −Kx, we get:

ẋ = (A − BK)x
    
0 1 0  
ẋ = − k1 k2 x
−6 −5 1
 
0 1
ẋ = x
−6 − k1 −5 − k2

The characteristic equation becomes s2 + (5 + k2 )s + (6 + k1 ) = 0

Comparing this with the desired characteristic equation, we get:

6 + k1 = 2
k1 = −4

13. In Problem No.10, what is the value of k2 in the designed state feedback
controller rounded to nearest integer? [Ans: -3]

5
 Solution

Continuing from above problem,

5 + k2 = 2
k2 = −3

14. Consider the non-linear system ẋ = x2 − 4. How many equilibrium points

does the system have?

Solution

Since the model equation is of degree 2, the number of equilibrium points

is equal to 2. They can be calculated by setting ẋ = 0
x2 − 4 = 0
x2 = 4
x = ±2

15. What the value of stable equilibrium point of the system?

Solution

To determine the stability of equilibrium points, we find ẍ.

ẍ = 2x

Now ẍ|x∗ =−2 = −4 < 0

Therefore, the stable equilibrium point is -2
16. What the value of unstable equilibrium point of the system.

Solution

ẍ|x∗ =2 = 4 > 0
Therefore, the unstable equilibrium point is 2
17. Consider the non-linear system represented by the following set of equa-
tions:
ẋ1 = u1 cos x3
ẋ2 = u1 sin x3
ẋ3 = u2
Find the linearised state space model of the system with equilibrium con-
ditions [x∗1 x∗2 x∗3 ]T and u1 = 0; u2 = 0. What is the matrix A in the state
space model ?

6
  
0 0 0
(a) A = 0 0 0 [Correct]
0 0 0
 
1 0 0
(b) A = 0 1 0
0 0 1
 
−1 0 0
(c) A =  0 −1 0
0 0 −1
 
0 0 0
(d) A = 0 0 0
0 0 1

Solution

Let us take :

f1 (x, u) = ẋ1 = u1 cos x3

f2 (x, u) = ẋ2 = u1 sin x3
f3 (x, u) = ẋ3 = u2

Following Jacobi Linearization,


∂f 
A=
∂x x∗ ,u∗

Therefore,
 ∂f ∂f1 ∂f1

1

 ∂x
∂f
1 ∂x2
∂f2
∂x3
∂f2 
A=  ∂x21 ∂x2 ∂x3 
∂f3 ∂f3 ∂f3
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3
 
0 0 0
A = 0 0 0
0 0 0

A becomes a zero matrix because every f has an u in it and it is given

that at equilibrium, u1 = 0; u2 = 0
18. In Problem No.17, what is the dimension of matrix B?
(a) 3 × 2 [Correct]
(b) 2 × 3
(c) 3 × 3
(d) 3 × 1

7
 Solution

Following Jacobi Linearization,


∂f 
B=
∂u x∗ ,u∗

Therefore,
 ∂f ∂f1

1

 ∂u1
∂f2
∂u2
∂f2 
B =  ∂u1 ∂u2 
∂f3 ∂f3
∂u1 ∂u2

It is a matrix of dimension 3 × 2
19. In Problem No.17, what is the first row first column element of matrix B?
(a) cos(x∗3 ) [Correct]
(b) sin(x∗3 )
(c) 0
(d) 1

Solution


∂f1 ∂ 
= (u1 cos(x3 ))
∂u1 ∂u1 x∗ ,u∗
∂f1
= cos(x∗3 )
∂u1

20. In Problem No.17, what is the last row last column element of matrix B?
(a) cos(x∗3 )
(b) sin(x∗3 )
(c) 0
(d) 1 [Correct]

Solution


∂f3 ∂ 
= (u2 )
∂u2 ∂u2 x∗ ,u∗
∂f3
=1
∂u2