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of Control Systems
Prof. Khoder Melhem
Qassim University
Fall 2014/1434
College of Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
Lectures 1-3
Introduction to
Control and Systems
Lecture outline
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 4
What is control?
What is a control system? A control system is typically represented by the following
functional block-diagram
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 5
What is control? A real life example . . .
• Water inflow u(t) must be controlled to reach and maintain the desired
temperature r(t)
• Skin sensations measure water temperature y(t)
• Water inflow u(t) manipulated so that y(t) ≈ r(t) . . .
• . . . in spite of flow and temperature fluctuations d(t)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 6
What is control? A real life example . . .
• Steering wheel must be controlled to reach and maintain the desired lateral
displacement r(t) within the lane (e.g.: staying in the middle of the lane)
• Eyes measure current lateral displacement y(t)
• Steering wheel u(t) manipulated so that y(t) ≈ r(t) . . .
• . . . in spite of road conditions and car stability d(t)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 7
What is automatic control?
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 8
What is a control system?
Objective: To make the system OUTPUT and the desired REFERENCE as close as
possible, i.e., to make the ERROR as small as possible.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 9
What is an output in a control system?
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 10
Why do you need control (or a control system)?
We build control systems for five primary reasons:
1. Power amplification
2. Precision
3. Remote control
4. Convenience of input form
5. Compensation for disturbances
With control systems, elevators carry us quickly to our destination, automatically stopped at the
right floor. We alone could not provide the power required for the load and the speed; motors
provide the power (power amplification) and controllers regulate the position and speed (precision).
Control systems are useful in remote or dangerous locations. A remote-controlled robot arm can be
used to pick up material in a radioactive environment (remote control).
In a temperature control systems (like a thermostat), the input is a position on the thermostat
while the output is heat. A convenient position input yields a desired thermal output (convenience of
input form).
An antenna that points in a commanded direction can be subjected to wind (disturbance) forcing
the antenna rotates from its commanded direction. A feedback controller must detect the
disturbance and correct the antenna position (compensation for disturbances).
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 11
Open-loop versus closed-loop control
Open-loop control (or feedforward control) The manipulated input variable is generated without
measuring the output variable.
A disadvantage of an open-loop control system is that it cannot compensate for any disturbances
that add to the manipulated input (or controller’s driving signal) and the process’ output. Thus,
the output of an open-loop control system is corrupted by disturbances.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 12
Open-loop versus closed-loop control
Examples of open-loop control systems
Example 2: Examination system Assume that you calculate the amount of time you
need to study for examination that covers three chapters to get an A. If the professor
adds a fourth chapter - a disturbance - you are an open-loop system if you do not
detect the disturbance and add study time to that previously calculated. The result
of this oversight would be a lower grade than you expected.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 13
Open-loop versus closed-loop control
Closed-loop control (feedback control) Measurements of the output variable are fed back to the
process through the controller.
The disadvantage of open-loop systems that are sensitive to disturbances and thus not able to
correct for these disturbances may be now overcome in closed-loop systems. However, closed-loop
systems are more complex and expensive than open-loop systems.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 14
Open-loop versus closed-loop control
Example of closed-loop control
Example: Temperature control system
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 15
Computer-controlled systems (or digital control systems)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 17
Terminology
• Plant or Process: System to be controlled
• Inputs: Excitations/stimulus and disturbances (known, unknown) to the system
• Disturbances: Unwanted inputs to the system
• Outputs: Responses of the system
• Sensors: They measure system variables (excitations, responses, etc.)
• Actuators: They drive various parts of the system.
• Controller: Device that generates control signal
• Control Law: Relation or scheme according to which the control signal is
generated
• Control System: Plant + controller, at least (can include sensors, actuators,
signal conditioning, etc.)
• Feedback Control: Control signal is determined according to plant response
• Feedforward Control: No feedback of plant response to controller
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 18
Response characteristics of a control system
Elevator example
When the fourth-floor button of an elevator is pushed on the ground floor, the elevator rises to the
fourth floor with a speed and floor-leveling accuracy designed for passenger comfort.
• Physical entities cannot change their states instantaneously. Thus, the elevator undergoes a
gradual change as it rises from the first floor to the fourth floor. That is the transient response.
• After the transient response, a physical system approaches its steady-state response (elevator
reaches the fourth floor), which is an approximation to the desired response.
• The accuracy of the elevator’s leveling with the floor could also make the output different from
the input. We call this difference as steady-state error. Steady-state errors must designed to be
zero for some applications such as a robot inserting a memory chip onto a board.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 19
Control system analysis and design objectives
Elevator example
Summary: A control system is dynamic; It responds to an input by undergoing a transient
response before reaching a steady-state response that generally resembles to the input.
Transient response is important. a slow response makes elevator 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 reason: Too fast a transient response could cause a
permanent physical damage. Thus, we analyze the elevator for its transient response and (if
needed) we adjust parameters or design components to yield desired transient response.
The steady-state response of the elevator is its location reached near the fourth floor. An
elevator must be level enough with the floor for the passengers to exit. Thus, the elevator’s
steady-state error should be analyzed and (if needed) design corrective action to reduce the
steady-state error should be taken.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 20
Control system analysis and design objectives
Elevator example
STATEMENT: Discussion of transient response and steady-state error is moot if the system
does not have stability.
Actually, the total response of a system is
For a control system to be stable, the natural response must eventually approach zero, thus
leaving only the forced response, which is an approximation of the input.
BE CAREFUL: If the natural response grows without bound the system is no longer
controlled or unstable. Instability could lead to self-destruction of the physical device if
limit stops are not part of the design. In our example, the elevator would crash through the
floor or exit through the ceiling. Thus, a control system must be analyzed and designed to
be stable.
NOTICE THAT: The transient response is the sum of natural and forced responses when the
natural response is large, while the steady-state response is the sum of the natural and
forced responses when the natural response is small.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 21
What is important in a control system?
• Stability
• (Transient) response speed
• Accuracy
⊲ dynamic overshooting and oscillation duration
⊲ steady-state error
• Robustness
⊲ errors in models (uncertainties and nonlinearities)
⊲ effects of disturbances
⊲ effects of noises
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 22
What is important in a control system?
Solutions for robustness:
• Plant nonlinearities – nonlinear control
• Sensor nonlinearities – nonlinear control
• Control input nonlinearities (control saturations) – nonlinear control
• Plant parameter uncertainties – robust control or adaptive control
• Noise and disturbance rejection – robust control or optimal control
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 23
Brief view of control techniques:
There are tons of research published in the literature on how to design control laws for various
control purposes. These can be roughly classified into the following techniques:
• Optimal control: Linear quadratic Gaussian control (LQG), Kalman filter, H2 control, developed
in 1960s to optimize a certain ‘cost index’ and boomed by NASA Apollo Project.
• Adaptive control: Uses online identification of the process parameters, thereby obtaining strong
robustness properties. Adaptive control was applied for the first time in the aerospace industry
in the 1950s.
• Robust control: H∞ control, developed in 1980s & 90s to achieve robust performance and/or
stability in the presence of small modeling errors. Example: military systems.
• Nonlinear control: Currently hot research topics, developed to handle nonlinear systems with
high performances. Examples: military systems such as aircraft, missiles.
• Intelligent control: Predictive control, neural networks, fuzzy logic, machine learning,
evolutionary computation and genetic algorithms, researched heavily in 1990s, developed to
handle systems with unknown models. Examples: economic systems, social systems, human
systems.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 24
Other considerations in control system analysis and design
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 25
Modeling of dynamic systems
Dynamic system: Response variables are functions of time, with non-negligible rates
of changes.
Model: A representation of a system.
Types of models:
• Physical models (Prototypes or scale models)
• Mathematical models
1. Analytical models (using physical laws)
2. Computer (numerical) models (using simulations)
3. Experimental models (using input/output experimental data)
Mathematical models for physical dynamic systems:
• Distributed-parameter models (PDEs). Example: Spring element (flexibility,
inertia, damping)
• Lumped-parameter models (ODEs)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 26
How to design a (modern) control system?
• Understand the automation problem:
⊲ what are the automation requirements?
⊲ which plant or process can be used to meet the requirements?
⊲ what are the specifications to be achieved?
⊲ which variables can be manipulated by actuators?
⊲ what are the output variables of interest?
⊲ what should we measure?
⊲ which are the disturbances?
• Get a simplified mathematical model or a reliable simulation model of the plant, sensors, and
actuators
• Synthesize the control algorithm based on the developed models and the control criteria
A lot of skills and knowledge to have got from a control systems engineer, which makes the
control systems engineering one of a kind!
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 28
Computer-aided design tools (or CAD tools)
The computer plays an important role in the design of modern control systems. In the past,
control system design was labor intensive by using hand calculators or at the best plastic
graphical aid tools. The process was slow and the results not always accurate. Large
mainframe computers were then used to simulate the designs.
Today we are fortunate to have our own desktop computers and softwares to perform
analysis, design, and simulation with one program (such as Matlab):
• With the ability to simulate a design rapidly, we can easily make changes and
immediately test a new design.
• We can try alternate solutions to see if they yield better results, such as reduced
sensitivity to parameter changes.
• We can include nonlinearities and other dynamical effects and test our models for
accuracy.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 29
Computer-aided design tools (or CAD tools)
In this course we will use Matlab which is a trademark of The MathWorks, Inc as a computer-aided
design tool for control systems analysis and design. In addition, we will make use of some additional
functionalities to Matlab, namely: Simulink, which uses a graphical user interface, and the Symbolic
Math Toolbox, which saves labor when making symbolic calculations required in control system
analysis and design.
Matlab is used here as an alternate method of solving control system problems. You are encouraged
to solve problems first by hand and then by Matlab so that insight is not lost through mechanized
use of computer programs.
You must go to MathWorks website: http://www.mathworks.com/academia/ and read about Matlab
ant its Simulink and Symbolic Math Toolbox. Many important lectures and interactive control
systems tutorials can be found.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 30
History of control engineering
• 300 B.C. Greece (Float valves and regulators for liquid level control)
• 1770 James Watt (Steam engine; Governor for speed control)
• 1868 James Maxwell (Cambridge University, Theory of governors)
• 1877 E.J. Routh (Stability criterion)
• 1893 A.M. Lyapunov (Soviet Union, Stability theory, basis of state space
formulation)
• 1927 H.S. Black and H.W. Bode (AT&T Bell Labs, Electronic feedback amplifier)
• 1930 Norbert Wiener (MIT, Theory of stochastic processes)
• 1932 H. Nyquist (AT&T Bell Labs, Stability criterion from Nyquist gain/phase
plot)
• 1936 A. Callender, D.R. Hartee, and A. Porter (England, PID Control)
• 1948 Claude Shannon (MIT, Mathematical Theory of Communication)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 31
History of control engineering (Cont’d)
• 1948 W.R. Evans (Root locus method)
• 1940s Theory and applications of servomechanisms, cybernetics, and control
(MIT, Bell Labs, etc.)
• 1959 H.M. Paynter (MIT, Bond graph techniques for system modeling)
• 1960s Rapid developments in State-space techniques, Optimal control, Space
applications (R. Bellman and R.E. Kalman in USA, L.S. Pontryagin in USSR,
NASA)
• 1965 Theory of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic (L.A. Zadeh)
• 1970s Intelligent control; Developments of neural networks; Widespread
developments of robotics and industrial automation (North America, Japan,
Europe)
• (1980s-today) Nonlinear, robust, adaptive, optimization-based, (. . .) control
• 1990s Widespread application of smart products; MEMS
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 32
A typical control system
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 33
Most used sensors and actuators in control systems
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 34
Sensors and actuators in control systems
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Application areas of control engineering
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 36
Examples of control systems
Control systems in nature
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Examples of control systems
Power control
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 38
Examples of control systems
Speed control system
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 39
Examples of control systems
Temperature control system
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 40
Examples of control systems
Drug delivery system
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 41
Examples of control systems
Aircraft turbojet engine
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 42
Examples of control systems
Robot manipulator
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 43
Challenges in control
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 44
What you will learn in this course
• How to analyze the stability of a feedback control systems and find design
parameters that guarantee and improve stability
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 45
What you will learn in this course (Cont’d)
K.C. Dorf and K.H. Bishop, Modern Control Systems, Prentice Hall,
2010.
(Good classical textbook on control engineering, your textbook!)
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 48
Logistics
Grading
Homework, Quizzes, and Attendance 20 %
First Mid-Term Exam 15 %
Second Mid-Term Exam 15 %
Final Exam 50 %
Office hours for student help: Working days (see Instructor’s schedules for more
details). Also, you may ask your questions after class.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 49
Logistics (Cont’d)
• Dates of midterm exams and final exam are fixed by college administration and
cannot be changed or postponed in general.
• Homework is given as MATLABTM problems to learn how our control problems
can be solved computationally.
• Quizzes are given as multiple choice questions to asses your understanding of the
key concepts of the course.
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 50
Lectures & Tutorials
Attendance is essential
Ask your tutor any question related to the course at any time during the
lecture and tutorial
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 51
How to succeed in this course
• Before class:
Review material (textbook and notes if available) from previous class
Preview material (textbook and notes if available) to be covered
Arrive on time
• During class:
Attend all classes and tutorials - Not everything can be understood by
self-study within an acceptable short time
Pay attention, take notes, and ask questions if needed
• After class:
Review material (textbook and notes if available)
Identify and understand key points
Do all the problem sets assigned in time
Prof. K. Melhem (Qassim University) Principles of Control Systems Academic year 2014-2015 52