Discrete Controller Design

Several methods can be used for the design of a digital controller: A system transfer function is modelled and obtained in the s-plane. The transfer function is then transformed into the z-plane and the controller is designed in the z-plane. System transfer function is modelled as a digital system and the controller is directly designed in the z-plane. The continuous system transfer function is transformed into the wplane. A suitable controller is then designed in the w-plane using the well-established time response (e.g. root locus) or frequency response (e.g. Bode diagram) techniques. The final design is transformed into the z-plane and the algorithm is implemented on the digital computer.

As you may know from previous work with analogue PID controllers, the basic principal is to act upon the variable to be controlled through a combination of three elements. A proportional part; which produces an actuating signal proportional to the error signal. The proportional part will reduce the rise time; it will also reduce the steady state error but cannot get rid of it. An integral part; which produces an actuating signal proportional to the integral of the error signal. The integral part does this but tends to make the transient response worse. A derivative part; which produces an actuating signal proportional

to the derivative of the error. The Derivative part improves stability,

reduces overshoot and improves the transient response.

Analysis of discrete PID controller

How do we code this inside our micro-controller? If we start with the z domain representation, rearranging and then carrying out an inverse z transformation to get back to the difference equation.

We can then code this equation directly:

Integral wind up is a real problem, which must be dealt with in a PID controller. In real applications control signal is physically limited, e.g. actuation may only accept a maximum range 12 volts, or D/A converter only accepts 1024 units etc. If the error signal remains positive the output of the controller will continue

to increase, even though the actuator is maxed out. The integral term
continues to build up and up. When the error signal finally changes sign, the proportional term will change sign, but the integral term will start to ramp down from the enormous value that it ended up at. This could take some time for the integral term to drop below the maxed out value of the actuator and the control loop finally starts to have some effect.

Methods of help avoid this problem are:

Disable the integral action when the actuator is maxed out. Limit the overall output of the controller to that of the actuator. e.g. If u[k] > + limit, then u[k] = + limit if u[k] < - limit, then u[k] = - limit

Example:

The digital controller can be described by the following difference equation:

m(k ) 11e(k ) 10.5e(k 1) 0.3m(k 1) . Draw the block diagram illustrating how the

controller transfer function, , can be realized in the computer in terms of unit delays, constant multipliers and summers.

m(k ) 11e(k ) 10.5e(k 1) 0.3m(k 1) M ( z )[1 0.3 z 1 ] E ( z )[11 10.5 z 1 ] M ( z) (1 0.955 z 1 ) 11 E( z) (1 0.3 z 1 )

Example:
Consider the digital control system in figure below with transfer function

Example:

Example:

0.3935 Z ( Z 0.6065)

Example:

Consider the digital control system shown in the following Figure . In the z plane, design a digital controller such that the dominant closed-loop poles have a damping ratio of 0.5 and a settling time of 2 sec. The sampling period is assumed to be 0.2 sec, or T = 0.2. Obtain the response of the designed digital control system to a unit-step input. Also, obtain the static velocity error constant K, of the system. Solution:

For the standard second-order system having a pair of dominant closed-loop poles, the settling time of 2 sec means that

which gives the undamped natural frequency, of the dominant closed-loop poles as n = 4 2 The damped natural frequency cod is determined to be d n 1 3.464

DEAD-BEAT CONTROLLER The dead-beat controller is one in which a step input is followed by the system but delayed by one or more sampling periods, i.e. the system response is required to be equal to unity at every sampling instant after the application of a unit step input. The required closed-loop transfer function is then:

Example:

DAHLIN CONTROLLER
The Dahlin controller is a modification of the dead-beat controller and produces an exponential response which is smoother than that of the deadbeat controller.

The required response of the system in the s-plane can be shown to be:

where a and q are chosen to give the required response (see Figure). If we let a=kT , then the z-transform of the output is

and the required transfer function is

Using we can find the transfer function of the required controller:

Example :

The open-loop transfer function of a plant is given by:

Design a Dahlin digital controller for the system. Assume that T = 1s. Solution:

Figure(a) shows the step response of the system. It is clear that the response is exponential as expected. The response of the controller is shown in Figure (b). Although the system response is slower, the controller signal is more acceptable.

Figure (a) System response with Dahlin controller

Figure (b): Controller response