Control Systems

Spring 2003
Charles Brice
University of South Carolina

Chapter 1. Introduction
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Introduction

Architecture of Control
Systems
Two basic architectures, which may be used
alone or in combination:
Feedforward or open-loop control
Feedback or closed-loop control
Input

Output
Controller

Process

Feedforward control
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Introduction

Input

Output
Controller

Process

Feedback control (unity-gain feedback)

Input
Process

Output

Controller

Feedback control (non-unity-gain feedback)

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Introduction

 Advantage of open-loop architecture is

simplicity of implementation
Disadvantage of open-loop architecture is
extreme sensitivity to disturbances and to
unmodeled aspects of process
Feedforward can be combined with
feedback to achieve performance goals
This proves to be a fruitful approach in many
applications
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Introduction

Digital control may require analog-to-digital

(A/D) and/or digital-to-analog (D/A) converters
Input
A/D

Digital
Controller

Output
D/A

Process

Sensor

Feedback control using digital controller

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Introduction

 Elaborate the digital control architecture:

r(t) = reference input (desired output)
c(t) = actual output
c~(t) = sensor output (measurement of c(t))
e(t) = r(t) c~(t) = error
disturbance
r(t)

e(t)

A/D

Digital
Controller
c~(t)

D/A

Process
(Plant)

c(t)

Sensor
disturbance

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Introduction

 Note that disturbances are shown also.

Control system goals:
The first goal of the control system is to track
(or follow) the reference input r(t)
The second goal of the control system is to
reject (or not respond to) the disturbances
We hope that the sensor has a transfer function
close to 1, so often we ignore sensor dynamics
If the sensor dynamics are significant, they should
be included in the analysis
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Introduction

 The general case of a controller is shown in

the architecture figures, since r(t) is not
always 0.
If r(t) is always 0, the special case is called a
regulator.

The block labeled digital controller is a

digital computer algorithm, which can be
implemented with any sort of hardware:
computer running real-time operating system
digital signal processor (DSP)
other special-purpose digital hardware
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Introduction

System modeling
Significant problems:
develop reasonable process models
design control algorithm that forces c(t) to track
r(t) with little response to disturbances
maintaining stable response with
good transient performance
good steady-state performance

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Introduction

Pros and Cons of Digital

Control
Advantages of digital over analog:
Sensitive control elements with low-energy
signals
Digital signals are relatively immune from
noise and can have higher accuracy
Digital computation is becoming cheaper
Can also implement supervisory control and
data acquisition systems
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 Disdavantages of digital:
Analysis of hybrid systems is challenging, so
design is sometimes harder (not always)
Converting an analog design to digital
implementation usually degrades stability (due
to delay in ZOH of D/A converter)

On balance, digital is preferred except in

very simple controllers with low
performance requirements
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Example system

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K = 50
Steady-state OK
Transient poorly damped

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K=5
Steady-state error worse
Transient damped better
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