D EPARTMENT OF E LECTRICAL AND E LECTRONIC E NGINEERING

EE208: Part II Control Systems

C. P. Jobling
15 February 1997
Version 0.99
A printable version of these lecture notes are available for
downloading in PDF and Zipped PostScript formats.

D EPARTMENT OF
E LECTRICAL AND
E LECTRONIC E NGINEERING

EE208
Slide 1

Part II Control Systems

1
CONTENTS 2

Contents
1 Introduction to Control Systems 9
1.1 Control Systems Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.1 Brief History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.2 The Challenges of Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.3 An Example — The Space Shuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.4 The Benefits of Studying Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2 Describing Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.1 The Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.2 Description of Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2.3 Advantages of Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.4 Open-Loop Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.2.5 Closed-Loop Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.2.6 Computer-Controlled Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

2 Introduction to the Analysis and Design Process 29

2.1 Control Systems Analysis and Design Objectives . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1.1 Transient Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1.2 Steady-state accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.1.3 Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2 An Example of a Closed-Loop System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.1 Antenna Azimuth Position Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.2 Block Schematic Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.3 Transient Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2.4 Steady-state error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3 The Design and Analysis Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3.1 Determine a Physical System from the Requirements . . . . 39
2.3.2 Transform the Physical System into a Schematic . . . . . . 39
2.3.3 Mathematical Models for the Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.3.4 Block Diagram Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.3.5 Analysis and Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3 Modelling the Azimuth Position Control System 51

3.1 The Schematic for the Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.2 Mechanical Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.3 Effect of the Gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.3.1 An Ideally Matched Gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4 Electrical Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.4.1 Armature-Voltage Controlled DC Motor . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.5 Coupling Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.6 The Rest of the Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.6.1 Position sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.6.2 Velocity sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.6.3 Pre-amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.6.4 Power Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.6.5 Block Diagram of Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.7 Velocity control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
CONTENTS 3

4 Evaluation of System Response 76

4.1 Poles and Zeros and System Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2 First-Order System Responses and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.2.1 The significance of a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.2.2 Time Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.2.3 Rise Time Tr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.2.4 Settling Time Ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.3 Types of Second-Order System Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3.1 Overdamped Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3.2 Underdamped Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.3.3 Undamped Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.3.4 Critically Damped System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.4 The General Second-Order Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.4.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
4.4.2 Derivation of Formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.4.3 Pole-zero locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.4.4 Further analysis for underdamped second-order systems . . 102
4.5 The Specification of Second-Order Response . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.5.1 Evaluation of Tp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.5.2 Evaluation of %OS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
4.5.3 Evaluation of Ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.6 Relating Response Specifications to Pole Locations in the s-Plane . 111
4.6.1 Effect of moving poles along design curves . . . . . . . . . 112

5 Analysis and Design of Feedback Systems 122

5.1 Interpretation of the generalised closed-loop transfer function . . . . 123
5.2 Unity-gain feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
5.3 Closed-loop transient performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.4 The Root-Locus: A Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

6 Stability 133
6.1 What is stability? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6.2 How do we determine if a system is stable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.2.1 Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.2.2 Instability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
6.2.3 Marginal stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.3 Testing for Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.4 The Hurwitz Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.5 The Routh-Hurwitz Stability Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.5.1 The Routh array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.5.2 The Routh-Hurwitz Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
6.6 Special Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6.6.1 A Zero in the first column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.6.2 An Entire row is zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
6.6.3 Interpretation of a row of zeros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.7 Use of the Routh-Hurwitz Criterion for Control Systems Design . . 150
6.8 Relative Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
CONTENTS 4

7 Steady-state errors 154

7.1 Forms of Steady-State Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
7.2 Block Diagram Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
7.3 Steady-State Errors for Unity-Gain Feedback Systems . . . . . . . . 162
7.3.1 Step input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
7.3.2 Ramp input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
7.3.3 Parabolic input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
7.4 Definition of Static Error Constants and System Type . . . . . . . . 165
7.4.1 Static error constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.4.2 System type number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.5 Steady-State Error Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

8 Dynamic Compensation 172

8.1 The trouble with gain compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
8.2 Velocity Feedback Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
8.3 Other forms of dynamic compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
8.4 PID Cascade Compensators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
8.5 Design of cascade compensators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

9 The Root Locus 186

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
9.1.1 The Control System Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.1.2 Complex numbers and their vector representations . . . . . 189
9.1.3 Defining the Root Locus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
9.2 Properties of the Root Locus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9.3 Rules for sketching the root-locus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.3.1 Number of branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.3.2 Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.3.3 Real-axis segments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
9.3.4 Start and end-points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
9.3.5 Asymptotic behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
9.4 Refining the root locus diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
9.4.1 Real-axis break-away and break-in points . . . . . . . . . . 215
9.4.2 Calculation of j! -Axis crossing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
9.4.3 Angles of Departure and Arrival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
9.5 Plotting and calibrating the root-locus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
9.5.1 Transient response from the root-locus . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

10 Frequency Response Techniques 226

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
10.2 The Open-Loop Frequency Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
10.2.1 An example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
10.2.2 Effect of Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
10.3 The Simplified Nyquist Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
10.4 Gain and Phase Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
10.4.1 Gain margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
10.4.2 Phase margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
10.4.3 Design considerations of the use of gain and phase margin . 239
CONTENTS 5

A Solutions to Problems 246

B Second-Order Responses 272

B.1 Overdamped system response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
B.2 Underdamped response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
B.3 Undamped response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
B.4 Critically damped system response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
B.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
CONTENTS 6

Syllabus
EE208: Control Systems is concerned with the development of techniques for mod-
eling linear dynamic systems with feedback and analysing their performance and
stability. The topics to be included are as follows:

 Introduction: Control system applications; a brief history; an example. De-

scribing control systems: inputs and outputs; advantages; open- and closed-
loop control systems; computer controlled systems.
 Analysis of design objectives for control systems: transient response; steady-
state response; stability. An antenna dish azimuth position control system
(course case-study1 ). The design and analysis sequence.

 Mathematical modeling.
 Time response analysis and design.

– Evaluation of system response: poles and zeros and system response;

the characteristic equation; first-order system responses amd specifica-
tions;
– Second order system responses: general second-order system; natu-
ral frequency; damping ratio; Transient performance specifications for
second-order systems.
– Analysis and design of feedback systems: closed-loop transient perfor-
mance; introduction to the root-locus. drill problem.
– Stability: the Hurwitz criterion; the Routh-Hurwitz criterion;
– Steady-state errors: steady-state errors for unity-gain feedback systems;
static error constant and error type; specifications of steady-state errors;
– A taste of feedback compensation: velocity feedback. Second drill prob-
lem.
– Root locus: the control system problem; complex numbers and their
vector representation; defining the root locus; properties of the root lo-
cus; rules for sketching the root locus. Third drill problem.

 Frequency response analysis and design.

– Nyquist: stability criterion; simplified Nyquist stability criterion.

– Relative stability: gain and phase margin; assessing closed-loop perfor-
mance from bode diagrams.
– Closed-loop frequency response: M - and N - circles; Hall and Nichols
charts; Mmax . Final drill problem.
1 http://www-ee.swan.ac.uk/Courses/level2/ee208/drillp/
CONTENTS 7

Supporting studies
The course is supported by two experiments in the Part II Laboratory Course. The
first is an examination of a position control system, a scaled-down version of the
course “case-study2 ”. The second makes use of M ATLAB and S IMULINK to simu-
late a model of the same system. I strongly encourage you to make use of M ATLAB
and S IMULINK (which are installed on the PC network) to help you to model, sim-
ulate and understand the dynamics of control systems. There are manuals in the
technician’s office at the back of room 502 but there are now several books such as
the ones by Saadat [21], Shahian and Hassul [22], Leornard and Levine [16] and
Bishop [2] which provide good tutorial introductions to the use of M ATLAB for
control systems design. In addition, many standard textbooks have been recently
updated to include tutorial and reference material concerned with the use of M AT-
LAB in control systems analysis and design. For those of you who own your own
PC, the Student Editions of M ATLAB [23] and S IMULINK [24] are available and
should be sufficient to support the analysis methods covered in the course.
As an alternative to M ATLAB, Golten [11] is a basic text on control systems
analysis and design which makes extensive use of the computer program called
CODAS included in the price. There is also an “electronic handbook” for Math-
cad which is part of a new venture by McGraw & Hill and Mathsoft to supplement
selected titles in the the Schaum’s Outline Series. The title of this package, which
includes the book [13], the software and a run-time version of Mathcad is “Interac-
tive Feedback and Control Systems” [14].

Reading List
The reference section of these notes is an annotated booklist for the control course.
The course notes are based on Nise [18] which is therefore the recommended text.
Dorf [8], which was the main text in the past, is still worth considering as an alter-
native to Nise particularly because it is supported by a solutions manual [7] and a
M ATLAB tutorial [2]. For a cheaper alternative you might wish to consider DiSte-
fano et al in the Schaum Series [13] (or the electronic handbook version for Math-
cad [14]) which is both a good reference and supply of worked problems. Those
looking for more comprehensive coverage of the course material might consider
D’Azzo and Houpis [5].
The other books included in the list fall into the category of alternative titles
or further reading. There are many books on control that also cover much of the
material that is taught in Part II and Part III, for example you might prefer one of
[10, 19, 20]. Serious students of the topic might consider [15], and those with less
interest might just consider [4, 17, 3] which are all cheap and cheerful. For those
with an interest in the practicalities of control system design might care to look at
Bateson [1] which is very much an applied control textbook/reference manual for
control systems practitioners. Doeblin [6] is a text with a similar aim which also
emphasises computer simulation.
Additional background reading can be found in [9] which emphasizes computer
modeling and simulation and [12], which is a good tutorial introduction to M AT-
2 http://www-ee.swan.ac.uk/Courses/level2/ee208/drillp/
CONTENTS 8

LAB.

Other Sources of Information

Aside from the on-line version of the course material which is to be found at
http://www-ee.swan.ac.uk/Courses/level2/ee208/ee208.html

this list of additional resources may prove useful.

For M ATLAB, the main tool used to support this course, you will find a wealth
of material on the home-page of the MathWorks3 . Included there is an extensive
list of books4 that use M ATLAB, a repository5 of contributed software, Frequently
asked question6 and lots of other information.
For on-line information about other software tools which could be used in the
support of this course you should try the web home pages of MathSoft7 (developers
of Mathcad), Wolfram Research’s MathSource8 for information on Mathematica,
and MapleSoft9 for information on Maple (the symbolic processor that is inside
M ATLAB’s Symbolic Toolbox and Mathcad).

3 http://www.matworks.com/
4 http://www.mathworks.com/BookList.html
5 http://www.mathworks.com/ftpindex.html
6 http://www.mathworks.com/faq.html
7 http://www.mathsoft.com/
8 http://www.wri.com/WWWDocs/mathsource/
9 http://www.maplesoft.com/
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 9

Lecture 1: Intro

1 Introduction to Control Systems

Introduction to Control Systems

Aims The purpose of this lecture is to:

 Introduce the Topic

Slide 2 – To give an idea of the many applications of the subject

– To give an insight into its history
– To highlight its advantages
– To demonstrate the depth and breadth of the subject
– To illustrate its usefulness as a subject worth studying

 Define some Simple Terms

1.1 Control Systems Applications

Control systems are an integral part of modern society. There are numerous appli-
cations in industry (see Slide 3), they also exist in nature (see Slide 4) and there
are even some non-physical control systems (see Slide 5).

1.1.1 Brief History

Because they are found in nature, control systems can be considered to have been in
use from the earliest times. However, in terms of Human endeavour, slides 10 and
11 illustrate the main milestones in the development of man-made control systems.

1.1.2 The Challenges of Control Systems

1.1.3 An Example — The Space Shuttle

Just taking the case of flight control: the navigation functions are illustrated in
Slide 16.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 10

Some Control System Applications

Slide 3  Space shuttle

 Automatic machine tools

 Automatic parts delivery in a factory

Control Systems in Nature

 Pancreas — regulates blood sugar

Slide 4  Adrenelin — automatically generated to increase heart-rate and

oxygen intake in times of flight

 Eyes — able to follow a moving object

 Hand — able to pick up an object and place it at a predetermined

location
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 11

Some ‘Artificial’ Applications of Control

 Modern Economies

 A Model of Student Performance

Slide 5 – Input is available study time.
– Output is performance/exam mark.
– Such a model could be used to predict time required to improve the
grade.

With such a scheme you could decide whether it is worth spending

more effort to pass the Control Systems Exam!

Control Systems Provide Power Applification

Control systems allow us to move large pieces of equipment with

precision
Slide 6
 Radio telescopes can be accurately pointed at far reaches of the
universe.

 Lifts stop at the right floor.

We could not perform these tasks ourselves. Motors provide the power and
control systems regulate the position and speed.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 12

Control finds Applications in Transportation

 Engine regulation, active suspension systems and anti-lock braking

systems in automobiles
Slide 7
 Steering of missiles, planes, aircraft and ships at sea

For example, modern ships use a combination of electrical, mechanical and

hydraulic components to develop rudder commands in response to desired
heading commands. The rudder commands, in turn, produce a rudder angle,
which steers the ship.

Control finds Applications in Process Industries

 In the process industries control is used to regulate level, pressure and

temperature of chemical refinery vessels.

 In a steel rolling mill, the position of the rolls is controlled according to

the measured thickness of the steel coming off the finishing line.
Slide 8
Move

Rollers
Strip No

measure
thickness OK?
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 13

Control Systems in the Home

 CD Players the position of the laser spot in relation to the microscopic

pits in a Compact Disc is controlled

Slide 9
 Video Recorders the tracking of the record and play-back heads is
controlled by controlling the velocity of the tape

 Central heating systems use thermostats to measure and control the

temperature in the room

 Washing machines use sequencing controls to provide a variety of

wash cycles and temperature controls to avoid damage to delicate
fabrics

Historical Development of Control Systems

 Ancient Greece (circa 3000 BC): water clocks, automatic oil lamps;
‘special effects’ in temples.

Slide 10  17th Century: Cornelis Drebbel — temperature control for an egg

incubator

 18th Century: James Watt — Flyball governer for steam engine

 Late 19th Century to mid-20th Century — development of “classical

control theory”

 1960’s – present “modern control theory”

 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 14

Heroes and Milestones in the Development of Control Systems

 Late 19th Century: Fathers of Stability Theory — J. C. Maxwell,

E. J. Routh and A. M. Lyapunov
Slide 11
 Late 1920’s – mid 1930’s: Bell Telephone Labs USA. Discovery of
negative feedback (Black), frequency response analysis (H. W. Bode),
stability theory (H. Nyquist).

 1948 invention of the Root Locus method (W. R. Evans)

 1960’s development of state-space methods (Kalman and others)

Control Engineering is Challenging

Slide 12 It is a multi-disciplinary subject

 cuts across numerous engineering disciplines

 covers numerous functions within a discipline

 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 15

Control Engineering is Challenging

It Covers all Aspects of a Project from High to Low Level

 from conception through to

 system requirements;
Slide 13
 subsystem functions;

 interconnection of functions;

 interfaces between functions;

 hardware and software design;

 right up to test plans and procedures.

Control Engineering is Challenging

It is Broad and Diverse

Control engineers typically need to work closely with

Slide 14
 biologists,

 chemical, mechanical and electrical engineers,

 mathematicians and

 physicists.

They get involved with sensors and actuator technology, electronics,

pneumatics and hydraulics and and computers.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 16

The Space Shuttle

The space shuttle would be impossible to fly without control systems. All
the shuttle’s many control systems are controlled by on-board computers on
a time-shared basis.
Slide 15
The main control systems in the shuttle are:

 Flight control

 Orbit control

 Life support

Flight Control in the Shuttle

 Navigation functions take in data to estimate the shuttle’s position and

velocity.
Slide 16
 The position and velocity data is used to steer the shuttle:

– In space by use of pulsed jets of gas;

– In the Earth’s atmosphere by adjusting the geometry of the shuttle’s
air-surfaces.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 17

There are numerous subsystems in the shuttle and many engineering disciplines
are needed to make it fly (see slide 17)

Subsystems and Disciplines Represented in the Shuttle

 Numerous subsystems

– flight elevon controls to counteract wind disturbances

Slide 17
– life support systems; power systems; heating.

 Many disciplines
orbital mechanics; propulsion; aerodynamics; electrical engineering;
mechanical engineering; hydraulics; temperature and pressure control,
etc., etc.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 18

1.1.4 The Benefits of Studying Control

What will I get out of this course?

Control is a top-down engineering subject. Such subjects are rare in

engineering:

Slide 18  most engineering courses are taught bottom up

– they start with components

– develop circuits
– assemble circuits into products.

The reason for this is that top-down courses are difficult to teach because of
the high-level of mathematics needed for a systems approach.

1.2 Describing Control Systems

In this section we shall describe what a control system is, its characteristics, and its
advantages. We also present two important classifications of control systems.

1.2.1 The Control System

1.2.2 Description of Input and Output

 The input represents a desired response.
 The output is the actual response.

For example, the inputs and outputs of a lift control system are illustrated in
Slide 23. The fourth-floor button is pressed on the ground floor. The lift-car rises
to the fourth floor with a speed and floor levelling accuracy designed for passenger
comfort.
The fourth floor button is the input shown by a step command. The lift does
not mimic the input — this would be undesirable for passenger comfort as well as
impossible with finite power supplied by motor. Instead, the input represents the
position we would like the lift to be in when the lift has stopped moving. The lift
itself follows the lift response curve.
Two factors make the output different from the input.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 19

Top down design in Control Systems

 design high-level system requirements

Slide 19  choose functions and hardware to implement system to meet

requirements.

Control works from the ‘big picture’. It unifies many other elements. This is
part of the difficulty of the subject, it is also the challenge. Recognition of
the unification, that is being able to use lessons learned in other courses,
will help you to master this course material.

Taking Stock

So far in this lecture we have introduced the Topic of Control. In the next
part of the lecture we shall define some of the terms used to describe control
systems. In this section we will give:

Slide 20  a definition of a control system

 a description of typical inputs and outputs for control systems

 highlight some advantages of control systems

 an account of the difference between open-loop and closed-loop control

and

 an introduction to computer controlled systems

 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 20

A Control system consists of

subsystems and processes (or plants)
assembled for the purpose of controlling
the output of the processes.

 A central heating boiler is a process that produces heat as a result of a

Slide 21 flow of fuel.

 This process is assembled from subsystems called fuel valves.

 Fuel valve actuators regulate the temperature of a room by controlling

the flow of fuel into the boiler.

 Other subsystems, such a thermostats, act as sensors, to measure the

room temperature.

Input; Output;
Stimulus Control Response
Slide 22 System
Desired Actual
Response Response
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 21

Floor
desired response --- input

4
lift response --- output steady-state
error
Slide 23

transient steady-state

Time

First consider the instantaneous change in the input against the gradual change
in the output. Physical entities cannot change their position or velocity instanta-
neously. The state changes through a path dictated by the physical devices and
the way it aquires and dissipates energy. The lift undergoes a gradual change as it
moves from the ground to fourth floor — called the transient response.
After the transient response is complete, the physical system approaches its
steady-state response which is an approximation to the commanded or desired re-
sponse. This occurs when the lift reaches the fourth floor. The accuracy of the lift’s
final level is the second factor that makes the output different from the input. The
difference is called the steady-state error.
Steady-state error may also be a feature of the system being controlled and it is
one of the features that the control engineer considers when specifying the desired
behaviour. For example, when tracking a satellite, some error may be tolerated pro-
vided that the satellite stays close to the centre of the tracking radar beam. However,
if a robot is inserting a chip into a PCB the steady-state error must be zero.

1.2.3 Advantages of Control Systems

We tolerate the differences between desired response and actual response because
of the many advantages of control systems.

 Power Amplification: Satellite dish can be positioned by a low power knob

at the input but requires large power to rotate. Power gain is one good reason
for building control systems.
 Dangerous Applications — remote control of a robot arm for handling nu-
clear material.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 22

Advantages of Control Systems

 Power Amplification
Slide 24  Dangerous Applications

 Compensation for Human Deficiencies

 Convenience by Change of Form of Input

 Compensation of Disturbances

 Compensation for Human Deficiencies — e.g. to help handicapped people or

the exo-skeleton used by Ripley in Aliens.
 Convenience by change of form of Input — Temperature control is by the
position of a dial on a thermostat, output is heat.
 Compensation of Disturbances — Typical control variables are temperature,
position and velocity, voltage, current or frequency. The control system must
yield the correct output even in the presence of disturbances.

Consider Slide 25. The satellite tracking antenna’s position and azimuth angle
is controlled. Internal noise or wind gusts disturb the position. What corrects for
the disturbance?

 disturbances must be measured

 measurements must be used to reposition the dish.

1.2.4 Open-Loop Systems

An open-loop control system is illustrated in Slide 26.

 A subsystem called the controller drives the process.

 the input is called the reference.

 the output is called the controlled variable.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 23

Wind
Distu
rbanc
e

Slide 25

Open-Loop Control System

Disturbance 1

Disturbance 2

Slide 26

+ +
Input Output
or + +
Controller Process or
Reference Controlled Variable
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 24

Description of an Open-Loop Temperature Control System

Slide 27  Process is a boiler, input is fuel, output is heat.

 Controller is electronics, valves, etc. that control fuel flow into furnace.

 Input is thermostat position.

 other signals, such as disturbances are shown added to the controller or pro-
cess outputs via summing junctions.

Open-loop systems cannot compensate for disturbances added to the controller’s

driving signal (disturbance 1) such as amplifier noise which is just added to the pro-
cess demand.
Output is also corrupted by disturbances at the output (e.g. wind in the tracking
system). These cannot be corrected either.
Open-loop systems do not correct for disturbances and are simply commanded.
E.g. an electric toaster: time is input, output is colour but colour is not measured.

1.2.5 Closed-Loop Systems

In Slide 28 the architecture of a closed-loop system is shown. Note that the input
transducer is now shown explicitly. It converts the input which is the desired output
into the form required by the controller. An output transducer measures the actual
output or response of the plant and also converts it to the form required by the
controller.
The first summing point substracts the output from the input — the result is
called the actuating signal — and if there is any difference the controller drives the
process. If there is no difference the plant is not driven since its output is already at
the desired value.
Closed-loop control systems are accurate because they tend to reduce the dif-
ference between input and output. They are also less sensitive to disturbances.
Transient performance and steady-state errors can be controlled more conve-
niently and with greater flexibility than with open-loop sytems — often by simple
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 25

Closed-Loop Control System

Disturbance 1

Disturbance 2
Slide 28
Input + + Output
Input + + +
Transducer Controller Process
-

Output
Transducer
or Sensor

Description of Closed-Loop Temperature Control System

 Input temperature dial position converted into a voltage by a

Slide 29 potentiometer.

 Output temperature converted to a voltage by a thermistor.

 Differencing circuit subtracts output from input — result is actuating

signal — controller drives the plant only if there is a difference.

Closed-loop systems are less sensitive to disturbances

1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 26

adjustment of gains in the loop, and sometimes by redesign of the controller (called
compensation).
On the other hand, closed-loop control systems are more complex, and therefore
more expensive than open-loop systems, so the designer must balance the cost when
desciding what to use.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 27

1.2.6 Computer-Controlled Systems

Computer-Controlled Systems

The controller or compensator is a computer

Slide 30  many loops can be controlled by time sharing.

 adjustment of controller parameters are in software rather than

hardware.

 supervisory functions such as scheduling, data logging, error and fault

monitoring, can also be done.

In the next lecture we look at the design objectives for control systems.
 1 INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEMS 28

Summary

In this lecture we have Introduced the Topic of Control and Given

 a definition of a control system

 a description of typical inputs and outputs

Slide 31
 an introduction to the terms steady-state error and transient
performance

 some advantages of control systems

 an illustration of the difference between open-loop and closed-loop

control

 an introduction to computer controlled systems

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 29

Lecture 2: Analysis and Design

Preamble
In the last lecture we introduced the idea of a control system and examined the basic
features of such systems.
Control Systems are dynamic systems, they respond to an input by undergoing a
transient response prior to reaching a steady-state response that generally resembles
the input.
In this lecture we discuss the importance of transient and steady-state response
and then establish our analysis and design objectives. We also introduce a new
concept called stability.
We then present an example of a closed-loop control system to further illustrate
some of these concepts. We finally present the control systems analysis and design
sequence and finish with an overall summary of the introductory lectures.

2 Introduction to the Analysis and Design Process

Introduction to the Analysis and Design Process

 Control systems analysis and design objectives

– Transient response
Slide 32 – Steady-state accuracy
– Stability

 An example of a closed-loop system

 The design and analysis squence

 Summary of introductory lectures

2.1 Control Systems Analysis and Design Objectives

2.1.1 Transient Response

Another example is a hard-disk drive for a computer. The transient is related

to the read-write time. Read/write cannot take place until the head is in place over
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 30

Transient Response (1)

Transient response is very important. Taking the lift example

Slide 33  if the lift moves too slowly the passengers would get impatient

 if on coming to rest, the lift was to oscillate for more than about a
second the passengers would get worried.

 if the lift moved too quickly there may be structural damage caused to
the building.

the correct track of the disk. So speed of the read/write head over the surface of
the disk from one track to another will be important for the control of the hard-disk
drive.

2.1.2 Steady-state accuracy

We also focus control systems analysis and design on this aspect of performance.
(Slides 35,36,37)

2.1.3 Stability
See slides 38–42.

2.2 An Example of a Closed-Loop System

We now introduce an example closed-loop control system which will serve as a case
study for this course. The aim in introducing this example here is to:

 to see a physical example

 to see how it works
 to see how we can affect its performance

2.2.1 Antenna Azimuth Position Control

The output is the azimuth angle o (t) follows the input i (t) of potentiometer.
A model of this system is used in the lab.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 31

Analysis and Design Objectives: Transient Response

In this course:

Slide 34
 we shall use quantitative measures of transient response

 we analyse a system’s existing transient response

 we seek to adjust the design parameters to yield a desired transient

response.

Steady-State

Steady-state is concerned with the state of a system after it arrives at the

Slide 35 desired output

 lift system: when the lift car reaches the fourth floor;

 hard disk controller: when the read-write head is over the correct track
on the hard disk.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 32

Steady-State Accuracy

We are concerned with the accuracy of the steady-state.

Slide 36  The floor of the lift must be sufficiently level with the floor of the
corridor to allow passengers to safely enter or leave the car;

 the read-write head would yield disk errors if it was not positioned
correctly over a track on the disk surface;

 a satellite tracking system must keep the satellite within its beam width.

Analysis and Design Objectives: Steady-State Accuracy

Slide 37 In this course:

 We shall define quantitative measures for steady-state accuracy

 We shall design corrective measures to reduce steady-state errors.

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 33

Stability
Slide 38
Transient response and steady-state error are moot points if the system does
not have the characteristic of stability.

What is Stability?

Recall that the total system response is equal to the sum of the natural
response and the forced response
Slide 39
Total Response = Forced Response + Natural Response
 natural response is obtained from the homogeneous solution of a
differential equation

 forced response is obtained from the particular solution.

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 34

Natural and Forced Response

Slide 40
 The natural response (or homogeneous solution) describes the way a
system acquires or dissipates energy. The form and nature of the
natural response depends only on the system, not its inputs.

 The form or nature of the forced response (or particular solution)

depends on the input.

Instability

In some systems, the natural response grows without bound rather than
Slide 41 diminishing or oscillating. Eventually the natural response is so much
bigger than the forced response that the system becomes “out of control.”

 This condition is called instability.

 It could lead to self destruction.

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 35

Analysis and Design Objectives: Stability

Slide 42

Control systems must be designed to be stable.

Summary of Analysis and Design Objectives

The objectives for a control system are to achieve:

Slide 43  stability

 steady-state error

 transient performance

(where the order indicates priorities for the designer). The question to be
answered in the course is how do we achieve these?
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 36

θo ( t ) Azimuth
Angle

antenna

Slide 44

cable θi ( t )
Antenna Azimuth Position Control

potentiometer

2.2.2 Block Schematic Diagram

A block schematic diagram of the system is shown in Slide 45.
The system normally operates to drive the error to zero.
When the input = the output there is no actuating signal, the motor is not driven.
The motor is only driven when the input 6= the output.
The bigger the error the faster the motor.

2.2.3 Transient Performance

What happens if the gain of the signal amplifier is increased?
The motor is driven harder, but the actuating signal is still zero when input =
output. The difference will be in transients — motor driven harder so will move
faster. The increased speed leads to increased momentum so the system may over-
shoot the final value and be forced by the system to reverse its direction. The result
may be a diminishing oscillation. (Slide 46)

2.2.4 Steady-state error

In Slide 46 there is no steady-state error. In some systems there is, and the increase
in gain will tend to reduce its value. This leads to a trade-off between transient
performance and steady-state error. To combat this extra components may need to
be added to the system to allow both the gain and the transients to be adjusted. This
is called compensation.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 37

Plant
Error or Controller or Process
Input: Voltage proportinal Output:
Desired Azimuth Angle to input Actuating Signal Signal & Motor, Load
Potentiometer + Azimuth Angle
Power Amplifier & Gears
θ i (t ) - θ o (t )
Slide 45 Sensor
Voltage proportinal to
output Potentiometer

Block Schematic Diagram

Response

high gain

input
Slide 46

low gain

Time
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 38

Control Systems Analysis and Design Objectives

 The design objectives revolve around transient, steady-state accuracy

Slide 47 and stability.

 gain adjustments can affect performance and lead to trade-offs among

performance criteria

 compensation may be used to achieve performance without trade-offs.

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 39

2.3 The Design and Analysis Sequence

The design and analysis sequence is illustrated in Slide 48. It consists of five basic
stages:

1. Determine a physical system from the requirements.

2. Transform the physical system into a schematic.
3. Construct a mathematical model.
4. Perform block-diagram reduction.

5. Analysis and design.

Although the sequence is shown to be linear, it need not be and in practice there
will be iterations between stages. Also, it is often the case that the control engineer
does not have influence over the first stage and may have to design controllers for
existing plant. Another point to be aware of is that the early stages are often quite
difficult! In the next sections we review each of the stages in the sequence.

Determine Transform Mathemat- Reduce Analyze or

a physical the ically the block design the
system physical model the diagram to system to
from the system into schematic a single meet the
require- a as a block block or require-
ments schematic diagram closed- ments
Slide 48 diagram loop
system

The Control Systems Design and Analysis Sequence

2.3.1 Determine a Physical System from the Requirements

(Slides 49 and 50)

2.3.2 Transform the Physical System into a Schematic

(Slides 51 to 53)
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 40

Azimuth Position Control System Example

 able to position antenna azimuth angle from a remote location

Slide 49
 weight of antenna

 physical dimensions

 desired transient performance

 desired steady-state accuracy

 etc.

Functional Description

It is sometimes useful to develop a functional diagram of the system which

will help to define the required hardware. Here is a block-schematic
Slide 50 diagram of the azimuth position control system.
Plant
Error or Controller or Process
Input: Voltage proportinal Output:
Desired Azimuth Angle to input Actuating Signal Signal & Motor, Load
Potentiometer + Azimuth Angle
Power Amplifier & Gears
θ i (t ) - θ o (t )

Sensor
Voltage proportinal to
output Potentiometer

Block Schematic Diagram

 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 41

Transform the Physical System into a Schematic

 Makes relationships more concrete

 Enables decisions to be made about what can be neglected in

formulating the mathematical model.
Slide 51
 Assumptions made can be easily reviewed and schematic and/or model
adjusted as necessary.

 Should be kept as simple as possible:

– Checked by analysis and simulation

– Phenomena added if results do not agree with observed behaviour.

Schematic Diagram of Azimuth Position Control System

θ i (t )
+
Amplifiers Motor
Armature
resistance
Potentiometer
-
+
Differential
and Inertia
Slide 52 Power Gear
θ o (t )
ld

Amplifier
fie

Viscous
d

Damping
e
Fix

- K
Gear

+
Potentiometer Gear

-
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 42

Some simplifying assumptions

 Neglect friction and inertia of potentiometers (no dynamics).

Slide 53  Neglect dynamics of signal amplifiers whose responses will be rapid

compared to the motor. Assume pure gain K .

 Armature voltage controlled motor — assume inductance is negligible.

 Load can be modelled as an inertia plus bearing resistance.

 There are no losses in the gearbox.

2.3.3 Mathematical Models for the Schematic

(Slides 54 and 55)

2.3.4 Block Diagram Reduction

(Slide 56)

2.3.5 Analysis and Design

(Slides 57–60 and Table 1)
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 43

Mathematical Models for the Schematic

 Use of basic physical laws.

Slide 54  Construction of circuit diagrams and mechanical mobility diagrams.

 Differential equations.

 Block diagrams with transfer functions.

Covered in Dynamic Systems Course

Result is a block diagram in this case.

Alternative Mathematical Models for the Schematic

Slide 55
State-space models could be used.
For these nth order differential equations are converted into n first-order
differential equations which are themselves represented by matrices.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 44

Block Diagram Reduction

Slide 56
This is used to obtain “canonical” representations of the system which is the
same as those used to develop the theories used to analyse and design the
system.

Analysis and Design

Performance characteristics such as

Slide 57  stability

 steady-state accuracy, and

 transient performance

are determined.
2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 45

Table 1: Test Waveforms Used in Control Systems

Input Function Description Sketch Use
f (t )

(t) = 1 for 0, < t < 0+ δ( t)

= 0 elsewhere
(t)
Impulse
Z 0+ t Transient re-
sponse modelling
(t)dt = 1
0,

t
Sinusoid sin !t Transient re-
sponse mod-
elling; Steady-
state error
f (t )

u(t) = 1 for t  0
Step u(t) = 0 elsewhere t Transient re-
sponse; Steady-
state error
f (t )

tu(t) tu(t) = t for t  0

Ramp
= 0 elsewhere t Steady-state error

f (t )

1 t2 u(t)
1 t2 u(t)
2 = 12 t2 for t  0
Parabola 2 = 0 elsewhere t Steady-state error
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 46

Use of simple test inputs.

Impulse, sinusoid, step, ramp and parabolic inputs are used to excite the
system in order to determine the actual response of the system.

 Impulse is used to inject energy into the system so that its natural
response may be obtained. This can be used to determine what the
Slide 58 transfer function of an unknown system is.

 Sinusoid is used to determine the steady-state and transient behaviour

from frequency response measurements. It can also be used to
determine the transfer function of an unknown system.

 Step is used to analyse steady-state and transient performance

 Ramp and Parabolic inputs are used to determine steady-state

accuracy..

Choosing Components

The choice of components to be assembled into a control system depends

Slide 59 on factors such as speed and power.
The system must be analysed to see if the requirements can be met.
If the requirements cannot be met then the designer may need to design
additional components or make adjustments to the system’s parameters in
order to meet the requirements.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 47

Other Considerations

 Sensitivity analysis may need to be performed in order to determine

Slide 60 how changes in system parameters will affect the performance of the
system. Systems must be built to withstand small changes in
parameters due to causes such as temperature, pressure, etc.

 Once the design is complete, time response analysis may need to be

done again to verify that the control system meets all the requirements.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 48

Recap of Introductory Lectures

Summary of Introduction (1)

 Control systems are dynamic systems with feedback:

Slide 61
– contribute to many aspects of modern society
– exist naturally and in fields such as economics
– are used where power gain, remote control or conversion of input is
required.
 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 49

Summary of Introduction (2)

 A control system has an input, a process and an output.

Slide 62  Open-loop systems do not monitor or correct the output for

disturbances; they are simpler and less expensive then closed-loop
systems.

 Closed-loop systems monitor the output and compare it to the desired

output (input). If an error is detected, the closed-loop system corrects
the output; they can correct the effects of disturbances.

Summary of Introduction (3)

 Control systems design focuses on

Slide 63 – transient response

– steady-state response
– stability.

 During analysis and design, the engineer tries to achieve stability,

transient performance and steady-state accuracy requirements.
2 INTRODUCTION TO THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN PROCESS 50

In the next lecture we shall develop the mathematical model of the azimuth
position controller.
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 51

Lecture 3: Mathematical Modelling (1)

Preamble
In the last lecture we considered the analysis and design sequence for control sys-
tems. An important part of that sequence is the creation of a mathematical model,
in the form of a block diagram, for the system to be analysed and designed.
In the next two lectures we shall present the mathematical model of the Antenna
Azimuth Control System introduced in the last lecture. The presentation is split into
two parts. In part 1, a block diagram model of the plant and actuator components is
presented. In part 2 the additional sensing, comparison and amplification compo-
nents needed to complete the closed-loop control system are considered. Both parts
assume that a sufficient level of modelling knowledge has been acquired in the pre-
and co-requisite courses EE106: Dynamic Systems and EE206: Dynamic Systems

3 Modelling the Azimuth Position Control System

3.1 The Schematic for the Plant
Consider the azimuth control system we have already seen. The plant for this is
illustrated in Slide 64. It is an armature-voltage controlled DC motor which
drives the load through a gearbox.

Armature Controlled DC Motor — Schematic Diagram

N1 = 10
motor
Slide 64 J1 = 1 kg m2

N2 = 20 N3 = 10
J2 = 2 kg m 2 J3 = 2 kg m 2

N 4 = 20
Zl ( s )

We shall build up to a full block diagram in stages starting from the mechanical
side, introducing the gearbox and finally adding in the electrical side.
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 52

3.2 Mechanical Side

The rotor of the electric motor has inertia Jm kg m2 and bearing resistance Rm N m/(rad/s).
Assume that we can lump the load effects into a single rotational mechanical impedance

Ql (s) = Z (s)

l (s) l

then, ignoring the gearbox for the moment, a schematic diagram of a driven shaft is
that shown in Slide 65.

Generalised Driven Rotational Shaft

Jm qm ωm ql ω l (t )
qe (t ) Rm
Slide 65
zl
driving shaft
bearing
resistance driving shaft
Inertia
load
impedance

The impedence of the driving shaft is Zm (s) = sJm + Rm and Qe (s) =

Qm (s) + Ql (s),
m (s) =
l (s) hence a block diagram for the driven shaft is
that shown in Slide 66, which has Qe (s) as input and
l (s) as output. Reducing
the block diagram gives

l (s) = Z (s) 1+ Z (s) Qe (s)
m l
or
Ql (s) = Z (sZ)l+
(s) Q (s)
Zl (s) e
m

3.3 Effect of the Gearbox

A gearbox is an example of a transformer: a passive element which couples two
systems of the same kind by transmitting energy without loss from one system to
the other. The element is a sink in one system and a source in the other. The roles of
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 53

Block Diagram

Qe ( s ) Qm (s )
1 Ω m ( s) = Ω l ( s)

Slide 66 +- Z m (s )

Ql ( s )

Z l ( s)

A Gearbox
driving
shaft
impedence
qm ω m
qe ( t )
zm N1
Slide 67 idler gear
ql ω l (t )

zl
N2
load
impedence
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 54

source and sink are interchangeable and depend on the direction of the net energy
flow.
A side view of a typical gearbox is shown in Slide 67.
In a simple gearbox. the driving shaft is connected to a gear-wheel that has
N1 teeth. This drives a second gear-wheel that is attached to the driven shaft. The
second gear has N2 teeth. One input rotation of the driving gear produces N1 =N2
rotations of the driven shaft in the opposite direction. If the direction of rotation is
to be in the same direction as the driving shaft, an idler gear is placed between the
driving and driven gear-wheels (as in the illustration).
The ratio N2 =N1 is called the gear-ratio r and is always > 1. Thus:

l = !l = N1 = 1 :
m !m N2 r (1)

We assume that there are no losses in the gearbox1 so that the energy into the
gearbox equals the energy out (2):

!m qm = !l ql (2)
and
!m = r!l (3)
hence
ql = !m = r:
qm !l (4)

The purpose of a gearbox, a pure rotational transformer, is:

1. to change the speed of a power source, i.e. a motor, to meet the need for a
different output speed, e.g. car wheels.
2. to change the torque of a power source to meet the need for a different output
torque.
In most cases, the power source is a high-speed low-torque device and the load
is a low-speed high-torque device. So in general r > 1 and often r  1.
When developing a mathematical model for a gearbox, it is important to recog-
nise that the energy equations (2) and (4) are fundamental. As a result of this
equation there are a pair of constraints on the driven and driving speeds and torques
that must be satisfied. In block diagram terms this means that the gearbox is either
represented by the two blocks shown on the left of Slide 68 or, alternatively as the
two blocks shown at the right of Slide 68 (the equations represented by these block
diagrams are easily derived from (4)).
To derive equations for the gearbox coupled mechanical system illustrated in
Slide 67, we note that

Ql (s) = Zl (s)
l (s) (5)

m (s) = Z 1(s) Qm(s) (6)
m
1 there are actually several losses in practical gearboxes, including friction, backlash, gear-wheel

inertia, etc.
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 55

Alternative Block Diagrams of a Gearbox

Qm ( s) Ql ( s ) Ql ( s ) Qm ( s)
1
Slide 68
r r

Ω l ( s) Ω m ( s) Ω m ( s) 1 Ω l(s )
r r

Motor speed - load torque Load speed - motor torque

Block Diagram of a Gearbox Coupled Drive and Load

Qe ( s ) Qm ( s) 1 Ω m ( s) 1 Ωl (s )

Slide 69 +- Zm ( s ) r

1 Ql ( s )
Zl ( s )
r
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 56

l (s) = 1r
m (s) (7)

Qe (s) = Qm(s) + 1r Ql (s) (8)

A block diagram representing these equations is shown in Slide 69.

From (6) and (7) we have

l (s) = rZ 1 (s) Qm(s) (9)
m
and from (5) and 8):
Qm (s) = Qe(s) , Zlr(s)
l (s) (10)

Hence:

Qe(s) = rZm (s) + Zlr(s)

l (s) (11)
Qe(s) = Z (s) + Zl (s)

m(s) m r2 (12)

Equation (12) is of particular interest since it tells us that the impedance of the
load shaft as seen at the input shaft of the gearbox is reduced by r2 . Thus for a
motor driving a load through a gearbox we have:

m(s) = 1
Qe(s) Zm (s) + Zl (s)=r2 (13)

which should be compared with the results derived in Section 3.2. The interpre-
tation of this result is that a gearbox allows quite large transfers of energy with
modest torques. For example, a gearbox with a gear ratio of 20 : 1 is able to move
an inertia of 400 times larger than the directly connected driven-shaft intertia with
the same amount of input effort.

3.3.1 An Ideally Matched Gearbox

Transformers are often used to match parameters in one system to those of an-
other, normally to optimize some aspect of performance. A gearbox could be used
to maximise the rotational acceleration d!dt(t) in one system achievable by a given
torque in the other. Taking the model of driving shaft and driven load that is repre-
sented by the schematic in Slide 64, then, assuming that Zm (s) = sJm + Rm and
Zl (s) = sJl + Rl , from equation (13) we have:

m(s) = (sJ + R ) +1 (sJ + R )=r2 Qe (s)
m m l l
Qe(s) = (r(sJm + Rm) + (sJl + Rl )=r)
l (s) (14)
= (rJm + Jl =r)s
l (s) + (rRm + Rl =r)
(s) (15)
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 57

Thus to minimize the torque due to acceleration (s

l (s)), we must minimize (rJm +
Jl =r) with respect to r. That is:
d (rJ + J =r) = 0
dr m l (16)

, r12 Jl + Jm = 0 (17)
rJ
r = l
Jm (18)

Such an ideally matched gearbox ensures that the p inertia in one side matches
the inertia in the other side because each contributes Jl Jm .

3.4 Electrical Side

The equations for the electrical side are derived from the the basic laws for a DC
motor which are:

qe (t) = Kmia (t)if (t) (19)

ve (t) = Kmif (t)!m(t) (20)

where if (t) is the field circuit current; ia (t) is the armature circuit current; !m (t)
is the rotational speed of the rotor of the motor; qe (t) is the electrically generated
torque applied to the rotor shaft by the interactions of the electrical fields produced
by the field and armature coils; ve (t) is the back-emf generated across the brushes
of the motor when the rotor rotates and which opposes the armature circuit voltage;
and Km is an electromagnetic coupling constant.
These equations are nonlinear. To make them linear, either the field current or
the armature current is kept constant and the motor speed is then controlled by the
current flowing in the other circuit. We thus have four basic configurations for the
DC motor. If the armature circuit current is kept constant then the motor is said to
be field-controlled. The basic equation of motion becomes:
qe (t) = Kmf if (t) (21)
where Kmf = Km ia = constant is the field-circuit controlled electromagnetic
ccoupling constant which has units N m/A. If the field current is used to control
the motor the motor is said to be field-current controlled and (21) suffices. If the
field voltage is used to control the motor we need an extra equation to take into
account the field circuit impedance which is taken to be the field coil’s inductance
and resistance in series. The motor is then said to be field-voltage controlled.
If the field circuit current is kept constant then the motor is said to be armature-
controlled. The basic equations of motion become:

qe (t) = Kmaia (t) (22)

ve (t) = Kma!m (t) (23)
where Kma = Km if = constant is the armature-circuit controlled electromagnetic
coupling constant which has units N m/A. If the armature current is used to control
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 58

the motor the motor is said to be armature-current controlled and (22) suffices. If
the armature voltage is used to control the motor we need extra equations to take
into account the armature circuit impedance and the back e.m.f. (23). The motor is
then said to be armature-voltage controlled.
Block diagrams for the possible DC motor configurations are easy to derive
and they are all illustrated in Slide 70. Note that we have used the driven-load
equations derived in Section 3.2 to model the mechanical side of the motor. You
should be comfortable with deriving models for all these configurations of motor,
and to that end, Exercises 3–1 to 3–4 are provided to give you some practice.

Possible DC Motor Configurations

Field-current controlled Field-voltage controlled

If (s ) Qe (s ) 1 Ωm ( s) Vf ( s) 1 I f ( s) Qe (s ) 1 Ωm ( s )
Kmf Kmf
Zm ( s ) + Zl ( s ) sLf + Rf Zm (s ) + Zl ( s )

Slide 70
Constant Armature Current
Armature-current controlled Armature voltage controlled
Ia ( s ) Qe (s ) 1 Ω m ( s) Va ( s ) 1 Ia ( s) Qe (s ) 1 Ω m ( s)
Kma K ma
Zm ( s) + Zl (s ) sLa + Ra Z m ( s ) + Z l ( s)
+-

Ve (s )
K ma

Constant Field Current

As an aside, the same basic equations are used to derive models for electrical
generators. In that case, the input is the rotor speed !m (t) and the output is the
back e.m.f ve (t). The model is linearised by either keeping the rotor speed or the
field current constant.

DC Motors
Exercises
3–1
A field voltage controlled motor drives a load with resistance R N m=(rad=s)
and inertia J kg m2 . Determine the transfer function relating the load speed to the
field voltage.

3–2
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 59

An armature current controlled motor drives a load with negligible resistance

and inertia J kg m2 through a long shaft with compliance C rad=N m. Determine
the transfer function relating the load speed to the armature current.

3–3
An armature voltage controlled motor drives a load with resistance R N m=(rad=s)
and inertia J kg m2 . Obtain an electrical network for which the input impedance is
the same as the input impedance of the armature circuit.

3–4
In a field voltage controlled motor with field resistance 1
, field inductance 5
H, rotor resistance 0:5 N m=(rad=s) and rotor inertia 2 kg m2 , the
electromechanical coupling constant relating torque to field current is 10 N m=A.
If the motor drives the load with resistance 0:5 N m=(rad=s) and inertia 8 kg m2 ,
determine the output speed following a step input of 20 V applied to the field circuit
when the motor is at rest.

We are now ready to put together these results to construct a model for the DC
motor used to control the azimuth position of the antenna.

3.4.1 Armature-Voltage Controlled DC Motor

For the azimuth position control system we shall use the armature-voltage con-
trolled DC motor shown in schematic form in Slide 64.
By putting together all we know so far, the block diagram for this kind of motor
is shown in Slide 71. [This block diagram is available for download as a Simulink
model1 ]
The “gearbox” loop can be reduced to that shown in Slide 72 from which it
is clear that the motor speed is related to the electrically generated torque by the
transfer function
1

m (s) = sJm +Rm
Qe (s) 1 + sJlr+2 Rl sJm 1+Rm
= s(J + J =r2) +1 (R + R =r2 ) (24)
m l m l
A shorthand for (24) is

m(s) = 1
Qe(s) sJe + Re (25)

where Re = Rm + Rl =r2 and Je = Jm + Jl =r 2 are the effective resistance and iner-

tia as seen at the motor shaft. (sJl + Rl )=r 2 is called the reflected load impedance.
1 http://www-ee.swan.ac.uk/Courses/level2/ee208/models/avcdcm.m
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 60

Block Diagram Model

load
gearbox impedance
motor
torque 1 Ql ( s)
sJl + Rl
r
armature
Slide 71 circuit electromagnetic
coupling
motor
admittance gearbox
admittance
- Ω m (s ) Ω l ( s)
Va (s ) 1 I a ( s) Qe ( s ) Qm (s ) 1
Kma 1
+- sLa + Ra sJ m + Rm
+ r

back
Ve (s ) e.m.f.
Kma

electromagnetic
coupling

Gear-box Loop

Ω m ( s)
sJ l + Rl
r2

Slide 72
gearbox
- Ω l ( s)
Va (s ) 1 I a ( s) Qe ( s ) Qm ( s) 1
Kma 1
+- sLa + Ra sJ m + Rm
+ r

Ve (s )
Kma
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 61

The block diagram has now been reduced to that shown in Slide 73 [This block
diagram is available for download as a Simulink model1 ] from which it is easy to
show that

m (s) = Kma
Va (s) (Ra + sLa )(sJe + Re) + Kma
2 (26)

Reduced Block Diagram

gearbox

Slide 73 Va (s ) 1 I a ( s) Qe ( s ) 1 Ωm ( s ) Ωl (s )
Kma 1
+- sLa + Ra sJe + Re r

Ve (s )
Kma

Now
m (s) = sm (s) where m (s) is the transformed motor shaft position
m (t). If we neglect the armature inductance La then:
 R (sJ + R ) + K 2 
Va (s) = a e e ma sm
R K ma 
= a (sJ + R ) + K sm
Kma e e ma (27)

Hence
m (s) =  Kma

Ra Je
2  :
Va (s) s s + J1 Re + KRma (28)
e a
Equation (28) is a relatively simple transfer function of the form:

T (s) = s(sK+ ) (29)

of which, more later.

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3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 62

3.5 Coupling Constants

[This section is not examinable, but is included for completeness] How do we de-
termine the coupling constants and hence find a suitable motor for a given load?
Recall that for the motor

Ve (s) = Kma
m (s) (30)
= Kmas(s) (31)

and
Qe (s) = KmaIa (s): (32)
Hence, for the armature circuit

Ia = sL Va , Ve
a + Ra
(Ra + sLa)Ia = Va , Ve
= Va , Kmasm
Va = (Ra + sLa ) KQe + Kmasm : (33)
ma
Assuming that the armature winding’s inductance, La , is negligible then

Va = KRa Qe + Kmasm : (34)

ma
In the time domain:

va (t) = KRa qe (t) + Kma !m (t): (35)

ma
If a constant DC voltage va is applied to a given motor, the motor will run at a
constant speed !m with a constant torque qe , hence in the steady-state

va = KRa qe + Kma!m : (36)

ma
Solving for qe :
2
qe = , KRma !m + KRma va : (37)
a a
This is a straight-line relationship qe versus !m as shownin Slide 74.
We use a dynameter to measure this torque-speed characteristic for a given va
using a set-up as shown in Slide 75
When the speed !m is zero, the curve intercepts the torque axis at a value that
is called the stall-torque qstall .

qstall = KRma va : (38)

a
When the torque is zero we have a speed called !no,load

!no,load = Kva (39)

ma
 3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 63

Torque-Speed Relationship for a DC Motor

q ( Nm )
qstall
Torque

Slide 74
va1
va2

ω no − loadω m ( rad / s)

Speed

Dynameter

spring
Slide 75 balance
Tension
A Dynameter
The disk is attached to the motor under test. The
belt is held against the edge of the disk under
tension. As the motor rotates, the friction between
the disk and the belt due to the torque generated
by the motor causes the tension in the belt to
torque increase. This increase is measured by the spring
balance. At the same time the speed of the disk
can be measured by using a tachometer or a
stroboscope.
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 64

Hence the electrical constants are:

Kma = qstall
Ra va (40)

Kma = ! va (41)
no,load

Example
For the motor with the torque-speed characteristic shown in Figure 1 find the trans-
fer function l (s)=Va (s) for an armature-voltage controlled DC motor which drives
a load with inertia 700 kg m2 and bearing resistance 800 N m/(rad/s) through a gear-
box with gear ratio r = 10. The rotor inertia of the motor is 5 kg m2 and bearing
resistance is 2 N m/(rad/s).
Torque (Nm)

500

v a = 100 V

50
Speed (rad/s)

Figure 1:

Solution

Je = Jm + Jl =r2 = 5 + 700
102 = 12
Re = Rm + Rl =r2 = 2 + 800 102 = 10
qstall = 500 N m, !no,load = 50 rad/s, va = 100 V. Hence
Kma = qstall = 500 = 5:
Ra va 100

Kma = ! va = 100
50 = 2:
no,load
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 65

Given that
m (s) =  Kma : 1
 Ra Je
Va (s) s s + J1 Re + Kma KRma

e a
then

m (s) = , 5: 21

Va (s) s s + 121 (10 + 2  5
= s(s +0:417
1:1667) :
To find l (s)=Va (s) we note that !l = !m=r hence l = m =r so
l (s) = 0:0417 :
Va (s) s(s + 1:1667)

A More Difficult Problem

Exercises
This problem is similar to the example except that the gearbox has non-negligible
inertia.

3–5
An armature voltage controlled DC motor whose torque-speed characteristics
are shown in Figure 2 drives a load with inertia 16 kgm2 and bearing resistance
32 N m/(rad/s) through the gearbox, illustrated in Figure 3, in which some of the
gears have non-neglible inertia. Find the transfer function relating the load speed to
the armature voltage.

Hint: reflect all the inertias and resistances of the gear-wheels and the load
shaft to the drive shaft using the rule “equivalent impedance = impedance=r2 ”.

Recap
We have now derived a mathematical model, in block diagram form, of the DC
motor and load which forms the actuator and plant of the azimuth position control
system. We are still some way from a mathematical model of the complete closed-
loop control system. To create this we need to add sensors for actual and demanded
position (and perhaps velocity), signal and power amplifiers. This will be the topic
of the next lecture at the end of which we shall be able to describe, in block diagram
form, suitable control systems for both position and speed control.
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 66

Torque (Nm)
5

va = 5 V

600
π
Speed (RPM)

Figure 2: Torque-speed characteristics

N1 = 10
motor
J1 = 1 kg m2

N2 = 20 N3 = 10
J2 = 2 kg m 2 J3 = 2 kg m 2

N 4 = 20
Zl ( s )

Figure 3: Gear-box
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 67

Lecture 4: Mathematical Modelling (2)

Preamble
In the last lecture we developed a block diagram model for the armature voltage
controlled DC motor that is used in the antenna azimuth position control system.
The block diagram that resulted is shown in Fig. 4 and the corresponding transfer
function is:

m = Kma
Va (Ra + sLa )(sJe + Re) + Kma
2

gearbox
Va (s ) 1 I a ( s) Qe ( s ) 1 Ωm ( s ) Ωl (s )
Kma 1
+- sLa + Ra sJe + Re r

Ve (s )
Kma

Figure 4: Block diagram of armature-voltage-controlled DC motor

If the armature circuit inductance La is assumed negligible, and it is noted that

m = sm (where m is the motor shaft position), an equivalent transfer function

relating the motor-shaft position to the armature voltage is:
m = Kma
Va s(Ra(sJe + Re) + Kma 2 )

= s(s + (1=JKma =(Ra Je )

e )(Re + (Kma2 )=Ra ))

which is of the form

G(s) = s(sK+ )
In this lecture, we will add sensing elements and amplifiers to this model to
create block-diagram models of the closed-loop control systems for position con-
trol (called a servomechanism) and speed control (called a velodyne). We will also
show that the steady-state response of these two types of system are different. The
position control system has zero steady-state error whilst the velocity control sys-
tem has a non-zero steady-state error which can be made small if there is sufficient
gain in the system.

3.6 The Rest of the Control System

The motor fits into the azimuth position control system as shown in Fig. 5. Note
that the potentiometers, amplifiers, gearbox, inertias and bearing resistances have
been given physical values according to Table 2 [A Matlab script file that can be
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 68

used to load this data into the workspace for the purposes of simulation of one of
the Simulink models is available1 .]
Pot. 10 turn
θi ( t )
+10

Pre-Amp. Power Amp.

-10 v ( t )
1
+ 100 8Ω Jm = 0 . 02 kg m2
v2 (t ) K N1 = 25
- s + 100
Jl = 1 kg m2

Rm = 0. 01 N m rad s θ o (t )

N 2 = 250

Rl = 1N m rad s
+10

-10 N3 = 250
Pot. 10 turn

Figure 5: Position Control System Schematic

The various new components are described below and then a complete mathe-
matical model of the system, in block diagram form, will be developed.

3.6.1 Position sensors

A potentiometer (Fig. 6) produces vout / in . There are no dynamics.
vout = vmax , vmin :
in 2n
In this case 10 turns produces 20 V hence
vout = 20 = 1 V=rad
in 20 

vmax
θ in ( t )

vmin
vout (t )

n turn pot.

Figure 6: Potentiometer

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3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 69

Name Symbol Value Units

Load inertia Jl 1 kg m2
Load bearing resistance Rl 1 N m/(rad/s)
Motor shaft gear wheel N1 25 teeth
Load shaft gear wheel N2 250 teeth
Gear ratio r N2 =N1 none
Motor rotor inertia Jm 0.02 kg m2
Motor shaft bearing resistance Rm 0.01 N m/(rad/s)
Equivalent inertia Je = Jm + Jl =(r2) kg m2
Equivalent resistance Re = Rm + Rl =(r2) N m/(rad/s)
Electromagnetic coupling constant Kma 0.5 N m/A
(forward)
Electromagnetic coupling constant Kma 0.5 V/(rad/s)
(feedback)
Armature winding inductance (ne- La 0.8 H
glected in some models)
Armature winding resistance Ra 8

Ten turn potentiometer supplied Kp V/rad

with 10 V
Tacho generator Kt V/(rad/s)
Voltage pre-amplifier gain K none
Power voltage amplifier (unity DC 100=(s + 100) none
gain)

Table 2: Component Parameters for the Position Control System

3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 70

3.6.2 Velocity sensors

A tacho-generator (Fig. 7) is used to sense the speed of a motor. vout / !in . Pro-
vided that the load-circuit impedance is high and the tacho-generator is physically
small with respect to the driven shaft then the device can be assumed to have no
dynamics.
vout = K V=(rad=s):
!in T

vout ( t )
ω in (t )

Figure 7: Tacho-generator

3.6.3 Pre-amplifier
The pre-amplifier is assumed to be a small current differencing op-amp circuit as
shown in Fig. 8.

vp (t) = RRf fvi (t) , vo (t)g

i
= K fvi (t) , vo (t)g

Rf

Ri
vo (t ) - v p ( t)
vi (t ) +
Ri
Rf

Figure 8: Differencing pre-amplifier

3.6.4 Power Amplifier

This produces a high-current voltage output from a low-current voltage input. Such
an amplifier will often have dynamics which cannot be neglected. In this case we
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 71

assume
Va (s) = 100
Vp (s) s + 100
indicating that the amplifier has unity DC gain and a time constant of 1=100 sec-
onds. This means that the amplifier would reach 63% of its final output voltage in
0:01 seconds following a step change in the input voltage (see Fig. 9).
Amplifier response: 1 V demand

63% final value

1/100 sec

Time (seconds)

Figure 9: Response of the power amplifier

3.6.5 Block Diagram of Plant

For the system shown in Fig 5 we have derived a block diagram for the DC motor,
gearbox and load which on reduction becomes that shown in Fig. 10.

K ma ( Ra J e )
Va ( s ) Θ m ( s) 1 Θ l ( s)
1 K2
s s+ Re + ma r
Je Ra

Figure 10: Reduced block diagram of armature volatge controlled DC motor used
in position control system. Output of gearbox is load shaft position l

The given system parameters are listed in Table 2. Some still need to be calcu-
lated. The motor-load gearbox ratio is

r= N 2 = 250 = 10:
N1 25
The equivalent motor-load inertia as reflected back to the motor shaft is

Je = Jm + rJ2l = 0:02 + 1  100

1 = 0:03:
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 72

The equivalent bearing resistance is:

Re = Rm + Rr2l = 0:01 + 1  100

1 = 0:02:

Plugging these values into transfer function for the DC motor and load gives:

m (s) =  Kma=(RaJe ) 
Va (s) 2
s s + J1e Re + KRma
(42)
a
m (s) = , 0:5=(8,  0:03)


Va (s) s s + 0:103 0:02 + 0:852
= s(s2+:083
1:71)
The transfer function relating the load position l (s) = o (s) is

o (s) = 1  Kma=(RaJe ) 
Va (s) r s s + J1 Re + KRma
2 (43)
e a
= s(s0:+2083
1:71) :
The load-pot gearbox has unity gear-ratio so that the pot moves at the same
speed as the load. So, putting everything together we end up with the block diagram
shown in Fig. 11. [This block diagram is available for download as a Simulink
model2 ]
motor
power &
pot pre-amp amp load gearbox

Θ i ( s) Vi ( s) Vp ( s ) Va ( s ) Θ m ( s) Θ o ( s)
1 + 100 2. 083 1
K s( s + 1. 71)
π s + 100 r
-
Vo ( s)

1
π

pot

Figure 11: Complete position control system.

It is convenient to reduce the block diagram to the unity-gain feedback canoni-

cal form shown in Fig. 12 which we can do because the potentiometer in the forward
path and the feedback path have the same gain.
The open-loop transfer function is then:

Go (s) = Eo((ss)) = s(s + 100)(

66:3K
s + 1:71) ;
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3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 73

Θ i ( s) E (s ) Vp ( s ) Va ( s ) Θ m ( s) Θ o ( s)
+ 1 100 2. 083 1
K s( s + 1. 71)
π s + 100 r
-

Figure 12: Reduced block diagram

and the closed-loop transfer function is

Gc (s) = o((ss)) = s3 + 101:7s66 :3K

2 + 171s + 66:3K :
i
Note that in the steady-state, i.e. when all terms in s are removed
i = o :
So the steady-state position error is zero!
Another name for this type of control system is a “servomechanism”.

3.7 Velocity control system

A “velodyne” is a load-speed control system. A velodyne can be made from the
components seen so far if a tacho-generator with gain KT v/(rad/s) is used in the
feedback loop and a potentiometer with gain KT is used as a demanded speed
sensor. Such a set up is shown in Fig. 13. [This block diagram is available for
download as a Simulink model3 ]
motor
power &
pot pre-amp amp load gearbox

Ω i(s ) Vi ( s) Vp ( s ) Va ( s ) Ω m ( s) Ω o (s )
+ 100 2. 083 1
KT K
s + 100 s + 1. 71 r
-
Vo ( s)

KT

tacho

Figure 13: A velocity control system (Velodyne).

On manipulating this block diagram we get the unity-gain feedback control sys-
tem shown in Fig. 14.
The closed-loop transfer function for the velodyne is

Gc (s) =

o((ss)) = s2 + 101:71s66+:3(171
KKT
+ 66:3KKT )
i
In the steady-state
!o = 66:3KKT
!i 171 + 66:3KKT
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3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 74

Ω i(s ) E (s ) Ω o (s )
+ 100 2. 083 1
KT K
s + 100 s + 1. 71 r
-

Figure 14: Reduced block diagram

that is !o 6= !i but !o  !i if 66:3KKT  171. This can be achieved if the

pre-amplifier gain K can be made sufficiently large.

3–6
In a control system for rotating a radar aerial assembly, an electric motor with
inertia 0:05 g m2 and resistance 0:02 N m=(rad=s) is required to drive the inertia
with inertia 500 kg m2 and resistance 50 N m=(rad=s) through a gearbox. Deter-
mine the gear ratio that minimises the torque needed to accelerate the load, and the
transfer function relating aerial speed to motor torque if such a gearbox is used.
What is the motor power required to rotate the aerial at 10 rev=min?
3–7 In a servomechanism using a field voltage controlled motor, the ratio of the mo-
tor torque to the error between the demanded and actual load position is 100 N m=rad.
If the inertia and resistances refererred to the motor shaft are 20 kg m2 and 3 N m=(rad=s),
and the motor drives the load through a gearbox with ratio 50:1, determine the over-
all transfer function of the system.
3–8
A position control system is illustrated in Figure 3–8. Evaluate the transfer func-
tion of each subsystem and determine the closed-loop transfer function o (s)=i (s).
Pot. 1 turn
θi ( t )
+10

Pre-Amp. Power Amp.

-10 v ( t )
1
+ 150 5Ω Kma = 1 N m A
J m = 0 . 05 kgm 2
v2 (t ) K N1 = 50
- s + 150
J l = 5 kg m 2

Rm = 0. 01 N m rad s θ o (t )

N 2 = 250

Rl = 3 N m rad s

+10

-10 N3 = 250
Pot. 1 turn

(Adapted from Chapter 2 Objective Problem, Nise, Exercise 48, page 109).

Recap
In this lecture we have developed block diagram models for a position control sys-
tem and the speed control system created around an armature voltage controlled
3 MODELLING THE AZIMUTH POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM 75

DC motor. The position control system (servomechanism) was found to have zero
steady-state error which means that it is ideal for the antenna azimuth position con-
trol system. The same mechanism, when used in a speed control system (velodyne),
was found to have finite non-zero steady-state error which can be decreased by in-
creasing the pre-amplifier gain.
In the next sequence of lectures called collectively “Evaluation of System Re-
sponse”, we shall turn our attention to transient response. Beginning in the next
lecture with an evaluation of how poles and zeros effect the system response and
building up to an understanding of first and second-order system response and mea-
sures which can be used to evaluate and ultimately control them.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 76

Lecture 5: Evaluation of System Response (1)

Preamble
In the last lecture we developed block diagram models for a position control system
and a speed control system created around an armature voltage controlled DC mo-
tor. The position control system (servomechanism) was found to have zero steady-
state error which means that it is ideal for the antenna azimuth position control
system. The same mechanism, when used in a speed control system (velodyne),
was found to have finite non-zero steady-state error which can be decreased by
increasing the pre-amplifier gain.
In this sequence of lectures called collectively “Evaluation of System Response”,
we shall turn our attention to the transient response of systems. We begin with an
evaluation of how poles and zeros effect the system response and build up to an
understanding of first-order and second-order system response and measures which
can be used to evaluate and ultimately to control them.

4 Evaluation of System Response

This section of the course is devoted to the evaluation of the transient response from
the system model. After introducing the useful concept of poles and zeros, we begin
analyzing models to find the step response of first and second order systems (where
the term order refers to the polynomial order of the denominator of the transfer
function).

Evaluation of System Response

Objectives
Given the antenna azimuth-angle control system developed in the section on
modelling, at the end of this section we shall be able to:
Slide 76
 Predict, by inspection, the form of the open-loop angular velocity
response of the load to a step-voltage input to the power amplifier;

 Find the damping ratio and natural frequency of the open-loop system;

 Derive the complete analytical expression for the open-loop response

using transfer functions.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 77

4.1 Poles and Zeros and System Response

The output response of a linear system is the sum of the forced response and the
natural response
c(t) = cf (t) + cn (t):
Solving differential equations or using inverse Laplace transforms allow us to eval-
uate the output response. But this is laborious and time consuming. By having
an analysis technique that is quick and easy to apply we will increase productiv-
ity. Knowledge of the effects of poles and zeros gives us a means of qualitatively
evaluating the response of a system by inspection.

Poles of a Transfer Function: The poles of a transfer function are

those values of the transfer function variables that cause the transfer
function to become infinite.

Zeros of a Transfer Function: The zeros of a transfer function are

those values of the transfer function variables that cause the transfer
function to become zero.

Let G(s) be a transfer function

m + bm,1 sm,1 +


+ b1 s + b0
G(s) = ab((ss)) = ssn + a sn,1 +


+ a s + a
n,1 1 0
The poles of G(s) are solutions of

a(s) = sn + an,1 sn,1 +


+ a1 s + a0 = 0

that is, they are zeros of the denominator polynomial a(s). If the denominator of
G(s) is zero then G(s) = 1.
The zeros of G(s) are solutions of

b(s) = sm + bm,1sm,1 +


+ b1s + b0 = 0

that is, they are zeros of the numerator polynomial b(s). If the numerator of G(s)
is zero then G(s) is also 0.

Example 4.1 Determine the step response of a transfer function.

Solution: The step response is

C (s) = s(ss++25)
= As + s B+5
= 2=s5 + s3+=55
thus
c(t) = 25 + 35 e,5t :
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 78

Example G s ( ) = ss+5
+2

s − plane jω

Slide 77
1
R( s ) = C( s )
s s +2
σ
s+5
−5 −2
poles at s = −5
zeros at s = −2

The step response of

G(s) = ss +
+5
2

is shown in Slide 78. A Plot of jG(s)j for s = x + jy , x = ,6; : : : ; 0;

y = ,3; : : : ; 3, indicating why a pole is called a pole is shown in Slide 79.
Discussion
1. A pole in the input function generates the form of the forced response cf (t)
(a pole at the origin generated a step function in the output).

2. A pole of the transfer function generates the form of the natural response (i.e.
a pole at s = ,5 generated cn (t) = e,5t ).
3. A pole on the real-axis in the s-plane generates an exponential response of
the form e,t where , is the pole location on the real axis. Thus the further
left a pole is on the negative axis, the faster the exponential transient decays
to zero.
4. The zero helps generate the amplitudes for both the steady-state and transient
performances. (This can be seen from the calculation of A and B in the
partial fraction expansion.)
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 79

Step Response for G(s) = (s + 2)/(s + 5)

1

0.9

0.8 Matlab command: step([1 2],[1 5])

0.7

0.6

Slide 78 c(t)
0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
time t seconds

Poles and Zeros

35

30
| G(s) | = |(s + 2)/(s + 5)|

25

20
Slide 79 15

10

0
4
2 0
-1
0 -2
-3
-2 -4
-5
Im{s} -4 -6
Re{s}
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 80

Contributions of Poles and Zeros

jω jω jω
input pole system zero system pole

σ σ σ
−2 −5

Slide 80

25 35
C(s ) = +
s s+5
2 3 −5t
c (t ) = + e
5 5
forced natural
response response
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 81

Example 4.2 Use poles to evaluate the system response of the system shown in
Fig. 15 by inspection.

1
R( s ) = s+3
C( s )
s
( s + 2)( s + 4)( s + 5)

Figure 15: Poles and System Response

Solution:
C (s) = K1 + sK+22 + sK+34 + sK+45
s
|{z} | {z }
forced response natural response

c(t) = |{z}
K1 + K ,2t ,4t ,5t
| 2e + K3{ze + K4e } :
cf (t) cn (t)

Transfer Functions in Matlab

There are two forms of transfer function representation in Matlab. The most obvious
is the polynomial form where
2
G(s) = ab((ss)) = s3 +s 4+s22+s +5s3+ 6
is entered as two row vectors with the polynomial coefficients entered in the order
of descending powers of s.
>> b = [1, 2, 3];
>> a = [1, 4, 5, 6];
Missing coefficients, must be entered as zero: so q(s) = s2 + 2s and r(s) =
s + s2 + 1 are entered as
4

>> q = [1, 2, 0];

>> r = [1, 0, 2, 0, 1];
An alternative form of representing transfer functions is the factored polyno-
mial, for example
G(s) = s((ss++1)( s + 3)
2)(s + 4)
The advantage of this formulation is that the roots or zeros of the numerator and
denominator polynomials are obvious by inspection so it is often used in the pre-
liminary analysis of the performance of a dynamic system. The poles of this transfer
function are therefore s = 0; ,2; ,4 and the zeros are s = ,1; ,3. In Matlab,
this form of transfer function is specified by a column vector of the zeros and a
column vector of the poles:
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 82

>> z = [-1; -3];

>> p = [0; -2; -4];
A third parameter, the overall gain K , completes the definition of the so called
pole-zero-gain form of transfer function. In this case K = 1

>> k = 1;

Transformations
Matlab supports the transformation of transfer function between forms. For exam-
ple to convert a transfer function from ‘expanded’ form to pole-zero-gain form the
command tf2zp is used:
>> [z1,p1,k1] = tf2zp(b,a)

z1 =
-1.0000 + 1.4142i
-1.0000 - 1.4142i

p1 =
-3.0000
-0.5000 + 1.3229i
-0.5000 - 1.3229i

k1 =
1
To convert from zero-pole-gain form to expanded form we use the function
zp2tf:
>> [b1,a1] = zp2tf(z,p,k)

b1 =
0 1 4 3

a1 =
1 6 8 0

Partial Fraction Expansions

Matlab also provides a command called residue that returns the partial fraction
expansion of a transfer function. That is, given
m + bm,1 sm,1 +


+ b1 s + b0
G(s) = ssn + a sn,1 +


+ a s + a
n,1 1 0
it returns
R1 + R2 +


Rn + K (s)
s + p1 s + p2 s + pn
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 83

where pi are the poles of the transfer function, Ri are the coefficients of the partial
fraction terms (called the residues of the poles) and K (s) is a remainder polynomial
which is usually empty. To use this, the starting point must (rather perversely) be
the expanded form of the transfer function. Thus given

s + 2)
C (s) = s(s +5(3)(s + 10)
we obtain the partial fraction expansion using the Matlab command sequence:
>> k = 5; z = [-2]; p = [0; -3; -10]; % zero-pole-gain form
>> [num,den] = zp2tf(z,p,k)
num =
0 0 5 10

den =
1 13 30 0

(Note that the leading terms in num are zero).

>> [r,p,k] = residue(num,den)
r =
-0.5714
0.2381
0.3333

p =
-10
-3
0

k =
[]

which we interpret to mean

C (s) = 0:3333
s + 0:2381 , 0:5714 :
s+3 s+5
If C (s) represents the step response of the system

s + 2)
G(s) = (s +5(3)( s + 10)
then the step response is, by inspection,

c(t) = 0:3333 + 0:2381e,3t , 0:5714e,10t:

You can check this with the command:
>> step([5, 10],[1, 13, 30])
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 84

(where the 1=s term has been eliminated because step provides the forcing func-
tion itself). This should give exactly the same results as:
t = 0:.05:1.5; % time vector
c = 0.3333 + 0.2381 * exp(-3*t) - 0.5714 * exp(-10*t);
plot(t,c)

Exercise
Use Matlab to determine the actual coefficients of the partial fraction expansion for
the previous example.

4.2 First-Order System Responses and Specifications

A first-order system is illustrated in Slide 81. It has the transfer function

G(s) = s +a a
which is also called a “first-order lag”. The system has one pole at s = ,a as
shown in the pole-zero diagram. For the step response, the input signal transform
is
R(s) = 1s
so the step response is

C (s) = G(s)R(s) = s(s a+ a) :

In the time domain the step response is:

c(t) = cf (t) + cn (t) = 1 , e,at :

The forced response cf (t) = 1 is generated by the pole of 1=s. The natural response
cn (t) = e,at is generated by the pole of a=(s + a).
4.2.1 The significance of a
The parameter a is very important for specifying the performance of a first-order
system. It is significant because

e,at t=1=a = e,1 = 0:37:
Or, alternatively, the step response

c(t) = 1 , e,at t=1=a = 0:63:
That is, we can relate the shape of the time response to the parameter a.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 85

First-Order System

s − plane jω

Slide 81 1
R( s ) = a C( s )
s
s+a σ
−a

4.2.2 Time Constant

The parameter  = 1=a is called the “time constant” of the first-order response. It
is the time taken for e,at to decay to 37% of its initial value or the time taken for
the step response to reach 63% of its final value.  has units s. a has units s,1 or
frequency. a is called the exponential frequency. The derivative of e,at at t = 0
is ,a, so a is the initial rate of change of the exponential at t = 0. Thus the time
constant can be considered a transient response specification for a first-order system
since it is related to the speed of response.
The time constant can be evaluated directly from the pole-zero plot. The pole is
s = ,a. The further to the left of s-plane, the larger a hence the smaller the time
constant  = 1=a and the faster the response.
A plot of a typical first-order response is shown in Slide 82. The parameters
due to a are marked on the plot. Some additional time-response parameters that are
in common use can also be identified. These are rise-time and settling-time.

4.2.3 Rise Time Tr

The rise-time (symbol Tr units s) is defined as the time taken for the step response
to go from 10% to 90% of the final value. For a first-order system it is rather easily
derived by solving c(t) = e,at for c(t0:1 ) = 0:1cnal and c(t0:9 ) = 0:9cnal from
which
Tr = 2:a31 , 0:a11 = 2a:2 :
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 86

First-Order System Response

c(t) initial slope = 1/(time constant) = a
2%
100%
98%
90%

Slide 82 63%

Ts

Tr
10%

1 2 3 4 t (seconds)
a a a a

4.2.4 Settling Time Ts

We shall define the settling-time (symbol Ts units s) to be the time taken for the
step response to come to within 2% of the final value of the step response.1 From
the definition,
c(Ts ) = 0:98cnal
which gives
Ts = a4 :
In other words the 2% settling-time for a first-order system is 4 the time constant.

Recap
In this lecture, we have seen that poles determine the nature of the time response:
the poles of the input determine the nature of the forced response; the poles of the
transfer function determine the nature of the natural response.
For the latter, we could say that the poles of a transfer function determine the
character of the natural response. For this reason, the equation

a(s) = sn + an,1 sn,1 +


+ a1 s + a0 = 0

is called the “characteristic equation”.
Some further observations are:
1 Other definitions are common. For example, some authorities prefer to use 5% of the final value
or 1% of the final value. To be absolutely clear we shall use the term x% settling-time to indicate what
band we are using.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 87

 The zeros of a transfer function contribute to the amplitude of the component

parts of the total response.
 Poles on the real axis generate exponential responses.

We have also examined the response of the first-order system (or first order lag)

G(s) = s +a a
and discovered that:
 System has a real pole at s = ,a
 Step response: c(t) = 1 , e,at .
 The parameter a is called the exponential decay frequency (units s,1 )

 Time constant  = 1=a (units s) is time for step response to reach 63% of the
final value.
 The rise time is time taken for step response to rise from 10% to 90% of the
final value. The rise time Tr = 2:2=a = 2:2 s
 The 2% settling time Ts = 4=a = 4 s.
 The larger the value of a the smaller the value of  and hence the faster the
response of the system.
Second-order systems exhibit a wider range of responses than first-order sys-
tems. In the next lecture we shall describe the types of responses exhibited by
second-order systems.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 88

Lecture 6: Evaluation of System Response (2)

Preamble
Second-order systems exhibit a wide range of responses which must be analysed
and described. Whereas for a first-order system, varying a single parameter changes
the speed of response, changes in the parameters of a second order system can
change the form of the response. For example, a second-order system can display
characteristics much like a first-order system or, depending on component values,
display damped or pure oscillations for its transient response.
In this lecture we shall use the general second-order transfer function shown in
Slide 83. to explore the range of responses that are possible.

General second-order transfer function

1
R( s ) = C (s )
Slide 83
s b
s 2 + as + b
2 poles. No zeros.

There are four types of response possible for a second order system. They are
 Overdamped Response
 Underdamped Response
 Undamped Response

 Critically Damped Response

To explore these we consider the second order system

b
G(s) = s2 + as +b
with b = 9 and a selected to illustrate each type of response.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 89

4.3 Types of Second-Order System Responses

4.3.1 Overdamped Response
IF a = 9 we have the system shown in Slide 84.

Overdamped system

1
R( s ) = C (s )
Slide 84
s 9
s 2 + 9s + 9
2 poles. No zeros.

The step response1 will be

C (s) = s(s2 +99s + 9) = s(s + 7:854)(

9
s + 1:146) :
The pole at s = 0 comes from the input (forced response) and there are two real
poles at s = ,7:854 and s = ,1:146 respectively. Thus the step response will be
of the form
c(t) = K1 + K2 e,7:854t + K3e,1:146t:
(Slide 85).
The response consists of the some of two first-order responses. The response
due to the largest pole at s = ,7:854 has a time constant of fast = 0:127 s. Left to
itself, this pole would have a settling time of Tsfast = 0:51 s. The response due to
the smallest pole at s = ,1:146 has a time constant of slow = 0:873 s. This pole
has a settling time of Tsslow = 3:49 s. Settling time Tsslow is about 4 times slower
than Tsfast . Thus the “slow pole” dominates the later stages of the response while
the “fast pole” dominates the early part of the response. In addition, the initial slope
is zero.
1A full analysis of the step response for a general second-order system is given in an Appendix.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 90

Overdamped response
s − plane jω c(t)

Slide 85

σ
−7. 854 −1. 146

4.3.2 Underdamped Response

IF a = 3 we have the system shown in Slide 86.
The step response will be

C (s) = s(s2 +93s + 9) :

The pole at s = 0 comes from the input (forced response) and there are two complex
poles at s = ,1:5  j 2:598. The step response of this system will be of the form

c(t) = K1 + e,1:5t (K2 cos 2:598t + K3 sin 2:598t):

(Slide 87).
Comparing the time response with the pole locations, we see that the expo-
nential decay term is related to the real-part of the complex pole pair. Real part:
d = 1:5; exponential term e,1:5t = e,d t . The frequency of the oscillatory
term is related to the imaginary part of the complex pole pair. Imaginary part:
!d = 2:598; sinusoidal term: K2 cos 2:598t + K3 sin 2:598t. This information is
summarised in Slide 88).
The frequency of oscillation !d = 2T (rad/s) is called the damped natural
frequency. The time constant of the decay is  = 1=d .
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 91

Underdamped system

1
R( s ) = C (s )
Slide 86
s 9
s 2 + 3s + 9
2 poles. No zeros.

Underdamped response
s − plane jω c(t)

+ j2. 598
Slide 87

σ
−1. 5

− j2. 598

t
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 92

Decaying oscillation

c(t)

exponential decay
generated by real part of
complex pole pair

Slide 88

sinusoidal oscillation
generated by imaginary part of
complex pole pair

t
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 93

Example 4.3 Determine by inspection the form of the step response of the system
shown in Fig. 16.

1
R( s ) = 200
C (s )
s
s 2 + 10 s + 200

Figure 16: Example underdamped system

Solution: The poles are: s = ,5  j 13:23 and the input is a step hence the step
response is

c(t) = K1 + e,5t (K2 cos 13:23t + K3 sin 13:23t)

= K1 + K4e,5t (cos 13:23t , )
p
where  = tan,1 K3 =K2 and K4 = K22 + K32 : K1 , K2 and K3 are obtained
from the partial fraction expansion
K1 + K2 s + K3 :
s s2 + 10s + 200
The proof is left as an exercise.

4.3.3 Undamped Response

IF a = 0 we have the system shown in Slide 89.
The step response will be

C (s) = s(s29+ 9) :
The pole at s = 0 comes from the input (forced response) and there are two imagi-
nary poles at s = j 3. The step response of this system will be of the form

c(t) = K1 + K2 cos 3t:

(Slide 90). The frequency of oscillation of the undamped response is called the
natural frequency !n . In this case the natural frequency !n = 3 rad.s,1 .

4.3.4 Critically Damped System

IF a = 6 we have the system shown in Slide 91.
The step response will be

C (s) = s(s2 +96s + 9) = s(s +9 3)2 :

 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 94

Undamped system

1
R( s ) = C (s )
Slide 89
s 9
s2 + 9
2 poles. No zeros.

Undamped response
s − plane jω c(t)

+ j3

Slide 90

− j3
t
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 95

Critically Damped System

1
R( s ) = C (s )
Slide 91
s 9
s 2 + 6s + 9
2 poles. No zeros.

The pole at s = 0 comes from the input (forced response) and there are two real
and equal poles at s = ,3. The step response of this system will be of the form

c(t) = K1 + K2e,3t + K3te,3t :

(Slide 92).
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 96

Critically Damped Response

s − plane jω c(t)

Slide 92

σ
−3

t
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 97

Recap
The natural or characteristic response of a second-order system is governed by the
poles of the denominator of the system transfer function G(s). These characteristics
are:
1. Overdamped. Poles: two real at ,1 and ,2 . Transient response: two
exponentials with time response equal to 1= . cn (t) = K1 e,1 t + K2 e,2 t .
2. Underdamped. Poles: two complex at ,d  j!d . Transient response:
damped sinusoid with exponential envelope whose time constant is 1=d and
whose frequency is equal to !d rad/s. cn (t) = K1 e,d t cos(!d t + ).
3. Undamped. Poles: two imaginary at j!1 . Transient response: undamped
oscillation with frequency equal to !1 rad/s. cn (t) = K1 cos(!1 t + ):
4. Critically damped. Poles: two real and equal at ,1 . Transient response:
cn (t) = K1e,1 t + K2te,1 t .
These results are summarised in Slide 93. It is clear from this picture that critical
damping is the fastest possible response without overshoot.

Second-order responses

c(t)

underdamped
undamped
Slide 93

critically damped
overdamped

In the next lecture we will further generalise the second-order transfer function
so that we can determine the form of the step response by inspection without the
need to find the poles of the characteristic equation s2 + as + b = 0.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 98

Lecture 7: Evaluation of System Response (3)

Preamble
In the last lecture we discussed the forms of characteristic response that the second-
order system can exhibit.
In summary, these are:
1. Overdamped when the system has two real distinct poles;

2. Underdamped when the system has two complex conjugate poles;

3. Undamped when the system has two imaginary poles; and
4. Critically damped when the system has two real but equal poles.
We now seek to generalize the discussion and establish a set of quantitative
specifications which will enable the response to be described to a designer without
the need for a sketch of the response.
We develop two parameters that describe second-order response in a similar
way to the way time constants can be used to describe a first-order response.
The two new quantities are called

1. natural frequency,
2. damping ratio.

4.4 The General Second-Order Response

4.4.1 Definitions
Natural frequency !n is defined as the frequency of oscillation of a second-order
system without damping. E.g. the frequency of oscillation of an RLC circuit with
R shorted. It has units of rad.s,1 .
Damping ratio  is defined by

 = Exponential decay frequency

Natural frequency
= 21 Exponential
Natural period
time constant
The damping ratio has no units. That is the damping ratio of a system that
decays to zero after 3 oscillations in 1 ms is the same as that of a system that decays
to zero in three oscillations in 1 hour. It is independent of the speed of response or
the rate of the oscillation.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 99

4.4.2 Derivation of Formulae

Let us derive formulae for these quantities from their definitions, given that
b
G(s) = s2 + as + b:
Without damping, the term as = 0 and we have

G(s) = s2 b+ b :
The poles are imaginary, and the frequency of oscillation of this system is !n by
definition. Thus p
!n = b;
b = !n2 :
Assuming an underdamped system. The complex poles have a real part given
by
s = , a2 :
The magnitude of the real part is the exponential decay “frequency” d . Thus d =
a=2 and from the definition
 = !d = a=
!n
2;
n
hence
a = 2!n :
In general then, the second order system has the canonical form:

!n2
G(s) = s2 + 2! s + !2
n n
(44)

Knowledge of the parameters !n and  may be used to determine the type of motion
of any particular second-order system.

Example 4.4 Find the natural frequency !n and damping ratio  for the system
with transfer function:
G(s) = s2 + 436
:2s + 36 :
Solution: Comparing to the standard form

36 ! 2
n
G(s) = s2 + 4:2s + 36 = s2 + 2! s + !2
n n
p
!n2 = 36 ! !n = 36 = 6:
2!n = 4:2
 = 24!:2 = 24:26 = 0:35:
n
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 100

4.4.3 Pole-zero locations

Having defined !n and  , let us relate these quantities to the pole locations in the
s-plane.
Solving the characteristic equation

s2 + 2!n s + !n2 = 0
gives p
s1;2 = ,!n  !n  2 , 1:
The various types of response for a given value of natural frequency !n are a func-
tion of  and may be summarised as shown in Table 3.
Example 4.5 Describe the nature of the second-order system response via the value
of the damping ratio for the systems with transfer function:

G(s) = s2 + 812s + 12
G(s) = s2 + 816s + 16
G(s) = s2 + 820s + 20 :
Solution: In all cases the transfer function is of the form
b
G(s) = s2 + as +b
p p
so a = 2!n and !n = b hence  = a=(2 b). a = 8 in all cases.
For
G(s) = s2 + 812s + 12
p p
b = 12 hence  = 8=(2 12) = 2= 3 > 1: system response is overdamped.
For
G(s) = s2 + 816s + 16
p
b = 16 hence  = 8=(2 16) = 1: system response is critically damped.
For
G(s) = s2 + 820s + 20
p p
b = 20 hence  = 8=(2 20) = 2= 5 < 1: system response is underdamped.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 101

Table 3: The relationship between damping ratio, pole location and transient re-
sponse for second-order systems with transfer function G(s) = !n2 =(s2 + 2!n s +
!n2 ):
 Pole Locations Type of Response
s − plane jω

+ jω n

− jω n

=0 Oscillatory
s − plane jω

+ jω n 1 − ζ 2

−ζω n
σ

− jω n 1 − ζ 2

<1 Underdamped
s − plane jω

σ
−ζω n

=1 Critically Damped

s − plane jω

−ζω n − ω n ζ 2 − 1 −ζω n + ω n ζ 2 − 1

>1 Overdamped
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 102

4.4.4 Further analysis for underdamped second-order systems

The step response for the general second-order system.
!n 2
C (s) = s(s2 + 2!
n s + !n2 )
= Ks1 + s2 +K22!
s + K3
s + !2 n n
where it is assumed that  < 1 (the underdamped case) is now obtained 1
Expanding by partial fractions yields
 p 
1 (s + !n ) + p1, 2 !n 1 ,  2
C (s) = s + (s + !n )2 + !n2 (1 ,  2)
from which
p p !
c(t) = 1 , e,!n t cos !n 1 ,  2 t + p  sin !n 1 ,  2 t
1 , 2
p
= 1 , p 1 2 e,!n t cos(!n 1 ,  2 t + ) (45)
1,
where
 = tan,1 p  2 :
1,
If we define the exponential decay frequency to be d (the size of the real-part
of the complex pole pair) then its value is

d = !n
. Similarly, if we define a second quantity, to be called the “decayed natural fre-
quency”
!d
, to be the frequency of the decayed sinusoid, then its value is
p
!d = !n 1 ,  2 rad.s,1
and equation (45) may be simplified further to:

c(t) = 1 , !!n e,d t cos(!d t + ) (46)

d
where  is now tan,1 (d =!d ).
Slide 94 shows the development of the second-order response from overdamped
to oscillatory response as  is decreased from 2 to 0. The graph is plotted against
“normalized” time !n t which means that the time-axis is independent of the natural
frequency. For an actual second-order system, the response for a given damping
ratio will be a scaled version of the response that is shown here.
1A full analysis of the step response for a general second-order system is left as an exercise.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 103

The Family of Step Responses for Second-Order Systems

c (ω n t )
ζ = 1 10
ζ =1 4

ζ =1 2
Slide 94 ζ =1 2

ζ =1 ζ=0
ζ=2 ζ= 3 2

ω nt

Recap
In this lecture we have developed a general formula for the second-order transfer
function
2
G(s) = s+ 2!!ns + !2
n n
in which the form of the response is determined by the damping ratio:
1. Overdamped when 
p
> 1, two real poles at s = ,!n  !n  2 , 1;
p 2 when  < 1, two complex conjugate poles at s = ,!n 
2. Underdamped
j!n 1 ,  ;
3. Undamped when  = 0, two imaginary poles at s = j!n ;
4. Critically damped when  = 1, two real and equal poles at s = ,!n .
The natural frequency !n governs the speed of response. For the underdamped
response, the
 = !n s,1
exponential decay frequency is d
p
 damped natural frequency is !d = !n 1 ,  2 rad s,1.
The closed-loop poles are s = ,d  j!d and the time response formula (45) can
be simplified to
c(t) = 1 , !!n e,d t cos(!d t + )
d

 = tan,1 !d :
where

d
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 104

In the next lecture we will develop some performance measures based on a

typical underdamped response curve.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 105

Lecture 8: Evaluation of System Response (4)

Preamble
In the last lecture we developed a general formula for the second-order transfer
function
!n2
G(s) = s2 + 2! s + !2
n n
in which the form of the response is determined by the damping ratio:
1. Overdamped when  > 1;
2. Underdamped when  < 1;

3. Undamped when  = 0;
4. Critically damped when  = 1.
We also stated that the natural frequency !n governs the speed of response and
defined the terms exponential decay frequency (d ) and damped natural frequency
(!d ). We also considered the location of the poles of the second-order system and
discovered, for underdamped systems, s = ,d  j!d .
Finally, we developed a formula for the step response:
p
c(t) = 1 , p 1 2 e,!n t cos(!n 1 ,  2 t + )
1,
! n
= 1 , ! e,d t cos(!d t + ) (47)
d
In this lecture, based on a typical underdamped response curve, we will develop
equations for the performance measures, percentage overshoot, settling time, and
rise time in terms of the generalised second-oder parameters.

4.5 The Specification of Second-Order Response

In order to specify a second-order response we need to define some performance
measures based on a typical underdamped response curve. The specifications are:

1. Peak Time Tp : the time taken to reach the first, or maximum, peak.

2. Percent overshoot %OS : the the amount that the waveform overshoots the
steady state, or final value at the peak time, expressed as a percentage of the
steady-state value.
3. Settling time Ts : the amount of time required for the transient’s damped
oscillations to stay within 2% of the final value.
4. Rise time Tr : the amount of time required to go from 10% to 90% of the
final value.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 106

Second-Order Response Specifications

c(t)
cmax

%OS
2%
Slide 95 100%
102% cfinal
98%
90%

Ts
10%
Tp
t
Tr

A summary of these specifications is illustrated in Slide 95.

Rise time, settling time and peak time yield information about the speed and
“quality” of the transient response. They can help the designer achieve a given
speed of response without excessive overshoot or oscillations.
It should be noted that the last two specifications (Tr and Ts ) are the same
as those used for first-order systems and they may also be used for overdamped
and critically damped second-order systems too. In fact, these specifications may
also used for systems with order higher than two, provided that the response is
of the same approximate shape. However, analytical formulae relating the time-
response specification parameters to pole-and-zero locations can only be developed
for second order systems.
In the next sections, relationships between Tp , %OS , Ts and Tr and !n and
 are developed. Following that, they are related to the location of poles in the
s-plane.
4.5.1 Evaluation of Tp
In order to find the value of the peak overshoot we must differentiate the time re-
sponse with respect to time and then find the maximum value. This can be done
using Laplace transforms since
!n2
Lfc_(t)g = sC (s) = s2 + 2! s + !2
n n
Completing squares in the denominator gives:
p
p!1,n  2 !n 1 ,  2
Lfc_(t)g = (s + ! )2 + !2 (1 ,  2 )
n n
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 107

p
c_(t) = p !n 2 e,!n t sin !n 1 ,  2 t:
So

1,
Setting the derivative to zero gives
p
!n 1 ,  2t = n

pn
or
t= :
!n 1 ,  2
Each value of n yields the value for a local maxima or minima. Letting n = 0
gives t = 0 which corresponds to the starting point of the step response. Setting
n = 1 gives the time at which the response reaches its first peak, that is Tp , thus:
Tp = p (48)
!n 1 ,  2

4.5.2 Evaluation of %OS

From Slide 95, the percent overshoot, %OS , is given by

%OS = cmaxc , cnal  100 (49)

nal
cmax is found by substituting t = Tp into Equation (47). Thus using (48) we have

p !
cmax = 1 , e ,(= 1, 2 ) cos  + p  sin 
1 , 2
p
= 1 + e,(= 1, 2 ) (50)

For the unit step used in (47)

cnal = 1 (51)

Therefore, substituting (50) and (51) into (49) gives:

p
%OS = e,(= 1, 2 )  100 : (52)

Note that the percentage overshoot is a function only of the damping ratio!
The inverse of equation (52) allows us to find the value of the damping ratio 
that yields a given %OS thus:

 = q , ln(%OS=100) : (53)
2 + ln2 (%OS=100)
A plot of the relationship between %OS and  is given in Slide 96.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 108

Relationship between %OS and 

Percent overshoot, %OS

Slide 96

Damping ratio, ζ

4.5.3 Evaluation of Ts
In order to find the settling time we need to find the time for which c(t) reaches and
stays within 2% of cnal . From Slide 95, an estimate of Ts is the time for which
the decaying sinusoid in equation (47) reaches an amplitude of 0.02, or

e,!n t p 1 2 = 0:02:
1,
p
This is a conservative estimate because we are assuming that cos(!n 1 , 2 t ,
) = 1 at t = Ts. Nevertheless, solving for t gives
p
Ts = , ln(0:02
!
1 ,  2) (54)
n
It is easy to verify that the numerator of equation (54) yields values between 3.91
and 4.74 as  varies from 0 to 0.9. We therefore use an approximation for Ts which
can be used for all values of  . The approximation is taken to be

Ts = !4 (55)
n

Evaluation of Tr
There is no precise analytical relationship between rise time and damping ratio or
natural frequency. However, by experimentation a relationship can be found as
shown in Slide 97.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 109

Damping ratio versus normalised rise time

r
Rise time x Natural Frequency, ω T
Damping Normalized

n
ratio rise time
0.1 1.104
0.2 1.203
0.3 1.321
0.4 1.463
0.5 1.638
0.6 1.854
0.7 2.126
Slide 97 0.8 2.467
0.9 2.883

Damping Ratio, ζ

For 0:866 <  < 0:5 an approximation to rise time can be taken to be

Tr  1!:8 (56)
n
This suggests that rise-time depends on !n , but as we shall see, this is rather a crude
approximation and  must also be taken into account in practice. Nonetheless, we
shall use the approximation in equation (56) from time to time.

Example 4.6 Given the transfer function

100
G(s) = s2 + 15 s + 100
find Tp , %OS , Ts and Tr .

Solution: From the model transfer function !n = 10 and  = 0:75. Substituting

these values into the formulae for Tp , %OS and Ts gives Tp = 0:475 seconds, %OS
= 2.838, and Ts = 0:533 seconds. From the graph in Slide 97 we find that for  =
0:75, !n Tr  2:3 seconds. Dividing by !n gives Tr = 0:23 seconds. All without
taking inverse-laplace transforms of the step response of G(s) and measuring the
response!

Recap
In this section we have developed formulae for the second-order system perfor-
mance parameters
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 110

 Percentage overshoot (%OS ) (52), (53)

 Time-to-peak (Tp ) (48)

 Settling time (Ts ) (55)

 Rise-time Tr (Fig. 97 and Eq. (56))
in terms of the generalized second-order parameters  and !n .
Although the definitions of settling-time and rise time are the same as used
for first-order systems, percentage overshoot only applies to second-order systems
which are underdamped or undamped.
The same parameters may be used to categorise the performance of higher-order
systems provided that they exhibit a response which is similar in shape to that of a
second-order system. However, in that case, there is no direct relationship between
the response parameters and the system poles.
In the next lecture we shall conclude the development of performance charac-
teristics by finding out how the location of the system poles can be used to specify
a particular kind of performance.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 111

Lecture 9: Evaluation of System Response (5)

Preamble
In the last lecture we developed formulae for the second-order system performance
parameters Percentage overshoot (%OS ), Time-to-peak (Tp ), Settling time (Ts ),
and Rise-time Tr , in terms of the generalized second-order parameters  and !n .
In this lecture we shall conclude the development of performance charateris-
tics by finding out how the location of the system poles can be used to specify a
particular kind of performance.

4.6 Relating Response Specifications to Pole Locations in the s-

Plane
We now have the relationships between the specifications for peak-time, rise-time,
settling-time and percent overshoot to the natural frequency and damping ratio of
an underdamped second-order system. We now need to relate these to the locations
of the poles on the s-plane. Once we have done this we will be in a position to
specify the pole locations that yield a particular response. That is we shall be able
to solve the so-called “synthesis” problem.
The pole plot for an underdamped second-order system is shown again in Slide 98.
It is easy to show that the radial distance from the origin to the pole is !n and
the angle subtended by the radial line (measured from the negative real axis) is
 = cos,1  .

Pole-plot for an underdamped second-order system

s − plane jω

+ jω n 1 − ζ 2
Slide 98 ωn
−ζω n
α σ

− jω n 1 − ζ 2

Previously, when considering pole locations, we used the symbol !d (damped

natural frequency) for the imaginary part of the pole and d (exponential decay
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 112

frequency) for the real part of the pole. From the pole locations it is clear that

d = !n
and p
!d = !n 1 ,  2
Thus, in terms of pole locations

Tp = p = ! (57)
!n 1 ,  2 d

Ts = !4 = 4 (58)
n d
 Equation (57) shows that Tp is inversely proportional to the size of the imag-
inary part of the pole. Since horizontal lines on the s-plane are lines of con-
stant imaginary part, then they are lines of constant peak-time.
 Similarly, equation (58) shows that Ts is inversely proportional to the size of
the real part of the pole. Thus, vertical lines on the s-plane, which are lines
of constant real part, are lines of constant settling-time.

 Further, since  = cos , radial lines are lines of constant  . Since percent
overshoot is only a function of  , radial lines are thus lines of constant over-
shoot.
 Finally, the approximate equation !n = 1:8=Tr implies that curves of con-
stant natural frequency (semicircles of radius = !n ) correspond to responses
with constant rise- time. Again, Tr is inversely proportional to !n .

Putting all this together we can show curves of constant peak time, settling time,
rise time and percentage overshoot (Slide 99).

4.6.1 Effect of moving poles along design curves

To illustrate the effect of the design parameters in greater detail the following slides
show the effect of moving the poles along these curves.

 In Slide 100, the step responses for a system whose poles are moved keep-
ing d constant are shown. As the poles move away from the real axis, the
frequency !d increases, but the exponential envelope given by e,d t remains
the same. So the settling time remains virtually the same although the per-
centage overshoot increases because the damping reduces.
 In Slide 101, the effect of moving the poles to the left with constant !d is
shown. Now, the damped natural frequency remains the same so that Tp is
constant. However, as the poles move further to the left, damping is increased
so that percentage overshoot is reduced and the oscillations are damped out
quicker.
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 113

Curves of constant design parameters

%OS2 jω
Tp2 Tr2
%OS1
Tp1 Tr1
Slide 99

Ts2 Ts1

Poles move with constant real part

jω
c(t) s − plane
envelope the same motion of
poles
Slide 100

t
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 114

Poles move with constant imaginary part

jω
c(t) s − plane
motion of
poles
Slide 101
frequency same

Poles move with constant damping ratio

jω
c(t) overshoot same s − plane

motion of
Slide 102 poles

t
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 115

 In Slide 102, the percentage overshoot remains the same as the poles move
away from the origin along the radial line. The system becomes faster as the
natural frequency is increased.
 Finally, in Slide 103 we see that the approximation Tr = 1:8=!n is not very
precise. As the poles move together along the curve of constant !n the rise
time varies quite by quite a large amount. This is because the damping ratio is
changing also. Nevertheless, the relationship between speed of response and
natural frequency for a given value of  can be obtained from design curves
like that shown in the last lecture.

Poles move with constant natural frequency

jω
c(t) s − plane

motion of
Slide 103 poles

σ
rise-time differs

t
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 116

C = 0. 2 rad / Nm

θ(t ) J

q( t )
Figure 17: Rotational Mechanical System

Example 4.7 The poles for a second-order systems are located at s = ,3  j 7,

determine the system response.
Solution: From trigonometryp = cos  = cos(tan,1 (7=3)) = 0:394. The natural
frequency is given by !n = 32 + 72 = 7:616. The peak time is
Tp = ! = 7 = 0:449 seconds:
d
The percent overshoot is
p
%OS = e,(= 1, 2 )  100 = 26:018%
The approximate settling time is

Ts = 4 = 43 = 1:333 seconds:
d
For the rise time we see that !n Tr  1:44 when  = 0:394. Thus Tr  1:44=7:616 =
0:18 seconds.
Example 4.8 For the rotational mechanical system shown in mobility diagram form
in Figure 17, determine the values of the bearing resistance R and inertia J re-
quired if the response of the angular position  to a step change in torque input of
1 N m is to have a 20% overshoot and a settling time of 2 seconds.
Solution: Taking (s) to be the output we have

Q(s) = Js2(s) + Rs(s) + C1 (s)

so the system transfer function is

G(s) = ( s) = 1
Q(s) Js + Rs + 1=C
2
1=J
= s2 + R=Js + 1=CJ
 4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 117

For a 20% overshoot

 = q , ln(0:2) = 0:46:
2 + ln2 (0:2)
For Ts = 2 seconds !n = 4=2 = 2. Hence !n = 4:35 rad/s.
The denominator of the system transfer function must then satisfy

s2 + 4s + 18:93 = s2 + R=Js + 1=CJ

Now, since C = 0:2 5=J = 18:93 ! J = 0:26 kg m2. R=J = 4 ! R = 1:06
Nm/(rad/s).

Example 4.9 Section objective example.

We now put our knowledge to use to examine the performance of the open-loop
antenna azimuth control system which can be used as a velocity control system. The
block diagram is shown in Slide 104.

Open-Loop Velocity Control System

power amp Motor and load gearbox

Slide 104
Vp ( s ) Va ( s ) Ωm ( s ) Ωo ( s )
100 2. 083 1
s + 100 s + 1. 71 10

For this system:

1. Predict, by inspection the form of the open-loop angular velocity response of
the load following a step change in the voltage input to the power amplifier.

2. Find the damping ratio and natural frequency of the open-loop system.
3. Derive the complete analytical expression for the open-loop angular veloc-
ity response of the load to step-voltage input to the power amplifier, using
transfer functions.
4. Simulate, using Matlab, the step response of the open-loop system.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 118

Solution:
1. The transfer function relating angular velocity of the load to the voltage input
to the power amplifier is
20:83
G(s) = (s + 100)( s + 1:71)
The step response will be of the form

c(t) = A + Be,100t + Ce,1:71t

2. The damping ratio and natural frequency can be found by expanding the de-
nominator of the transfer function
20:83
G(s) = s2 + 101 :71s + 171
p
p it to s2
and comparing + 2!n s + !n2 . Thus !n = 171 rad/s and  =
101:71=(2 171) = 3:89. Thus the system is overdamped, confirming the
response predicted above.
3.
20:83

o (s) = s(s + 100)(s + 1:71)
Expanding into partial fractions gives:
,3
2:12  10 , 0:124

o (s) = 0:122
s + s + 100 s + 1:71
Transforming to time domain gives

!o (t) = 0:122 + (2:12  10,3)e,100t , 0:124e,1:71t

4. To get the step response in Matlab (shown in Fig. 18)

>> num = 20.83;

>> den = conv([1 100],[1 1.71]); % polynomial
% multiplication
step(num,den) title(’Chapter Objective Problem’)

4–1 Find the step response for each of the sytems with transfer function:

1. G(s) = 5=(s + 5)
2. G(s) = 20=(s + 20)
Also find the time constant, rise time and settling time in each case.
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 119

Chapter Objective Problem

0.14

0.12

0.1

0.08

Amplitude
0.06

0.04

0.02

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Time (secs)

Figure 18: Satellite Azimuth Control System: Open-Loop Speed Response

vi ( t ) C vo ( t )

4–2 A simple low-pass filter can be constructed from the RC circuit shown below.
Show that the transfer function of such a filter is

G(s) = VVo((ss)) = sCR1 + 1 ;

i
and determine the maximum frequency square wave that can be passed with a
change in amplitude (vi to vo ) of less than 2%.

4–3 For each of the transfer functions shown below, find the location of the poles
and zeros, plot them on the s-plane, and then write down the expression for the
general form of the step response without solving the inverse Laplace transform.
State the nature of each response.

1. 2
G(s) = s+2
2. G(s) = (s+3)(5 s+6)
10(s+7)
G(s) = (s+10)(
3. s+20)
4. G(s) = s2+620s+144
5. G(s) = ss+2
+9
4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 120

s+5)
G(s) = (s(+10)
6. 2

4–4 Determine the exact response for each of the systems in Problem 4–3 using
Laplace transform techniques.

4–5 For each of the systems in Problem 4–3 find the natural frequency and damping
ratio, and hence confirm the type of response predicted.

4–6 A system has a damping ratio of 0.5, a natural frequency of 100 rad/s, and a dc
gain of 1. Find its response to a unit step input.

4–7 For each of the second-order systems below, find  , !n , Ts , Tp , Tr , and %OS .

1. G(s) = 120=(s2 + 12s + 120)

2. G(s) = 0:01=(s2 + 0:002s + 0:01)
3. G(s) = 109=(s2 + 6280s + 109 )
4–8 For each of the second-order system specifications below, find the location of
the second-order pair of poles.

1. %OS = 10%, Ts = 0:5 second.

2. %OS = 15%, Tp = 0:25 second.
4–9 For a general second-order system, find the location of the poles if the percent-
age overshoot is 30% and the settling time is 0.05 seconds.

4–10 Find J and C in the rotational mechanical system shown below if the system
is to yield a 30% overshoot and a settling time of 4 seconds.

1 Nm / (rad / s)

θ(t ) J

q( t )

All problems except problem 4–1 adapted from Chapter 4 of Nise.

4 EVALUATION OF SYSTEM RESPONSE 121

Summary of the “Evaluation of System Response” Se-

quence
This section of the course was devoted to the evaluation of the transient response
from the system model.

 It introduced the useful concept of poles and zeros.

 Step responses for first and second order systems were analysed.
 The generalised parameter for the first order system was found to be the time
constant  and the performance specifications rise-time Tr and settling time
Ts were related to  .
 The generalised parameters for second-order systems were found to be damp-
ing ratio  and natural frequency !n ;
 Four different types of response are possible for stable second-order systems:

– overdamped when  > 1,

– critically damped when  = 1,
– underdamped when 0 <  < 1,
– undamped when  = 0.
 The time response specifications percentage overshoot; %OS, peak time Tp ;
settling time Ts and rise-time Tr can be formulated in terms of  and !n .
 Curves of constant time response specifications can be drawn in the s-plane
and used to design a system which must have a given response.

We also completed the objectives:

Given the antenna azimuth-angle control system developed in the

section on modelling
 Predict, by inspection, the form of the open-loop angular velocity
response of the load to a step-voltage input to the power amplifier;
 Find the damping ratio and natural frequency of the open-loop
system;
 Derive the complete analytical expression for the open-loop re-
sponse using transfer functions.

In the next lecture we will return to consider the control system design problem
and see how feedback enables us to satisfy some of the performance specifications.
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 122

Lecture 10: Analysis and Design of Feedback Systems

Preamble
In the last section of the course we defined ways to evaluate the transient response of
first and second-order systems from knowledge of their transfer function. We now
apply this knowledge to feedback control systems. In particular we shall introduce:

 Transfer functions for general feedback systems;

 The unity-gain feedback system, a so-called canonical form;

 The effect of gain on the system response of a system with the same form of
transfer function as the antenna azimuth position control system;

 Introduce the root locus.

5 Analysis and Design of Feedback Systems

The feedback form of a control system topology is illustrated below in Fig. 19. A
simplified model is shown in Figure 20.
Input
transducer Controller Plant

Rs +
E ( s) C( s)
G1 ( s) G2 ( s ) G3 ( s)
Input Actuating Output
- signal

H2 (s ) H1 ( s )

Feedback Output
transducer

Figure 19: Feedback form of a control system topology

Now, for the simplified system

E (s) = R(s) , C (s)H (s)

C (s) = G(s)E (s)
C (s) = G(s)R(s) , G(s)H (s)C (s)
[1 , G(s)H (s)] C (s) = G(s)R(s)
Gc (s) = CR((ss)) = G(s)
1 + G(s)H (s) (59)

The block diagram of this reduced “closed-loop” control system is shown in Fig. 21.
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 123

Plant
+
controller

Rs +
E (s ) C( s )
G( s )
Input Actuating Output
- signal

H(s)

Feedback

Figure 20: Simplified feedback control system topology

Rs G ( s) C( s )
1 + G ( s ) H (s )

Figure 21: Reduced feedback control system

5.1 Interpretation of the generalised closed-loop transfer func-

tion
The components of equation (59) are interpreted as follows:

 The transfer function G(s)H (s) is called the “loop transfer function”.
 1+G(s)H (s) = 0 is called the “closed-loop characteristic equation” (CLCE).
As we shall see, the CLCE is a very important equation in feedback control
systems analysis and design.

 Gc (s) is called the “closed-loop transfer function”.

5.2 Unity-gain feedback
The “unity-gain feedback” canonical form1 is shown in Fig. 22.
 Go (s) is called the “open-loop transfer fuction”.
In comparison with the previous model, H (s) = 1, hence, from equation (59)
we have:
Gc (s) = 1 +GoG(s)(s) (60)
o
This form of system will be used almost exclusively in the remainder of this
course.
1 canonical — authoritative, standard, accepted
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 124

Rs + E ( s) C( s )
Go ( s )
Input Error Output
- signal

Figure 22: Unity-gain feedback canonical form

5.3 Closed-loop transient performance

Consider the example servomechanism shown in Figure 23.

Rs
+
K C( s )
s( s + a)
-

Figure 23: An example system: a position control system or servomechanism

For this system:

Go (s) = s(sK+ a)

Gc (s) = 1 +GoG(s()s) = s2 + as
K
+K:
o
We see that this is a second order transfer function which will have various forms
of damping depending on the value of K . As K is varied, the closed-loop poles
move through three types of behaviour from overdamped, to critically-damped and
on to underdamped response.

 At K = 0, the poles are the same as for the open-loop, that is p1;2 = 0; ,a
(labelled s1 in Fig. 24).
 For
0 < K < a2=4
the poles are real and located at
p
p1;2 = , a2  (a 2, 4K )
2

(labelled s2 in Fig. 24).

5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 125

 As K increases, the poles move towards each other along the real axis and the
response is overdamped (although the rise- and settling-times reduce), until
both poles come together at p1;2 = ,a=2, when K = a2 =4, and the response
is critically damped (s3 in Fig. 24).
 As K is further increased, the poles become complex with real part

d = ,a=2
and imaginary part p(4K , a2)
!d = 2
which increases in size as K increases (s4 in Fig. 24). The real-part remains
constant whilst the damping ratio is reduced. Thus, %OS inscreases whilst
the settling time remains constant.

These results are summarised in Table 4, and the main classes of pole locations,
labelled as above, are illustrated in Figure 24.

Table 4: Pole locations for the example system as a function of K

K p1 p2 label
0 ,a p 0 p s1
0 < K < a2 =4 ,a=2 , (a2 , 4K )=2 ,a=2 + (a2 , 4K )=2 s2
a2=4 ,a=2 p ,a=2 p s3
a2=4 < K ,a=2 + j (4K , a2)=2 ,a=2 , j (4K , a2)=2 s4
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 126

s − plane jω

s4

s1 s2 s3 s2 s1
σ
−a a
−
2

s4

Figure 24: Pole locations for example system

5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 127

Example 5.1 Find Tp , %OS and Ts for the feedback control system illustrated in
Figure 25 below.

Rs C( s )
+
25
s ( s + 5)
-

Figure 25:

Solution:
!n2
Gc (s) = s2 + 525s + 25 = s2 + 2! s + !2n n
p
Hence !n = 25 = 5, 2!n = 5 and  = 0:5. Therefore
Tp = p 2 = 0:726 sec:
!n 1 , 
p
%OS = e,= 1, 2  100 = 16:303%:

Ts = !4 = 1:6 sec:

n
Example 5.2 For the system shown in Figure 26 below, design the gain K needed
to give a %OS of 10%.

Rs K C( s )
+
s ( s + 5)
-

Figure 26:

Solution:
Gc (s) = s2 + 5Ks + K
p
2!n = 5, !n = K , thus
 = p5 :
2 K
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 128

For a 10% overshoot

 = q , ln(10=100) = 0:591:
2 + ln2(10=100)
 5 2
K = 2 = 17:892:
Note: for this system the settling time is Ts = 4=(!n ) = 4=(2:5) = 1:6 seconds.
We cannot design for a settling time less that this since the real part of the poles is
fixed and is not adjustable by means of the gain K . We would need to add extra
components to achieve a settling time less than 2 seconds.

5.4 The Root-Locus: A Preview

Consider the system of Figure 23 again. This has closed-loop transfer function

K
Gc(s) = s2 + as +K:
We calculated the locations of the poles of Gc (s) for variations of K and plotted
their locations in the s-plane (see Table 4 and Figure 24 above).
We could plot two continuous “curves” through these points to indicate the
movement of the poles as a continuous function of K (see Figure 27).

s − plane jω

s1 s1
σ
−a a
−
2

Figure 27: Motion of the closed-loop poles of the control system with open-loop
transfer function Go (s) = K=(s(s + a))

These curves describe the “locus” of the closed-loop poles as K increases. This
“root locus” can be sketched or generated for any system provided the open-loop
transfer function is known.
In Matlab, it is generated as shown in Slide 105 and the result is that shown in
Slide 5.4.
 5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 129

Root Locus

For the system with open-loop transfer function Go (s) = 1=s(s + 5) and
Slide 105
unity-gain feedback:
>> num_Go = [1];
>> den_Go = [1, 5, 0] % Go(s) = 1/(sˆ2 + 5s)!
>> rlocus(num_Go, den_Go)

Root Locus (2)

10

Slide 106 2
Imag Axis

0 x x

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10

Real Axis
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 130

First Drill Problem

Transient Response of Feedback Control Systems
Aim: Reduce a feedback control system to a single transfer function that relates the
output to the input in order to analyse and design the closed-loop transient response.
Problem: Given the block diagram for the antenna azimuth position control system
with velocity feedback compensation shown in Figure 281 :

1. Find the equivalent unity-gain feedback canonical form by block diagram

reduction and hence write down the open-loop transfer function Go (s), the
closed-loop transfer function Gc (s) and the closed-loop characteristic equa-
tion (CLCE).
2. Simplify the system by replacing the power amplifier by its DC gain (=1)
and disconnecting the tacho. Evaluate the closed-loop peak time Tp , percent
overshoot %OS and settling time Ts when the gain K = 800.
3. Derive the expression for the closed-loop step response of the system of
part 2.
4. For the simplified system of part 2, find the value of K that yields a 5%
overshoot.
5. With the tacho connected, but the power-amplifier still replaced by its DC
gain, show that it is possible to design a closed-loop response in which the
damping ratio and the settling time may be controlled by suitable choice of
the parameters K and KT . Find suitable values for the parameters K and
KT that will give a 10% overshoot and a settling time of 1.5 seconds. What
is the corresponding rise time?

1 Please note the error in the figure. The input signal, shown as
i (s) in the diagram should read
i (s)
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 131

motor
power &
pot pre-amp amp load
Ω i (s ) Vi ( s ) Vp ( s ) Va ( s ) Θo (s)
1 + + 100 0. 2083
K s( s + 1. 71)
π - -
s + 100

Vo (s )
sKT
Vω ( s )
tacho

1
π
pot

Figure 28: Antenna azimuth position control system

Answers
1.
Go (s) = s((s + 1:71)(s6+:63100)
K
+ 20:83KT ) ;
Gc (s) = s3 + 101:7s2 + (1:71 6:63K
+ 20:83KT )s + 6:63K ;
CLCE ! s3 + 101:7s2 + (1:71 + 20:83KT )s + 6:63K = 0:
2. Tp = 0:435 seconds; %OS = 69:1%; Ts = 4:7 seconds.
3. o (t) = 1 , e,0:855t (cos 7:23t + 0:118 sin 7:23t):
4. K = 23:2.
5. K = 172:64; KT = 10:99; Tr  0:63 seconds.
Note: In the following, unless otherwise specified, assume that the closed-loop is
obtained by the application of unity-gain feedback.

5–1 A control system has a controller and plant transfer function G(s) and a feed-
back transfer function H (s). For the closed-loop system, determine the character-
istic equation and the closed-loop zeros in terms of the poles and zeros of G(s)
and H (s) for the cases where H (s) = 1 (unity-gain feedback canonical form) and
H (s) = NH (s)=DH (s).
5–2 An open-loop system has poles at s = 0; ,1 and ,6 and a zero at s = ,2. If
the open-loop gain K = 18 find the closed-loop step response and compare it to the
open-loop step response. Comment on the result. (Hint: use Matlab to determine
the zeros of the closed-loop characteristic equation.)
5 ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FEEDBACK SYSTEMS 132

5–3 A servomechanism has an open-loop transfer funtion

Go (s) = s(s K
+ 20) :
Determine the value of K for which the closed-loop system is

1. critically damped, and

2. ideally damped.

5–4 A control system is to satisfy the following performance criteria

1. rise time: Tr  0:5 seconds.

2. settling time: Ts  2 seconds.
3. Percent overshoot in the range 1% < %OS < 10%.
Sketch the region of the s-plane in which the dominant poles of the closed-
loop system must lie to meet these performance constraints and hence determine
the closed-loop transfer function of a second-order system that satisfies the require-
ments. (Note: you should assume that Tr = 1:8=!n ).

Recap
In this lecture we have applied our knowledge of second-order system response to
the analysis of closed-loop feedback control systems. We have seen that the open-
loop gain K in the transfer function effects the performance, and that by choice of
suitable values for this parameter we can design closed-loop systems to have certain
specified behaviour. However, there are limitations because gain typically can only
be used to design one parameter, e.g. overshoot, rise-time, settling-time, and rarely
can it be used to design two or more parameters simultaneously.
We also observed that if we regard the open-loop gain as a continuously vary-
ing parameter we can create a locus of movement for the closed-loop poles of the
feedback control system which we call the “root locus”. We will return to this in
due course.
Early in the course we stated that there are three important aspects to be consid-
ered in the design of control systems:

 stability,
 steady-state performance, and
 transient performance.

We have spent quite some time on the third of these. In the next few lectures we
turn our intention to the other, even more important, characteristics of stability and
steady-state behaviour. We begin in the next lecture with a look at stability.
6 STABILITY 133

Lecture 11: Stability (1)

Preamble
Three requirements enter into the design of a feedback control system:

 transient response
 stability
 steady-state errors.

So far, we have considered transient response. We now discuss stability.

In this lecture we will:
 Define stability for linear time-invariant systems and see that a system whose
poles all lie to the left of the imaginary axis in the s-plane are stable;
 Define instability and see that a system will be unstable if it has any poles
to the right of the imaginary axis in the s-plane or it has poles of a certain
structure on the imaginary axis;
 Define marginal stability and see that a system is marginally stable if it has
poles on the imaginary axis;
 Develop a test for stability which does not need the location of the system
poles to be found.

6 Stability
Stability is the most important system specification. If a system is unstable, tran-
sient performance and steady-state errors are moot points. An unstable system can-
not be designed for a specific transient response or a steady-state error requirement.

6.1 What is stability?

There are many definitions for stability depending upon the kind of system or ones
point of view. In this section, we limit ourselves to a consideration of the stability
of linear time- invariant systems (LTIs).
Recall that the response of an LTI system is given by

c(t) = cforced (t) + cnatural (t):

 An LTI is stable if the natural response approaches zero as time approaches
infinity:
cnatural (t)jt!1 = 0
Only the forced response remains as t ! 1.

c(t)jt!1 = cforced (t)

6 STABILITY 134

 An unstable system has a natural response that grows without bound, so that:
cnatural (t)jt!1 = 1
and therefore
c(t)jt!1 = 1
 A marginally stable system has a natural response that neither grows nor
decays as t ! 1 but either oscillates or remains at a constant value.
Physically, an unstable system whose natural response grows without bound can
cause damage to the system, adjacent property or human life. In practice many
systems are designed with limit stops to prevent runaway. From the time-response
point of view, instability is indicated by transients that get bigger and consequently
by a total response that does not reach a steady state.

6.2 How do we determine if a system is stable?

6.2.1 Stability
Recall from our study of system poles and zeros that poles to the left of the imagi-
nary axis in the s-plane—a region called the left-half plane (LHP)—yield responses
that are either decaying exponentials or damped sinusoids. These natural responses
decay to zero as time approaches infinity. Thus:
Closed-loop stability: a closed loop control system is stable if all the
closed-loop poles are located in the left half plane.
Example 6.1 Determine the stability of the closed-loop control system shown in
Fig. 29.

R( s ) + E( s) 3 C( s )
s( s + 1)( s + 2 )
-
Figure 29:

Solution: The closed-loop transfer function is

Gc (s) = s3 + 3s23+ 2s + 3 :
The poles are the zeros (roots) of the closed-loop characteristic equation (CLCE)
s3 + 3s2 + 2s + 3 = 0
That is:
s = ,2:672; ,0:164  j 1:047:
The pole-locations and the resulting response are illustrated in
Slide 107.
 6 STABILITY 135

Stable response
s − plane jω
c(t)

LHP

Slide 107
σ

t
6 STABILITY 136

6.2.2 Instability
A system which has all its poles in the LHP is stable: all the poles will be negative
real or complex with negative real parts. On the other hand, poles in the right-
half plane are positive or complex with positive real parts. They produce responses
which are increasing exponentials or increasing sinusoids. These grow without
bound and hence yield unstable responses. Thus if there are poles in the right-half
plane the system is unstable.

Example 6.2 Determine the stability of the closed-loop control system shown in
Fig. 30.

R( s ) + E( s) 7 C( s )
s( s + 1)( s + 2 )
-
Figure 30:

Solution: This time the closed-loop transfer function is

Gc (s) = s3 + 3s27+ 2s + 7
but now the poles are:

s = ,3:087; +0:0434  j 1:505:

Thus, two poles are in the right-half plane (RHP) and the resulting response is
unstable (Slide 108).
If there are double or triple poles on the imaginary axis the response will be of
the form Atn cos(!t + ) n = 1; 2; : : :. Such responses also grow without bound
since clearly tn ! 1 when t ! 1. Thus:
Instability of a closed-loop control system: A system is unstable if
its closed-loop transfer function has at least one pole in the right-half
plane and/or poles of multiplicity > 1 on the imaginary axis.
 6 STABILITY 137

Unstable response
s − plane jω
c(t)

LHP

Slide 108
σ

t
6 STABILITY 138

6.2.3 Marginal stability

Finally, if a system has a single pair of poles on the imaginary axis, or a single pole
at the origin, then we say that the system is marginally stable. It will have a natural
response containing an undamped oscillation or a constant value as t ! 1.

6.3 Testing for Stability

It would seem to be a simple matter to test for stability. All we need to know is that
all the closed-loop poles are in the LHP. But, in fact, it is not so simple as it at first
appears to be.
Example 6.3 Consider the closed-loop system shown in Fig. 31. Is the system
stable?

R( s ) + E( s) 10 ( s + 2) C( s )
s( s + 4 )( s + 6)( s + 8 )( s +10 )
-
Figure 31:

Solution: The closed-loop transfer function is:

Gc (s) = s5 + 28s4 + 284s10(s + 2)

3 + 1232s2 + 1390s + 20 :
Although we know the location of the open-loop poles, this doesn’t help us find the
the location of the closed-loop poles. Neither is there an analytical way of finding
the roots of the CLCE. We could use a root finding algorithm such as
>> roots([1, 28, 284, 1232, 1930, 20])
in Matlab (maybe your calculator has a similar function). However, not everyone
always has access to such facilities so we need another way to determine the sorts
of roots that a system characteristic equation has. Our requirements are simplified
because we only need to test the sign of the real part of the poles rather than finding
their location. Namely, we need to answer the question “are there any roots of
the CLCE which have positive real part?” and, more pertinant perhaps “is there a
simple method of checking that all the roots of a polynomial have negative real part
without resorting to root-finding algorithms?” The answer to the last question is
yes. It is called the “Hurwitz test” and we present it now.

6.4 The Hurwitz Criterion

Consider a closed-loop characteristic polynomial in factored form:
Y
n
P (s) = (s , pi )
i=1
6 STABILITY 139

where pi is a zero of P (s) (that is a root of the CLCE). If all poles are in the LHP,
then all factors will be of the form (s + pi ) (because each pi will have a negative
real part). The coefficients of the expanded polynomial will therefore only have
positive sign. This is true even if some factors pi are complex

, + j!
because complex factors always appear as conjugate pairs so that

(s +  + j!)(s +  , j!) = s2 + 2s + 2 + !2

which also has positive coefficients. No coefficents can be missing since this would
imply cancellation between positive and negative roots, or roots on the imaginary
axis, which we do not allow. Thus a necessary condition for a system to be stable
is for its CLCE to have all coefficients of every term sn ; sn,1 ; : : : ; s0 present and
all positive1.
To be more formal:
The Hurwitz Criterion: The Hurwitz criterion states that a system is
unstable if there are any negative or missing coefficients of the closed-
loop characteristic equation.
The test of stability, called the Hurwitz Test is very simple to apply:
 s3 + 27s2 , 26s + 24 is unstable because the coefficient of the s term is
negative;
 s3 + 27s2 + 26s is unstable because the s0 term is missing; but
 s3 + 27s2 + 26s + 24 may be stable.
The problem with the Hurwitz criterion is that a system that passes the Hurwitz test
is not guaranteed to be stable, as in the final example above. Hence we call the
Hurwitz criterion a necessary but not sufficient criterion for stability. The Hurwitz
Test provides a useful means of rejecting some closed-loop systems, but we need a
stronger test to be able to say for definite that a system that passes the Hurwitz test
is actually stable.
This more stringent test is based on the Routh-Hurwitz criterion and is called
the Routh Test. It is based on the so-called Routh Array which is constructed from
the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial and it, and the test based on it, are
described in the next lecture.

Recap
In this lecture we have defined stability for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems.

 An LTI system is stable if the natural response cnatural (t) decays to zero as
t ! 1. In terms of system transfer functions, a stable system will only have
poles in the s-plane which lie to the left of the imaginary axis. This region of
the s-plane is called the left-half-plane (LHP).
1 or all negative which implies multiplication of P (s) by ,1
6 STABILITY 140

 An LTI system will be unstable if, for any reason, the natural response cnatural (t)
does not decay to zero as t ! 1. The conditions under which this occurs
are:
– when the system has at least one pole to the right of the imaginary axis
in the s-plane (the right-half-plane), or
– the system has poles of multiplicity > 1 on the imaginary axis.

 An LTI system is marginally stable if it has poles of multiplicity = 1 on the

imaginary axis. Such a system will have a natural response that is oscillatory
(undamped) or results in a constant value.

In order to test for stability we need to examine the sign of the poles of the
characteristic equation. Any system that only has poles in the left-half-plane must
produce a characteristic polynomial that has positive coefficients. The Hurwitz test
makes use of this property so that any system whose characteristic polynomial has
any negative or missing coefficients must be unstable. However, the Hurwitz crite-
rion is only a necessary condition, since polynmials that pass the Hurwitz test can
still have roots in the right-half-plane. We therefore need a necessary and sufficient
test. Such a test is based on the Routh-Hurwitz criterion and is called the Routh Test.
It is based on the so-called Routh Array which is constructed from the coefficients
of the characteristic polynomial and it, and the test based on it, are described in the
next lecture.
6 STABILITY 141

Lecture 12: Stability (2)

Preamble
In the last lecture we defined stability for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems and
showed how knowledge of the location of the system poles on the s-plane could
tell us if a system was stable or not. However, in order to know the location of the
poles, we need to find the roots of the closed-loop characteristic equation, and this
may not be possible unless we have access to a computer or sophisticated calculator.
It turned out, however, that in order to judge a system’s stability we don’t need to
know the actual location of the poles, just their sign—that is whether the poles are
in the right-half or left-half plane. The Hurwitz criterion can be used to indicate
that a characteristic polynomial with negative or missing coefficients is unstable.
However, a polynomial that passes the Hurwitz test may still have unstable roots.
In this lecture we demonstrate the Routh-Hurwitz Crterion which can be used to
test the stability of polynomials that pass the Hurwitz test.
The Routh-Hurwitz Criterion is called a necessary and sufficient test of stability
because a polynomial that satisfies the criterion is guaranteed to stable. The crite-
rion can also tell us how many poles are in the right-half plane or on the imaginary
axis.
Having obtained a test for stability that is valid for all cases we can use it in
design to ensure that, for example, the system gain is never sufficient to cause in-
stability. Using a stability test in design in this way is called design for relative
stability.

6.5 The Routh-Hurwitz Stability Criterion

To use the Routh test we first need to construct a Routh array. We present the
construction of a typical Routh array by means of an example, then present the
Routh-Hurwitz Criterion.

6.5.1 The Routh array

Consider the system shown in Fig. 32. The closed-loop characteristic equation is:

a4s4 + a3 s3 + a2s2 + a1 s + a0 = 0: (61)

R( s ) N( s) C( s)
a4 s + a3 s + a2 s2 + a1 s + a0
4 3

Figure 32: General closed-loop transfer function for a fourth-order system

6 STABILITY 142

The Routh array is simply a rectangular matrix with one row for each power of
s in the closed-loop characteristic polynomial. In this case there are 5 rows, one for
each term s4 ; s3 ; : : : ; s0 but in general there will be n + 1 rows for a system with
a characteristic polynomial whose highest power of s is n. There is a relationship
between the rows and the powers of s which we will make use of later, so to make
the relationship explicit, it is useful to label the rows of the Routh array as shown
below.
s4 :
0 :::
1
s3 : BB ::: CC
s2 : BB ::: CC
s1 : @ ::: A
s0 : :::
The next operation is to initialise the Routh array by filling the first two rows
with the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial as follows:

1. For row s4 the first element is a4 the coefficient of s4 . The next element is
a2 the coefficient of s2 and the final element is a0 the coefficient of s0. Thus
the first row is:
s4 : a4 a2 a0 :
Note that in fact what we are doing is skipping the odd coefficients of the
characteristic polynomial when constructing the row for s4 . In general the
rule is: if n is even then the sn row consists of the coefficients of the even
powers of s. If n is odd, then the sn row consists of the coefficients of the
odd powers of s.
2. For the second row — s3 in this case and sn,1 in general — the elements are
simply those coefficients skipped in the second row written down in order.
Thus:
s3 : a3 a1 0
(where the final zero is added to make the two rows equal in length).

At the end of initialisation, the Routh array for a fourth-order system will be as
shown in Table 5 (where we now use a table for clarity in what follows).

Table 5: Starting layout for Routh array

s4 a4 a2 a0
s3 a3 a1 0
s2
s1
s0

The next stage in the process is to fill in the remaining rows of the table. This
is done by operating on the two initial rows to create row 3, applying the same
operations on rows 2 and 3 to generate row 4, and so on until all rows are complete.
The operations that are applied to do this are now described.
6 STABILITY 143

1. Starting at the left-most end of the array create a 2  2 matrix from the first
two rows such that the first column consists of the first element of row 1 and
2 and the second column contains the second elements of row 1 and 2. Let’s
R
call this matrix 1 . That is, for Table 5 we have:
a a 
R1 = 4 2 a3 a1
The first element of the third row of the Routh array, we’ll call it b1 , is then
given by
b1 = , det(R1 )=R1(1; 2):
In other words:
 a a 
,  a43 a21 
b1 = a3
= ,(a4a1a, a2a3)
3
a a ,
= 2 3 a 4 a1
a
3
2. The second element of row 3, b2 , is calculated in much the same way. 2 R
is obtained by leaving column 1 as it is and replacing column 2 with the
R
elements of column 3. Since column 1 is the same as in 1 , the divisor
R 2 (1; 2) is also unchanged so that:
 a a 
,  a43 00 
b2 = a3
= a0 a3 ,a a4  0
3
3. This process is continued until the determinant is zero, after which zero is put
into all remaining columns of row 3.
4. The whole process is repeated for the remaining rows except that the top left
element of the matrix moves down one row at the start of each new row. That
is, row 4 is created from rows 2 and 3 (using the odd elements of P (s) and
the newly calculated coefficients b1 , b2 , etc.), and row 5 is constructed from
rows 3 and 4. At the end of the process the array looks like that shown in
Table 6.

R
Note: you may find it easier to remember that , det( ) is given by the product of
the off diagonal terms , the product of the diagonal terms.
Once the Routh array is complete we are ready to perform the Routh test.
6 STABILITY 144

Table 6: Completed Routh array

s4 a4 a2 a0
s3 a3 a1 0

s2 b1 = a2 a3 a, a4a1 b2 = a0a3 ,a a4  0 = a0 b3 = 0  a3 a, a4  0 = 0
3 3 3

s1 c1 = a1 b1 b, a3b2 c2 = 0  b1 ,
b
a3  0 = 0 c = 0  b1 , a3  0 = 0
3 b
1 1 1

s0 d1 = b2  c1c, b1  0 = b2 d2 = 0  c1 c, b1  0 = 0 d3 = 0  c1 c, b1  0 = 0
1 1 1

6.5.2 The Routh-Hurwitz Test

The Routh-Hurwitz criterion enables us to test a system whose closed- loop char-
acteristic equation passes the Hurwitz criterion.
The Routh-Hurwitz Criterion: The number of roots of the character-
istic polynomial that are in the right-half plane is equal to the number
of sign changes in the first column of the Routh Array. If there are no
sign changes, the system is stable.
Example 6.4 Test the stability of the closed-loop system shown in Fig. 33.

R( s ) + E( s) 1000 C( s )
( s + 2 )(s + 3 )(s + 5)
-

R( s ) 1000 C( s )
s + 10s + 31s + 1030
3 2

Figure 33:

Solution: Since all the coefficients of the closed-loop characteristic equation s3 +

10s2 + 31s + 1030 are present, the system passes the Hurwitz test. So we must
construct the Routh array in order to test the stability further. Here is the opening
Routh array:
6 STABILITY 145

s3 1 31 0
s2 10 1030 0
s1
s0
The Routh array is unchanged by the multiplication of any row by a constant. This
can be used to simplify the Routh array between stages. For example, in the second
row above can be simplified by multiplying each term by 1=10, thus:

s3 1 31 0
s2 1 103 0
s1
s0
We now construct the rest of the table using the rules already described:

s3 1 31
s2 1 103

s1 31  1 , 1  103 = ,72 01,10 =0

1 1

s0 ,72  103 , 1  0 = 103 ,72  0 , 1  0 = 0

,72 ,72
For clarity, we can rewrite the array:
0 1 31 0 1
B
B 1 103 0 C
@ ,72 0 0 CA
103 0 0
and now it is clear that column 1 of the Routh array is:
0 11
BB 1 CC
@ ,72 A
103
and it has two sign changes (from 1 to ,72 and from ,72 to 103). Hence the
system is unstable with two poles in the right-half plane.

6.6 Special Cases

Two special cases can occur when constructing a Routh array:
 a zero may appear in the first column of the array;
 a complete row can become zero.
6 STABILITY 146

6.6.1 A Zero in the first column

If the first element of a row is zero, division by zero would be required to form the
next row. To avoid this, a small number  (epsilon) is used to replace the zero in
the first column. The value  is allowed to approach zero from either the positive
or negative side, after which the signs of the entries in the first column can be
determined.
Example 6.5 Consider the control system with closed-loop transfer function

Gc (s) = s5 + 2s4 + 3s310+ 6s2 + 5s + 3 :

Construct the Routh array and interpret the stability of the closed-loop system.
Solution: The characteristic polynomial is P (s) = s5 + 2s4 + 3s3 + 6s2 + 5s + 3
so the Routh array will be:

s5 1 3 5
s4 2 6 3
s3 0! 7=2 0

s2 6 , 7 3 0


s1 42 , 49 , 62 0 0
12 , 14
s0 3 0 0
Considering just the sign changes in column 1:
Label First column  ! 0+  ! 0,
s5 1 + +
s4 2 + +
s3  + ,

s2 6 , 7 , +


s1 42 , 49 , 62 + +
12 , 14
s0 3 + +
If  is chosen positive there are two sign changes. If  is chosen negative there
are also two sign changes. Hence the system has two poles in the right-half plane
and it doesn’t matter whether we chose to approach zero from the positive or the
negative side. This is always the case!
6 STABILITY 147

6.6.2 An Entire row is zero

This occurs when there is an even polynomial that is a factor of the original poly-
nomial.
Example 6.6 Construct the Routh array for the system with closed-loop transfer
function:
Gc (s) = s5 + 7s4 + 6s3 10
+ 42s2 + 8s + 56 :
Solution: The Routh array for the example is:

s5 1 6 8
s4 7 ! 1 42 ! 6 56 ! 8
s3 0 0 0
s2
s1
s0
We cannot procede any further because the third row is zero. In order to pro-
cede we have to take the so-called auxillary polynomial Q(s) formed from the row
preceeding the zero row:

Q(s) = 7s4 + 6s2 + 8:

The auxillary polynomial is even (only even powers of s are present) and it is also a
factor of the original characteristic polynomial (as you may easily verify for your-
self). To progress further, we have to differentiate Q(s) with respect to s:

dQ(s) = 4s3 + 12s + 0

ds
and replace the zero row with a row formed from the coefficients of the derivative:

s5 1 6 8
s4 1 6 8
s3 0 ! 4 ! 1 0 ! 12 ! 3 0
s2
s1
s0
The remainder of the Routh array is constructed as usual.

s5 1 6 8
s4 1 6 8
s3 1 3 0
s2 3 8 0
s1 1=3 0 0
s0 8 0 0
There are no sign changes in the completed Routh array, hence the system is stable.
6 STABILITY 148

6.6.3 Interpretation of a row of zeros

An entire row of zeros will appear in the Routh array when a purely even polynomial
is a factor of the characteristic polynomial. For example the polynomial s4 +5s2 +7
is a purely even polynomial; it only has even powers of s. Even polynomials have
roots which are symmetrical about the imaginary axis. This symmetry can occur
under several conditions:
1. the roots are real and symmetric about the imaginary axis;

2. the roots are imaginary and symmetric about the real axis, or
3. the roots are quadrantal.
These cases are illustrated in Fig. 34. each case, or any combination of these cases,
will generate an even polynomial.

jω

B
C C

A
σ
A

C C
B

A: Real and symmetrical about the origin

B: Imaginary and symmetrical about the origin
C: Quadrantal and symmetrical about the origin

Figure 34: Root positions to generate even polynomials: Patterns A, B or C (or any
combination)

It is the even polynomial that causes a row of zeros to appear in the Routh array.
Thus the row of zeros tells us that there are roots that are symmetric about the
origin. Some of these roots could be on the imaginary axis (symmetry type B). On
the other hand, if we do not have a zero row, we cannot possibly have roots on the
j! axis.
Another characteristic of the Routh array for the case in question is that the row
previous to the row of zeros contains the even polynomial that is a factor of the
original polynomial. Thus in the previous example, the polynomial s4 + 6s2 + 8 is
a factor of the original polynomial. Finally, the Routh test from the row containing
6 STABILITY 149

the even polynomial down to the last row of the Routh array tests only the poles in
the even polynomial.
A further example should clarify all this.
Example 6.7 For the system with closed-loop transfer function

Gc (s) = s8 + s7 + 12s6 + 22s5 + 3920

s4 + 59s3 + 48s2 + 38s + 20
find how many poles are in the right-half plane, the left-half plane and on the j! -
axis.
Solution: Construct the Routh array shown below.

s8 1 12 39
20 48
s7 1 22 59
0 38
s6 ,10 ! ,1 ,20 ! ,2 10 ! 1 20 ! 2 0
s5 20 ! 1 60 ! 3 40 ! 2 0 0
s4 1 3 2 0 0
s3 0 0 0 0 0
s2
s1
s0
For convenience the s6 row has been multiplied by 1=10 and the s4 row by
1=20. There is a complete row of zeros at the s3 row. Moving back to the s4 row,
we extract the even polynomial

Q(s) = s4 + 3s2 + 2
and take its derivative:
dQ(s) = 4s3 + 6s + 0:
ds
The zero row is then replaced by 4; 6; 0 = 2; 3; 0 and the Routh array is com-
pleted:

s8 1 12 39 48 20
s7 1 22 59 38 0
s6 ,1 ,2 1 2 0
s5 1 3 2 0 0
s4 1 3 2 0 0
s3 2 3 0 0 0
s2 3=2 ! 3 2 ! 4 0 0 0
s1 1=3 0 0 0 0
s0 4 0 0 0 0
6 STABILITY 150

Interpretation
Since all the entries from the even polynomial from the s4 to the s0 entry are a
test of the even polynomial Q(s), we can draw our first conclusions about this
polynomial. There are no sign changes from the s4 to the s0 row, so there are no
poles in the right-half-plane (this rules out poles that are symmetric about the real
axis or are quadrantal). But since there must be some symmetric poles, there must
be 4 poles on the j! -axis. The remaining roots are evaluated from the remaining
rows of the Routh array. There are two sign changes hence there are two RHP poles.
The remaining poles must be in the LHP. To summarise:
Even (4th-order) Rest (4th-order) Total (8th- order)
0 RHP 2 RHP 2 RHP
0 LHP 2 LHP 2 LHP
4 j! 0 j! 4 j!

Drill Problems
Each of the following transfer functions is the open-loop transfer function for a
control system with unity-gain feedback. In each case, construct the Routh array
for the closed-loop characteristic-polynomial and comment on the stability, and
where appropriate, on the location of the closed-loop poles in the s-plane.
1.

Go (s) = s(s3 + 6s2000

2 + 11s + 6)

2.

Go (s) = s(2s4 + 3s3 +12s2 + 3s + 2)

3.

Go (s) = s(s7 + 3s6 + 10s5 + 24128

s3 + 96s2 + 128s + 192)
6.7 Use of the Routh-Hurwitz Criterion for Control Systems De-
sign
To conclude this section, we examine the use of the Routh-Hurwitz criterion in the
design of feedback control systems.
Example 6.8 For the closed-loop system illustrated in Fig. 35, find the range of
values of the gain parameter K for which the closed-loop system is stable.
Solution: The closed-loop transfer function is

Gc (s) = s3 + 18s2K+ 77s + K :

The Routh array is:
6 STABILITY 151

R( s ) + E( s) K C( s )
s( s + 7)(s + 11)
-
Figure 35:

s3 1 77
s2 18 K

s1 1386 , K 0
18
s0 K 0
If K is assumed to be positive then we can use the Routh-Hurwitz criterion to
set limits on the design values of K allowed for stable operation. There will be no
sign changes if K > 0 or if 1386 , K > 0, that is if K < 1386.
If K > 1386 there will be two sign changes so there will be two poles in the
RHP and the system will be unstable.
If K = 1386 then the s1 row will be zero. The previous row is Q(s) = 18s2 +
1386 and the derivative is 36s so the new Routh array will be:
s3 1 77
s2 18 K ! 1386
s1 0 ! 36 0
s0 1386 0
For the even polynomial Q(s) there are no sign changes from s1 to s0 so there must
be two imaginary roots and the system is marginally stable.

Example 6.9 For the antenna azimuth control problem illustrated in Fig. 36 the
closed-loop transfer function is

Gc (s) = s3 + 101:71s62:63 K
+ 171s + 6:63K :
Find the range of pre-amplifier gains K for which the closed-loop system is stable.

Solution: 0 < K < 2623:29.

6.8 Relative Stability
The ability to test a control system for stability against some parameter is very
useful, but for design purposes we are not so much interested in absolute stability
as designing a control system so that it is far removed from instability.