Joshua O.

Dingding

EE311

BS CpE

CONTROL SYSTEM
A control system consist of subsystems and processes (or plants) assembled for the
purpose of controlling the outputs of the process. It is interconnections of components forming
system configurations which will provide a desired system response as time progresses. The
steering of an automobile is a familiar example. The driver observes the position of the car
relative to the desired location and makes corrections by turning the steering wheel. The car
responds by changing direction and the driver attempts to decrease the error between the desired
and actual course of travel.
In this case, the controlled output is the automobile's direction of travel, and the control
system includes the driver, the automobile, and the road surface. The control engineer attempts to
design a steering control mechanism which will provide a desired response for the automobile's
direction control. Different steering designs and automobile designs result in rapid responses, as
in the case of sports cars, or relatively slow and comfortable responses, as in the case of large
autos with power steering.
It is mechanical, optical, or electronic system that is used to maintain a desired output.
For example, a furnace produces heat as a result of the flow of the fuel. In this process,
the flow of the fuel is the input, and heat to be controlled is the output.

Figure 1.1 Simplified description of a control system

History of Control Systems
The field of control systems started essentially in the ancient world. Early civilizations,
notably the Greeks and the Arabs were heavily preoccupied with the accurate measurement of
time, the result of which were several "water clocks" that were designed and implemented.

However, there was very little in the way of actual progress made in the field of
engineering until the beginning of the renaissance in Europe. Leonhard Euler (for whom Euler's
Formula is named) discovered a powerful integral transform, but Pierre-Simon Laplace used the
transform (later called the Laplace Transform) to solve complex problems in probability theory.
Joseph Fourier was a court mathematician in France under Napoleon I. He created a
special function decomposition called the Fourier Series, that was later generalized into an
integral transform, and named in his honor (the Fourier Transform).
The "golden age" of control engineering occurred between 1910-1945, where mass
communication methods were being created and two world wars were being fought. During this
period, some of the most famous names in controls engineering were doing their work: Nyquist
and Bode.
Hendrik Wade Bode and Harry Nyquist, especially in the 1930's while working with Bell
Laboratories, created the bulk of what we now call "Classical Control Methods". These methods
were based off the results of the Laplace and Fourier Transforms, which had been previously
known, but were made popular by Oliver Heaviside around the turn of the century. Previous to
Heaviside, the transforms were not widely used, nor respected mathematical tools.
Bode is credited with the "discovery" of the closed-loop feedback system, and the
logarithmic plotting technique that still bears his name (bode plots). Harry Nyquist did extensive
research in the field of system stability and information theory. He created a powerful stability
criteria that has been named for him (The Nyquist Criteria).
Modern control methods were introduced in the early 1950's, as a way to bypass some of
the shortcomings of the classical methods. Rudolf Kalman is famous for his work in modern
control theory, and an adaptive controller called the Kalman Filter was named in his honor.
Modern control methods became increasingly popular after 1957 with the invention of the
computer, and the start of the space program. Computers created the need for digital control
methodologies, and the space program required the creation of some "advanced" control
techniques, such as "optimal control", "robust control", and "nonlinear control". These last
subjects, and several more, are still active areas of study among research engineers.
THREE SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS OF CONTROL SYSTEM
Open Loop Systems
We have seen that a controller can manipulate its inputs to obtain the desired effect on the
output of a system. One type of control system in which the output has no influence or effect on
the control action of the input signal is called an Open-loop system. An open-loop system is
defined by the fact that the output signal or condition is neither measured nor fed back for
comparison with the input signal or system set point. Therefore open-loop systems are

commonly referred to as Non-feedback systems. Also, as an open-loop system does not use
feedback to determine if its required output was achieved, it assumes that the desired goal of
the input was successful because it cannot correct any errors it could make, and so cannot
compensate for any external disturbances to the system.
In the open loop case, desired input and actual output is not compared. It starts with an
input transducer which converts the form of the input to that used by the controller. The
controller drives a plant. The input is called reference, while the output can be called the
controlled variable. Other signals, such as disturbance, are shown added to the controller output
via summing junction.

Closed Loop (Feedback Control) Systems

A Closed-loop Control System, also known as a feedback control system is a control
system which uses the concept of an open loop system as its forward path but has one or more
feedback loops (hence its name) or paths between its output and its input. The reference to
feedback, simply means that some portion of the output is returned back to the input to form
part of the systems excitation.Closed-loop systems are designed to automatically achieve and
maintain the desired output condition by comparing it with the actual condition. It does this by
generating an error signal which is the difference between the output and the reference input. In
other words, a closed-loop system is a fully automatic control system in which its control
action being dependent on the output in some way.
Open loop systems have some disadvantages in dealing with sensitivity and disturbance.
In the closed loop case, there is an output transducer, or sensor, which measures the output
response and converts it into the form used by the controller.

Computer Controlled Systems

In many modern systems, the controller (or compensator) is a digital computer. The
advantage of using a computer is that many loops can be controlled or compensated by the same
computer through time sharing. Furthermore, any adjustments of the compensator parameters
required to yield a desired response can be made by changes in software rather than hardware.
Open Loop Systems Examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Light switch --> light

Toaster --> toast (For timer-based toasters, only -- see below)
Water faucet --> water flow amount
Water faucets (hot/cold) --> water temperature in the sink or shower.
Temperature setting for the stovetop --> heat to cook food

Closed Loop (Feedback Control) Systems Examples:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Thermostat --> furnace (constant temperature)

Toaster setting (light/dark) --> toast (IF the toaster has heat sensors)
Refrigerator cold/hot setting --> refrigerator inside temperature (constant)
Temperature setting for oven (not stovetop) --> oven temperature constant
Clothes dryer with moisture sensor
Washing machine water level

Computer Controlled Systems

1.
2.
3.
4.

Washing machines
Microwave cookers
Dishwashers
Video recorders
5. Remote control television