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Control System

System an arrangement, set or collection of things connected or related in such a

manner as to form an entirety or whole.

Control System an arrangement of physical components connected or related in

such a manner as to command, direct or regulate itself or another system.

Input is the stimulus or excitation applied to a control system from an external

source, usually in order to produce a specified response from the control system.

Output is the actual response obtained from a control system. It may or may not
be equal to the specified response implied by the input.

Feedback is that property of a closed-loop system which permits the output (or
some other controlled variable of the system) to be compared with the input to the
system (or an input to some other internally situated component or subsystem of
the system) so that the appropriate action may be formed as some function of the
output and input.

Block Diagram is a shorthand, pictorial representation of the cause and effect

relationship between the input and output of a physical system.

Input Output
r(t) System c(t)

Block Diagram Representation of a System

Input Output
r(t) Subsystem Subsystem Subsystem c(t)

Note: r(t) = the input, stands for reference input

c(t) = the output, stands for controlled variable

Canonical Form of a Feedback Control System

+ E
R E C
+
B
H

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where: G = direct transfer function or forward transfer function

H = feedback transfer function
GH = (open) loop transfer function
C/R = closed-loop transfer function = control ratio
E/R = actuating signal = error signal
B/R = primary feedback ratio

In the following equations, the negative (-) sign refers to a positive feedback
system and the positive (+) sign refers to a negative feedback system.

C G

R 1 GH
B GH

R 1 GH
E 1

R 1 GH
B
GH
E
C
G
E

For unity feedback system, H = 1

C G

R 1 G

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