Block Diagrams

What Is A Block Diagram?

What Is A Block Diagram?

Block diagrams are ways of representing relationships between signals

in a system. Here is a block diagram of a typical control system. Each block
in the block diagram establishs a relationship between signals.

Here are the relationships for this particular system. (Click here for a
review of signal relationships in a block diagram.)

• E(s) = U(s) - Y(s)

o This relationship is for the summer/subtractor (shown with a
green circle)
• W(s) = K(s)E(s)
o This shows how W(s) - the control effort that drives the
system being controlled, G(s) - is related to the error. The
controller is probably an amplifier - probably a power amplifier -
that provides an output to drive the plant, G(s).
• Y(s) = G(s)W(s)
o This shows how the output, Y(s), is related to the control
effort that drives the plant (system being controlled ) with a
transfer function, G(s).

Next, you can combine all of those relationships and get an overall
relationship between the input and the output in the system. Here is the
process.

• Note that Y(s) = G(s)W(s)

• Note that W(s) = KE(s), and use that in the equation for Y(s). That
gives you:
o Y(s) = G(s)W(s) = G(s)KE(s)
• Note that the error is given by E(s) = U(s) = Y(s), and use that in the
equation for Y(s).
 o Y(s) = G(s)W(s) = G(s)KE(s) = G(s)K[U(s) = Y(s)]
• Now, solve for Y(s), and you get:
o Y(s) = U(s)KG(s)/[1 + KG(s)]

That's what you need to know, and the final relationship will allow you
to compute the output given knowledge of the system components and the
input.

What if you have a more complex system? Here is a block diagram of a

slightly more complex system.

A description of this system is as follows.

• The plant being controlled includes a pump motor. The output is the
height of a liquid in a tank.
o It takes some threshold voltage on the pump to get it started.
After the voltage exceeds the threshold, the flow rate into the
pump depends upon the amount by which the threshold is
exceeded.
o In the block diagram model above, the threshold voltage
(VT)and attendant effects are modelled using another summer.
• The controller has a transfer function, GC(s).
• The sensor has a transfer function, GS(s).
• We can write the mathematical relationships that exist in this block
diagram.
o Y(s) = GP(s)[W(s) - VT(s)]
o Y(s) = GP(s)[GC(s)E(s) - VT(s)]
o Y(s) = GP(s)[GC(s)(U(s) - GS(s)Y(s)) - VT(s)]
• Now, solve for Y(s), and you get:
o Y(s) = U(s)GP(s)GC(s)[1 + GP(s)GC(s)GS(s)] - VT(s)GP(s)[1 +
GP(s)GC(s)GS(s)]
 Now, notice that the output has two components. One of those
components is due to the input - something we know about. The other
component of the output is due to the threshold voltage - something we
might not have expected.

What do we make of all this? Actually, representing offsets and

thresholds like this is a particularly good way to incorporate some simple
nonlinearities into our block diagram algebra even though the block diagram
representation was originally used only for linear systems. It's not hard to
incorporate those offsets into your analysis. Here's what you can do.

1. Generate a complete block diagram for the system and be sure that
you incorporate all of the offsets in your block diagram model.
2. Using your block diagram model write out the algebraic equations for
each block.
3. Solve the equations you have written to determine the output of the
system (or the error if that is what you are interested in). Note that
the output will probably depend upon the input and all of the offset
quantities you added.
4. Use the solution to determine numerical values for the output.
Remember, you are often interested in steady state solutions (DC
solutions) and you can get that by using DC gains with s = 0 in your
transfer functions.