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Control & Automation

MECH 431

MECH 431 Introduction Slide 1

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People
•  Lecturer:
–  Dr. Daniel Asmar (da20@aub.edu.lb )
•  Lab instructor
–  Amer Keblawi (amk36@aub.edu.lb )
–  Nareg Karaoghlanian (nvk02@aub.edu.lb )
•  Graduate assistants
–  Roy AbouTayeh (rga17@aub.edu.lb )
–  Samir Shaker (szs04@aub.edu.lb )

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Lectures & Labs

•  Lectures: RCR
–  Tuesdays and Thursdays (9:30-11:00),
–  Tuesdays and Thursdays (11:00-12:30).
•  Labs: SRB
–  Monday (3:00-5:00)
–  Tuesday (3:00-5:00)
–  Wednesday (3:00-5:00)
–  Thursday (3:00-5:00)
–  Friday (3:00-5:00)

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General Information
•  Textbooks:
–  K. Ogata, Modern Control Engineering, 4th edition,
Prentice Hall, 2002.
•  Prerequisites:
–  EECE 210 Electric Circuits
–  MECH 430 Instrumentation and Measurements

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Tentative Timetable

Vacations

Final day of classes

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Topics
•  Introduction.
•  Models of physical systems. State space representation.
•  Mechanical and electrical systems. Linearization.
•  System response analysis.
•  Stability analysis.
•  Root locus analysis and design.
•  Frequency response analysis and design.
•  Lead compensation, lag compensation, lag-lead
compensation.

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Topics
•  PID control systems, 2-D of freedom control systems.
•  System identification.

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Grading

Weight note
Drop Quizzes 15% First 15 minutes
Midterm 25% Closed-book
Final exam 35% Closed-book
Project 25% Detailed later
Assignments 0% Practice

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Introduction

Chapter 1

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What is Automatic Control?

•  Automatic Control is an Engineering discipline that

deals with:
(1)  Modeling of dynamic systems.
(2)  Study the natural response of the system.
(3)  Design of controllers that cause these systems to behave
in the desired manner.

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Example : Watt’s speed governor

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Controlled & manipulated variables

•  The controlled variable (usually output) is the
quantity that is measured & controlled.
•  The manipulated variable is the quantity that is
varied by the controller to affect the value of the
controlled variable.

Manipulated Controlled

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Example : Watt’s speed governor

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated
variable

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Control

•  CONTROL means measuring the value of the

controlled variable & manipulating the
manipulated variable to guide the control variable
value to the desired value.

1 2

Control:
manipulate (1) to change (2) to desired value

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Example : Watt’s speed governor

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated
variable

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Plant
•  A plant is a piece of equipment or a set of machine
parts working together to perform a certain task.
•  Any physical object to be controlled will be
referred to as plant.
•  Examples include:
–  Mechanical devices.
–  Heating furnace.
–  Chemical reactor.

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Example 1 - Speed control system

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated plant
variable

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Process
•  A natural or artificial, progressively continuing
operation marked by a series of gradual succeeding
changes or actions that lead to a particular outcome.
•  As a general rule, any operation to be controlled is
called a process.
•  Examples include:
–  Chemical process.
–  Economic process.
–  Biological process.

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Example 1 - Speed control system

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated plant
variable

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System
•  A system is a combination of components that act
together and perform a certain objective.
•  Systems can be physical or abstract (e.g., economic).
•  Examples include:
–  Physical.
–  Biological.
–  Economic.

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Disturbances

•  A disturbance is a signal that tends to adversely

affect the value of the output of the system.
•  A disturbance generated within the system is called
internal.
•  A disturbance generated outside the system is called
external and is an input.

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Example - Speed control system

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated plant disturbance

variable

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Feedback control

•  Feedback control refers to an operation that, in the

presence of unpredictable disturbances, tends to
reduce the difference between the output of a system
and some reference input, on the basis of this
difference.

1 2
+ -

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Example - Speed control system

Controlled variable
(velocity)

Manipulated plant disturbance

variable

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Example - Speed control system

Load
(disturbance)
Desired
speed E(s)
+- Engine

Measured
speed

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Ex. 2 - Temperature control system

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Feedback control systems

•  A feedback control system is a system that

maintains a relationship between the output and
reference input by comparing them and using the
difference as a means of control.

set temperature room temperature

+ -

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Closed-loop control system

•  Same as feedback control systems
•  The actuating error signal (difference between input
and output) is fed to the controller so as to reduce
the error and bring the output of the system to a
desired value.
•  Closed loop signifies using feedback control action
to reduce system error.

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Open-loop control system

•  The output has no effect on the input.
•  Output is neither measured nor fed back for
comparison with the input.
•  An example is a washing machine that goes through
a pre-set cycle regardless of the cleanliness (output
of system) of the clothes.
•  For each input there is an output, which is
dependent on the calibration of the system.

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Open-loop control system

•  An open-loop system can not compensate for
disturbances.
•  In practice, open loop systems are used when the
relationship between input and output is known and
no internal or external disturbances exist.

Set dials Plant Collect

(washing machine) clothes

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Closed-loop advantages

•  Insensitive to external disturbances and internal

variations in system parameters.
•  Can therefore use relatively inaccurate components
and still obtain accurate control of a plant.

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Closed-loop disadvantages

•  Stability is a big problem, where the system may

tend in some instances to overcorrect errors and
cause oscillations.
•  More expensive than open-loop systems since it
involves more components.
•  Relies on knowledge of the output, which is
sometimes difficult to measure.

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Open-loop advantages

•  Simple construction and ease of maintenance

•  Less expensive than a corresponding closed-loop
system.
•  No stability problem
•  Convenient when output hard to measure.

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Open-loop disadvantages

•  Disturbances and changes in calibration cause

errors and the output can be different than what is
desired.
•  To maintain high quality, recalibration is necessary
from time to time.

MECH 431 Introduction Slide 34