Course: MC450 Control Systems
Topic: Digital Control Systems
The Copperbelt University
School of Engineering
Mechanical Department
August 2023 For internal use only
Learning outcomes
The aim of this lecture is to introduce a student to basic concepts in digital control systems. It is not an attempt
at a comprehensive treatment of the subject.
On completing this lecture, students should be able to:
• Explain the relevance of digital control systems
• Model systems as discrete transfer functions
• Perform digital systems block diagram reduction
• Perform steady-state error analysis for digital control systems
• Perform stability analysis on digital control systems
• Develop flow charts for digital compensators
Outline
1. Introduction to digital control systems
2. Review of z-transforms
3. Modelling digital computers
4. Transfer functions
5. Block diagram reduction
6. Stability
7. Steady-state errors
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
9. Implementing cascade compensators
1. Introduction to digital control systems
• We have modelled, analysed and designed control systems in the continuous domain. In this lecture, we will
do the same for digital control systems.
• Many control systems are developed using digital computers playing supervisory and control roles.
• Supervisory functions include; task scheduling, monitoring parameters and variables for out-of-range values,
or initiating shutdowns.
• Control functions which are internal to feedback loops involve compensation so that an output variable is
driven toward the required target.
• Transfer functions which were built with such analog components as operational amplifiers and pneumatic
valves have now been replaced by digital computers which emulate hardware behaviour in code.
Fig 1.1 Depiction of various approaches to controller implementation
1. Introduction to digital control systems
Advantages of digital computers
Digital computers are more advantageous to analog controllers because:
1. Reduced cost as many analog components can be replaced by a single inexpensive computer.
2. Flexibility in response to design changes as there is no need to replace any hardware to change controller
designs rather new controllers can be implemented easily by updating code.
3. Digital systems are not as susceptible to interference by noise.
Fig 1.2 Analog system Fig 1.3 Digital computer system
1. Introduction to digital control systems
Analog-to-digital conversion
• Modern control systems, usually involve sensors in the feedback loop. Sensors measure such physical
variables as temperature, pressure, force and speed. They convert these physical quantities into analog
electrical signals such as voltages and currents.
• For digital computer to use the analog signals from transducers, the signals are discretised using Analog-to-
digital converters (ADC). Figure 1.4 shows a block diagram illustrating an interface between a sensor, ADC,
digital computer, DAC and an actuator and ADC0808 on an Arduino development board.
Fig 1.4 Analog to digital converter block diagram and ADC on Arduino development board
1. Introduction to digital control systems
Analog-to-digital conversion
• Analog-to-digital conversion is not an instantaneous process like digital-to-analog conversion, rather it is a
two-step process. It involves a delay between input analog voltage and the output digital data (word).
• The input analog signal is first sampled and then converted to a binary signal.
• As a rule, the sampling rate must be at least twice the bandwidth of the input signal otherwise there will be
signal distortion. The minimum sampling frequency is called the Nyquist sampling rate.
• As shown in figure 1.5, an input analog signal is sampled at periodic intervals and held over the sampling
interval leading to a staircase approximation of the analog signal. The device responsible for this is known as
a zero-order sample-and-hold (z.o.h).
Fig 1.5 Conversion of a continuous signal into a staircase equivalent using a z.o.h
1. Introduction to digital control systems
Analog-to-digital conversion
• After sampling and holding, an analog-to-digital converter converts the sampled signal to a digital number as
shown in figure 1.5.
• Figure 1.6 presents a 3-bit ADC. It discretises sampled signals into eight binary quanta whose corresponding
voltage values are in increments of Voltage_range/8 or Voltage_range/2^n.
Fig 1.6 Conversion of sampled signal to equivalent binary numbers
1. Introduction to digital control systems
Digital-to-analog conversion
• Digital-to-analog conversion as implied by the name involves converting digital signals into continuous
signals (analog signals).
• From figure 1.4, a Digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is shown interfacing a digital computer and an actuator
used to control physical variables such as displacement, pressure, temperature, speed, acceleration, voltage,
current, and vibrations, among others.
• Figure 1.7 shows a schematic for DAC and an image of MCP4725 hardware.
Fig 1.7 Schematic of a typical DAC and an MCP4725 DAC connected to an Arduino
2. Review of z-transforms
• As we modelled systems in the continuous domain, we used Laplace transforms to transform dynamic
models, typically involving differential equations, into equations that could be manipulated using basic
algebra. In the discontinuous domain, the Z-transform does this for us. That is, it allows us to model
sequences in analytic forms that can be worked on in a similar fashion to s-domain functions.
• In MA310, you encountered Z-transforms and now we do a recap by starting with the relationship between
Laplace and Z-transforms.
2. Review of z-transforms
2. Review of z-transforms
Example 1
Evaluate Z-transforms for the following functions:
(a.) f t = 𝛿 𝑡 (b.)𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑢(𝑡) (c.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑢(𝑡) (d.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑒 −𝑎𝑡
2. Review of z-transforms
Example 1
Evaluate Z-transforms for the following functions:
(a.) f t = 𝛿 𝑡 (b.)𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑢(𝑡) (c.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑢(𝑡) (d.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑒 −𝑎𝑡
2. Review of z-transforms
Example 1
Evaluate Z-transforms for the following functions:
(a.) f t = 𝛿 𝑡 (b.)𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑢(𝑡) (c.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑢(𝑡) (d.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑒 −𝑎𝑡
2. Review of z-transforms
Example 1
Evaluate Z-transforms for the following functions:
(a.) f t = 𝛿 𝑡 (b.)𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑢(𝑡) (c.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑢(𝑡) (d.) 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑒 −𝑎𝑡
2. Review of z-transforms
• The following table presents standard z-transforms and analogous Laplace transforms.
2. Review of z-transforms
The following table presents a collection of key z-transform theorems
2. Review of z-transforms
Example 2
Determine the first three terms of the sampled time function for following discrete system.
2. Review of z-transforms
3. Modelling a digital computer
• Replacing an analogue controller by a digital controller may simplify hardware implementation to some
extent but it requires accounting for the effects of adding a discrete unit to the feedback loop. The stability
and transient response of a system is affected by the frequency of the discrete unit.
• Figure 3.1 depicts a block diagram of a closed-loop control system with a digital computer on the forward
path.
Figure 3.1 Digital computer in a closed-loop control system
• As the DAC operates almost instantaneously, there is no need to include the effect of changes in sampling
frequency by the digital computer. The ADC, however, involves sampling, holding and digitisation, operations
that are affected by sampling frequency, it is crucial that we develop a mathematical model to accommodate
the effects of varying sampling frequency on a control system.
• In this subsection, we will look at how a digital computer sampler and zero-order hold can be illustrated and
modelled mathematically.
3. Modelling a digital computer
• Figure 3.2 shows a digital computer modelled as a switch performing sampling and periodic signal holding.
Figure 3.2 Digital computer modelled as a switch Figure 3.3 Digital computer modelled as a multiplier
• Figure 3.3 presents another way of thinking about a digital computer in a control loop. We can think of the
digital computer as multiplying the original analog signal by a sequence of pulses of width 𝑇𝑤 .
3. Modelling a digital computer
3. Modelling a digital computer
3. Modelling a digital computer
3. Modelling a digital computer
3. Modelling a digital computer
Figure 3.4 Digital computer modelled as a switch and z.o.h
4. Transfer functions
• Earlier we studied continuous systems in the s-domain and modelled them using block diagrams such as the
one below:
• Digital input can be graphically presented as a switch at the input to a transfer function as shown below:
• To relate an input to its corresponding out at any time, we would have to measure the output as often as the
sampling frequency with measurements sequenced so as to account for propagation time for the input
signal through the system. This adds complexity to a system. We can simplify the problem by assuming
instantaneous propagation of input to the output port. The sampler can be thought of as a Phantom sampler
as somehow it is able to learn about any part of a system without regard to time. It is oblivious to the
passage of time, and it exists outside time.
4. Transfer functions
• When a phantom sampler is added to the system, the block diagram becomes as shown below:
• Following the introduction of a phantom sampler at the output, the system’s transfer function can be
represented as:
4. Transfer functions
Example 3
𝑠+2
Given a system G(s)= 𝑠+1
with a z.o.h in cascade, find the sampled-data transfer function G(z), if the sampling time, T, is
0.5 seconds.
4. Transfer functions
4. Transfer functions
5. Block diagram reduction in the z-domain
• Block diagram reduction for discrete systems is similar to block diagram reduction in the s-domain with one
major conceptual difference:
5. Block diagram reduction
5. Block diagram reduction
5. Block diagram reduction
Example 4
Find the z-transform for the system shown below.
5. Block diagram reduction
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
Example 5
Determine the range of sampling interval, T, that will make the system shown below stable.
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
6. Stability
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
Given a u.f.b system with cascaded z.o.h, determine the steady-state error to step, ramp and parabolic inputs.
7. Steady-state errors
7. Steady-state errors
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
Example 6
Using MATLAB, investigate the effect of varying sampling period on the time response of the system shown
below.
Consider: T=0; 0.01; 0.05; 0. 026; 0.086; 0.1; 0.2, ,0.8, 1.0 and 1.5 seconds.
See accompanying MATLAB m-files to tinker.
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
8. Cascade compensation via the z-plane
9. Implementing cascade compensators
• Having taken CS211, the reader by now has familiarity with programming in some language. A reader who
has tinkered with Arduino hardware maybe familiar with voltage control via pulse-width modulation.
• In this lecture, we will present the reader material that will enable him/her harness the power of control
systems and deploy it in useful products. We hope the reader can extrapolate the basic ideas presented
herein.
• Practice is indispensable to the mastery of any skill. As such, we encourage all our readers to deliberately
develop a skills-development plan and stick to it over six months or more. Observe if through faithful
execution one cannot produce impressive results (products/ systems).
• Given a generic cascade compensator with the following transfer function, develop a flowchart to be used
for programming the controller on a digital computer.
9. Implementing cascade compensators
9. Implementing cascade compensators
9. Implementing cascade compensators
9. Implementing cascade compensators
9. Implementing cascade compensators
Example 7
Given the following transfer function for a controller, develop a flow-chart for a system with a period of 0.1
seconds. [4 Marks]
9. Implementing cascade compensators
FIN