4/13/26, 12:15 PM Control Systems - Compensators

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Control Systems - Compensators

There are three types of compensators lag, lead and lag-lead compensators. These are
most commonly used.

Lag Compensator
The Lag Compensator is an electrical network which produces a sinusoidal output
having the phase lag when a sinusoidal input is applied. The lag compensator circuit in
the s domain is shown in the following figure.

Here, the capacitor is in series with the resistor R2 and the output is measured across
this combination.

The transfer function of this lag compensator is -

1
Vo (s) 1 s +
τ
= ( )
1
Vi (s) α s +
ατ

Where,

τ = R2 C

R1 + R2
α =
R2

From the above equation, α is always greater than one.

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4/13/26, 12:15 PM Control Systems - Compensators

From the transfer function, we can conclude that the lag compensator has one pole at
and one zero at . This means, the pole will be nearer to origin in the
1 1
s = s =
ατ τ

pole-zero configuration of the lag compensator.

Substitute, s = jω in the transfer function.

1
Vo (jω) 1 jω +
τ
= ( )
1
Vi (jω) α jω +
ατ

Phase angle ϕ = tan

We know that, the phase of the output sinusoidal signal is equal to the sum of the
phase angles of input sinusoidal signal and the transfer function.

So, in order to produce the phase lag at the output of this compensator, the phase
angle of the transfer function should be negative. This will happen when α > 1.

Lead Compensator
The lead compensator is an electrical network which produces a sinusoidal output
having phase lead when a sinusoidal input is applied. The lead compensator circuit in
the s domain is shown in the following figure.

Here, the capacitor is parallel to the resistor R1 and the output is measured across
resistor $R_2.

The transfer function of this lead compensator is -

Vo (s) sτ + 1
= β( )
Vi (s) βsτ + 1

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4/13/26, 12:15 PM Control Systems - Compensators

Where,

τ = R1 C

R2
β =
R1 + R2

From the transfer function, we can conclude that the lead compensator has pole at
and zero at .
1 1
s = s =
β βτ

Substitute, s = jω in the transfer function.

Vo (jω) jωτ + 1
= β( )
Vi (jω) βjωτ + 1

Phase angle 1
ϕ = tan ωτ tan βωτ
1

We know that, the phase of the output sinusoidal signal is equal to the sum of the
phase angles of input sinusoidal signal and the transfer function.

So, in order to produce the phase lead at the output of this compensator, the phase
angle of the transfer function should be positive. This will happen when 0 < β < 1.

Therefore, zero will be nearer to origin in pole-zero configuration of the lead

Lag-Lead Compensator
Lag-Lead compensator is an electrical network which produces phase lag at one
frequency region and phase lead at other frequency region. It is a combination of both
the lag and the lead compensators. The lag-lead compensator circuit in the s domain is
shown in the following figure.

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4/13/26, 12:15 PM Control Systems - Compensators

This circuit looks like both the compensators are cascaded. So, the transfer function of
this circuit will be the product of transfer functions of the lead and the lag
compensators.

1
Vo (s) sτ1 + 1 1 s +
τ2
= β( ) ( )
1
Vi (s) βsτ1 + 1 α s +
ατ 2

We know αβ = 1.

1 1
Vo (s) s + s +
τ1 τ2
⇒ = ( )( )
1 1
Vi (s) s + s +
βτ 1 ατ 2

Where,

τ1 = R1 C 1

τ2 = R2 C 2

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