CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol.

VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

SERVO CONTROL DESIGN

Timothy Chang
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

Keywords: servo control, servomechanism, feedback, feedforward control, regulation,

disturbance rejection, compensation, input shaping, lag compensator, lead
compensation, phase margin, steady-state error, integral control, industrial regulator,
stabilizing compensator, PID control, state feedback, frequency response, parameter
optimization.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Classical Servo Control Design

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2.1. Integrator Based Control

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2.1.1. Design Example: Industrial Regulator
2.2. Phase Lag Control
2.2.1. Design Example: Phase Lag Compensation
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2.3. Phase Lead Control
2.3.1. Design Example: Phase Lead Compensation
3. Modern Servo Control Design
3.1. Feedforward Control: Input Shaping
3.1.1. Mathematical Analysis of the Input Shaping Scheme
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3.1.2. Design Example: Input Shaping for Unit Step Command

3.2. Feedback Control
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3.2.1. Controller Parameterization

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3.2.2. Time Domain Parameter Optimization

3.2.3. Frequency Domain Parameter Optimization
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
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Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketch
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Summary

Elements and design of servo control systems are discussed in this paper. The primary
purpose of a servo system is to regulate the output of a dynamical system by means of
feedback control. For pedagogical and historical reasons, the discussions of servo control
are divided into two parts: classical and modern servo systems aiming at audience with an
undergraduate and graduate level of engineering background respectively. Classical servo
control deals with single-input, single-output systems in either frequency or time domain.
It remains popular with many industrial applications due to its simplicity in design and
implementation. The methods presented here include: integrator based control, lag, and
lead compensation. A running design example is provided to illustrate the key features and
comparative properties. Modern servo control design deals with multiple-input, multiple-
output systems. Input shaping (or command shaping) is first introduced as a feedforward

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

control strategy. It has found widespread use in robotics and various engineering systems
when the plant exhibits oscillatory transient response. The input shaper convolves with the
command signal in such a way that the command-induced oscillations are cancelled.
Feedback control is then discussed from the perspective of internal model principle, i.e. the
models of the exogenous signals (command as well as disturbance signals) are obtained
and translated into a servocompensator. Stabilization of the closed loop system can then be
carried out using various multivariable control synthesis techniques such as estimator-
based ( H 2 , H ∞ ) and parameter optimization (time, frequency domains). The latter
approach is discussed in this paper whereas details of estimator-based designs may be
found in Sections Control of Linear Multivariable Systems and Robust Control . A
number of design examples are also provided to illustrate the properties of the parameter
optimization methods.

1. Introduction

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The term servo control is used synonymously with servomechanism, which is concerned

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with using automatic control system to regulate the output(s) of a dynamic system.
Originally focused on the improvement of WW2 firing mechanisms, servo control has
evolved into a broad based scientific and technological subject with applications in
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aerospace, biomedical systems, chemical processes, manufacturing systems, mechatronics,
power plants/networks, traffic/transportation systems, etc., to name a few. The essential
elements of a servo system consist of the plant, the control, and signals. The plant
represents the dynamical system to be regulated, is either expressed as transfer function(s)
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or state space equations. The control system is primarily of the feedback type but
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occasionally feedforward control is also applied to speed up system response. The

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following block diagram illustrates a typical servo control system:

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Figure 1: Typical Servo Control Configuration

The closed loop system is described by the configuration shown in Figure 1. The plant
G ( s ) is assumed to be linear, time-invariant. The servo controller K ( s ) acts on the
error signal E = Y REF − Y − N to generate a control signal to the plant so that the output
Y tracks the reference command signal Y REF . Two exogenous variables D and N are
usually included to account for the effects of disturbance and measurement (sensor)

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

noise. The block K F represents a feedforward control that serves to speed up the
tracking response. It may include command Y REF or disturbance D feedforward
algorithms. For the latter, the disturbance must be known on an a priori basis. From the
above block diagram, it is straightforward to show that:

Y =[(I+GK)−1]D + [( I + GK )−1GK ]N + [( I + GK )−1GK ]Y REF

(1)
= SD + TN + TY REF

To simplify notations, the independent variable s is omitted, i.e. Y is to be interpreted

as Y ( s) , etc. The quantities S and T are known as the sensitivity function and closed
loop transfer function, respectively. Obviously, to suppress the effects of D while
achieving tracking ( Y → Y REF ), it is desirable to minimize S while maintaining
T to be closed to unity where i is some suitable norm. However, brute force

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wideband high gain design on K almost always results in unacceptable performance

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such as:

• Instability or low stability margins.

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• Measurement noise propagation into the loop.
• Robustness problems (especially with respect to unmodeled high frequency
dynamics).
• Saturation and other nonlinear effects.
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A closer examination of the spectral characteristics of Y REF , D , N shown in Figure 2

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reveals that the signals generally occupy different frequency ranges. The reference
command y ref (t ) (or Y REF ( s)) and the input disturbance d (t ) (or D( s)) are assumed to
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be lowpass with effective cutoff frequencies of Ω ref and Ω D respectively. The sensor
noise n(t ) (or N ( s)) , on the other hand, is assumed to be highpass with an effective cut
in frequency Ω N . It is further assumed that Ω N Ω REF and Ω N Ω D . This spectral
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disjoint can be exploited in servo control designs.

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Figure 2: Typical Spectral Characteristics of Y REF , D, and N.

Essentially, the sensitivity function S is to be attenuated at low frequencies while T is

to be attenuated at high frequencies without violating the following condition:

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

S +T = I (2)

This is possible if the design of K is frequency dependent. In particular, applying K to

shape the frequency response T is the primary objective of servo control design. Over
the decades, servo design can be roughly classified into (I) classical design and (II)
modern design. In classical design, the input/output variables are scalar functions while
the plant G is assumed linear, time-invariant. Such methodology remains popular in
small industrial systems as well as multivariate systems admitting a decentralized
control structure (i.e. the plant outputs can be regulated by a series of SISO loop
controllers). For the more general case where the plant may be Multiple-Input, Multiple-
Output (MIMO), nonlinear, etc., modern designs are generally more effective but also
more complex. A discussion of the classical design methods is now given. This is
followed by modern servo control designs.

2. Classical Servo Control Design

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For SISO systems, the design criteria may include:

1. Closed loop stability.

Sensitivity reduction ( SGT = S or other sensitivity functions).
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2.
3. Steady-state accuracy.
4. Disturbance rejection.
5. Transient response.
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For closed loop stability, it is sufficient to examine if all of the closed loop poles of T
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are located in the left half s-plane (see Stability Concepts for a detailed discussion).
Assuming that closed loop system is stable, analyzing the error signal can combine the
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stead-state accuracy and disturbance rejection criteria:

Y
= GK (3)
Y REF 1 + GK
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E = 1 (4)
Y REF
1 + GK
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Or equivalently in time domain with e(t ) = L−1 E ( s ) , the steady-state error ess is
calculated as:

e = lim e(t )
ss t →∞
= lim sE (5)
s→0
= lim sY REF
s → 0 1 + GK

For classical servo control, the class of command and disturbance signals Y REF and D
are usually polynomial types, i.e. step, ramp, parabola (acceleration), etc. corresponding

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

to 1
sL
, L = 1, 2,… in the frequency domain. The steady-state errors for these signals are
listed below:

• Under unit step command

1 1 1
ess = lim s = (6)
s →0 1 + GK s 1 + G (0) K (0))

• Under ramp command:

1 1 1
ess = lim s = lim (7)
s →0 1 + GK s 2 s → 0 sG ( s ) K ( s )

• Under parabola command:

1 1 1
ess = lim s = lim 2 (8)

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s →0 1 + GK s 3 s →0 s G ( s ) K ( s )

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It is customary to define the following error constants:

position error constant K p = lim s →0 G ( s ) K ( s )

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velocity error constant K v = lim s →0 sG ( s ) K ( s )
acceleration error constant K a = lim s →0 s 2G ( s ) K ( s )
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Table 1: Error Constants

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In term of the error constants, the steady-state errors become:

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• Under unit step command

1
ess = (9)
1 + Kp
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• Under ramp command:

1
ess =
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(10) (10)
Kv

• Under parabola command:

1
ess = (11)
Ka

Therefore, to produce zero steady-state error under a step command/disturbance, it is

necessary that K p → ∞ . Similarly, an infinite K v and K a will produce zero steady-state
error under a ramp and a parabola command/disturbance, respectively. Essentially,
reducing steady-state error depends on matching the number of poles at the origin
against the number of exogenous poles (in Y REF or D ) at the origin. This consideration
is summarized in the table below:

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

Number of GK poles at the origin System Type Kp Kv Ka

0 0 finite 0 0
1 1 ∞ finite 0
2 2 ∞ ∞ finite
3 3 ∞ ∞ ∞

Table 2: System Type Number and Error Constants

In other words, system type number equals to the number of integrators ( 1s ) in GK .

Now since an integrator has the unique characteristics of infinite DC gain while rolling
off rapidly as frequency increases, the use of integrators to shape low frequency
characteristics of T remains the centerpiece of servo control, classical or modern.
Furthermore, systems with type number 0 are known as regulators whereas systems

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with type number 1 or 2 are known as position or velocity servos respectively. It should
be noted that systems with a high type number are generally difficult to stabilize using

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single parameter compensation methods.

As an example, consider a unity gain feedback system with

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G= 10 , K =1 (12)
( s + 1)( s + 3)
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as shown in Figure 3 below:

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Figure 3: Simulation Block Diagram for (12)

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The closed loop poles are determined from the denominator of T = GK as −2 ± j 3

1 + GK
and hence the closed loop system is stable. The steady-state error under a unit step
command can be calculated in a number of ways:

1. From the output y (t ) :

lim y (t ) = lim sY ( s ) = lim s GK 1 = 10 . Thus ess = 3 .
t →0 s→0 s → 0 1 + GK s 13 13

2. From the error e(t ) : lim e(t ) = lim sE ( s ) = lim s 1 1= 3 .

t →0 s→0 s → 0 1 + GK s 13

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

3. From the error constants: K p = lim G ( s ) = 10 and hence

s→0 3
ess = 1 = 3 .
1+ K 13
p

Unit step response of the closed loop system is shown in Figure 4. It is evident that the
simulated steady-state error agrees with the calculated value of 3/13.

If zero steady-state error is desired for step command/disturbance, at least one integrator
must be appended to K resulting in GK = s ( s +1)( 10
s + 3) . The closed loop poles are

calculated as: −3.8897, −0.0552 ± j1.6025 , stable. In this case K p = ∞ and ess = 0 . The
corresponding step response is shown in Figure 5.

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Figure 4: Unit Step response of (12)

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Figure 5: Unit Step response for (12) augmented with integrator

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

Comparison between Figures 4 and 5 indicates that adding an integrator improves

steady-state error but also worsens transient response. Indeed, introduction of high
magnitude, low frequency gain (such as an integrator) must be accompanied by
stabilizing dynamics, directly or indirectly. In classical design there are primarily two
ways to add in high gain at low frequency to attenuate steady-state error and minimizing
sensitivity (note if, | S |→ 0 then | T |→ 1 so the design criteria are fairly congruent).
These two approaches will be discussed in Sections 2.1-2.3.

In terms of robustness and transient response, gain and phase margins are most
commonly used. Refer to Elements of Control Systems for definitions of these
quantities. Generally speaking, it is desirable to have 6dB gain margin and about 30
degrees phase margin for a servo loop. For a transfer function dominated by second
order dynamics, the phase margin is approximately related to the damping factor ( ζ ) as
follows:

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PM
ζ ≈ for PM < 65 degrees

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(13)

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100 degrees

where PM is phase margin in degrees. Now since ζ is tied to a number of

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time/frequency domain characteristics such as overshoot and peak frequency response,
designing with phase margin as a target also serves to shape the transient response of
the closed loop system. For example, it can be readily derived that, for system
dominated by second order dynamics:
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M p (%) + PM ≈ 75 (14)
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where M p is the percentage overshoot in time domain. Among the existing classical
servo controllers, the integrator based control and the lag/lead families have been most
popular. A discussion of these controllers is now given:
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2.1. Integrator Based Control

Integral-based control, also known as industrial regulator, is a time domain technique

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employing state space formulation in which the plant is described by:

x = Ax + Bu + Ew
y = Cx + Fw (15)
e = y ref − y

where x represents the plant states, y ref and w are constant reference and constant,
unknown disturbance. A ∈ ℜn×n , B ∈ℜn×1 , C ∈ ℜ1×n is the state space equivalent of G(s)
(most commonly the minimal realization but uncontrollable/unobservable modes may
also be present). The goal is to synthesize an integrator based control so that
limt →∞ e(t ) = 0 for polynomial type of reference signal y ref and/or disturbances w . The

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

controller structure, expressed in companion form, is essentially a chain of L

integrators where L is required system type:

⎡0 1 0 0⎤ ⎡0⎤
⎢0 0 1 0⎥ ⎥ ⎢0⎥
⎢ ⎢ ⎥
η=⎢ ⎥η + ⎢ ⎥ e (16)
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢0 0 0 0⎥ ⎢0⎥
⎢⎣0 0 0 0 ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣1 ⎥⎦

For this section, the most common case L = 1 is considered. Higher type augmentation
strategy will be discussed in the Modern Servo Control Design Section.
With L = 1 , the controller simplifies to:

η =e

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(17)

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⎡ x⎤
Combining the plant and controller state variables and set x = ⎢ ⎥ , the overall system
⎣η ⎦
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becomes:

⎡ A 0⎤ ⎡B⎤ ⎡
⎢ 0 ⎥
⎤
⎡E ⎤
x=⎢ ⎥ x + ⎢ ⎥ u + ⎢ ⎥+⎢ ⎥w (18)
⎣ −C 0 ⎦ −
⎢y ref ⎥
⎣0⎦ ⎣ F ⎦
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⎣ ⎦
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with
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u = −KI x
(19)
= − K 2 x − K 1η
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as the feedback law. This is essentially a state feedback problem. Explicit pole
placement or LQR techniques can be readily applied to determine the feedback gains
K 2 and K 1 . It should be noted that for a second order system, the industrial regulator
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above is equivalent to a PID control (with plant state feedback accounting for the "PD"
aspect).

This may explain the popularity of PID controllers and their proven success for general
applications where the plant is dominated by second order dynamics at baseband. For
in-depth discussions of PID controller, the reader is referred to section Classic Design
Methods for Continuous LTI- Systems.

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CONTROL SYSTEMS, ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION - Vol. VIII - Servo Control Design - Timothy Chang

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Biographical Sketch

Timothy Chang is an Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and
Coordinator of the Intelligent Systems Area, NJIT. He received his [Link] (honours) degree from McGill
University, [Link]. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Toronto. Prior to joining NJIT in 1991, he was

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a Senior Research Specialist and Program Manager at Kearfott Guidance and Navigation Corp., NJ, in

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charge of the Doppler mirror ring laser gyroscope program. Dr. Chang is the Chairman of the North

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Jersey IEEE Control Systems Chapter and Advisor to the IEEE student Branch at NJIT. He holds 4 US
patents with 3 patents pending. His areas of interest include: ultra-high precision systems, robotics,
embedded real time systems, decentralized control systems, and DNA microarray systems. His research
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has been supported the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Department of Transportation, US Army ARDEC, New Jersey Commission
on Science and Technology, and New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. He received the title of
Master Teacher, NJIT in 2003.
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