TOPIC 1: Introduction to Control Systems & Control System Terminologies
INTRODUCTION TO CONTROL SYSTEM
• SYSTEM
• An arrangement, set, or collection of things connected or related in such a manner as to
form an entirety or whole.
• CONTROL
• Usually taken to mean regulate, direct, or command.
• CONTROL SYSTEM
• An arrangement of physical components connected or related in such a manner as to
command, direct, or regulate itself or another system.
• CONTROL SYSTEM DEFINITION
• Consists of subsystems and processes (or plants) assembled for the purpose of controlling
the outputs of the processes.
• An interconnection of components forming a system configuration that will provide
desired system response.
• Note that control systems of interest for analysis or design purposes include not only those
manufactured by humans, but those that normally exist in nature, and control systems
with both manufactured and natural components
•
• ADVANTAGES OF CONTROL SYSTEM
• Can move large equipment with precision
• Can point huge antennas toward the farthest reaches of the universe to pick up faint radio
signals
• Elevators carry us quickly to our destination, automatically stopping at the right floor
• PRIMARY REASONS IN BUILDING CONTROL SYSTEMS
• Power amplification (ex. Radar antenna output rotation)
• Remote control (ex. Remote-controlled robot arm in radioactive environment)
• Convenience of input form (ex. Temperature control system; thermostat as input)
• Compensation for disturbances (ex. Repositioned antenna due to wind forces)
BRIEF HISTORY OF CONTROL SYSTEM
• Liquid-Level Control
• Greeks began engineering feedback systems (300 BC)
• Water clock by Ktesibios
- Water trickle into a measuring container at a constant rate.
- The level of water in the measuring container could be used to tell time.
- Video link: [Link]
• Oil lamp by Philon (250 BC)
- Used a float regulator in an oil lamp for maintaining a constant level of fuel oil.
• Heron of Alexandria (Fist century AD)
- Published a book entitled Pneumatica, which outlined several forms of water-
level mechanisms using float regulators.
• Steam Pressure and Temperature Controls
• Temperature Regulator of Cornelis Drebbel (1572-1633)
- First feedback system to be invented in modern Europe
• Pressure Regulator of Dennis Papin (1647-1712)
- First pressure regulator for steam boilers in 1681.
- A form of safety regulator similar to a pressure-cooker valve.
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM | EE 21
TOPIC 1: Introduction to Control Systems & Control System Terminologies
• Speed Control
• Flyball Speed Governor of James Watt (1769)
- First automatic feedback controller used in an industrial process for controlling the speed of a
steam engine.
- Video link: [Link]
• Stability, Stabilization, and Steering
• James Clerk Maxwell (1868)
- Published the stability criterion for a third-order system based on the coefficients of the
differential equation.
• Edward John Routh (1874)
- Able to extend the stability criterion to fifth-order systems using suggestion from William Kingdon
Clifford (ignored by Maxwell).
• Input – the stimulus, excitation or command applied to a control system, typically from an
external energy source, usually in order to produce a specified response from the control system.
• This may be physical variables or more abstract quantities such as reference, setpoint, or
desired values for the output of the control system.
• Output – the actual response obtained from a control system. It may or may not be equal to the
specified response implied by the output.
• Control systems may have more than one input or output.
OPEN-LOOP AND CLOSED-LOOP CONTROL SYSTEMS
• Open-loop Control System – is one in which the control action is independent of the output.
• Closed-loop Control System – is one which the control action is somehow dependent on the
output.
*Control action does not always directly imply change, motion, or activity.
Two outstanding features of open-loop control systems are:
1. Their ability to perform accurately is determined by their calibration. To calibrate means to
establish or reestablish the input-output relation to obtain a desired system accuracy.
2. They are not usually troubled with problems of instability.
Closed-loop control systems are more commonly called feedback control systems.
FEEDBACK CONTROL SYSTEM | EE 21