MICRO AND SMART SYSTEM

TECHNOLOGY

By:

Ms. Sharvani G R
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Acharya Institute of Technology
MODULE-5 IMPLEMENTATION OF
CONTROLLERS for MEMS and Case
studies
 Fundamentals of Control System
A control system is a system that manages, commands, or regulates the behavior
of another system (called the plant or process) to achieve desired performance.
1. Purpose of a Control System
To make a system behave in a specific way.
To maintain desired output even when disturbances occur.
To improve accuracy, stability, and speed of response.
2. Basic Components
Plant (Process)
The system to be controlled (motor, robot arm, furnace, etc.).
Controller
Decides how to correct the error (examples: P, PI, PID controllers).
Sensors
Measure the output.
Feedback path
Returns the measured output to compare with the desired value.
Error signal
Difference between desired output (setpoint) and actual output.
 Fundamentals of Control System

Types of Control Systems

1. Open-Loop System
No feedback.
Output is not compared with the input.
Simple but inaccurate.
Example: Electric kettle that switches off based on a timer, not water
temperature.
2. Closed-Loop (Feedback) System
Output is continuously measured and corrected.
More accurate, stable, and reliable.
Example: Air conditioner that adjusts cooling according to room
temperature.
 Fundamentals of Control System

Stability of Control Systems

A system is stable if its output settles to a finite value and does not
diverge.
In the s-plane, stability requires all poles to lie in the left half-
plane.
If any poles lie in the right half-plane, the system becomes
unstable.
Stability is checked using methods like:
Root locus
Bode plots
Nyquist plots
Routh–Hurwitz criterion
 Design Methodology
• The design of a control system involves locating the poles at
appropriate positions so that the system response satisfies
specified requirements and at the same time ensures the stability
of the system.
• The design of control system thus involves the design of a
suitable compensation to modify the response of a plant in order
that the stability of the system is ensured.
• Stability analysis is a very important preliminary step that
determines how stable or unstable the system is and indicates to
the designer the kind and amount of compensation necessary to
ensure stability.
As mentioned earlier, an unstable system will have roots in the
right half of the s-plane, and to stabilize the same we need to
move these roots to the left half of the s-plane.
In general, one can move the roots by
1. Changing gain.
2. Changing plant.
3. Placing a dynamic element in the forward transmission path.
4. Placing a dynamic element in the feedback path.
5. Feed back all or some of the states.
• The basic or minimum system is determined by having a closed
loop with unity feedback.
• Normally, sensors are assumed ideal and only an amplifier is
added between the error signal and the plant.
• The gain is then set accordingly to meet the steady-state
response and bandwidth requirements, and is dictated by the
stability analysis
• The gain is an important parameter governing the controller
design.
• Any increase in gain proportionately increases the output.
• Further, this increase in gain increases the bandwidth and
makes the response faster and more accurate.
• An increase in gain can also decrease damping and may cause
offset.
On the other hand, offset caused by the proportional controller can
be eliminated by using an integrator.
In general, controllers are designed with forward paths with PD,
PI, and PID responses.
• PID controllers can be thought
of as combinations of PI and
PD control actions.
• These are extremely successful
and have been used in many
applications.
• The transfer function of a PID
controller is schematically
represented in Figure 7.32. In
Eqs. (7.59)–(7.61), Kp, Kd, Ki
are the gain parameters, which
are adjustable.
• As seen from the transfer function, the PD controller introduces an
additional zero.
• The design requires that the zero be placed at an appropriate
location and the gain adjusted accordingly.
 Circuit Implementation
• Controllers designed by the procedure discussed in the above
paragraphs may be implemented in several ways.
• A simple op-amp circuit for implementing PID controller is
shown in Figure 7.33.
• The transfer function for this circuit is given by
The corresponding control coefficients for this circuit are
 Digital Controllers

• Control systems using various forms of digital devices as the

controller may be classified as digital control systems.
• The controller used in these may range from a microcontroller to
an ASIC to a personal computer.
• These digital systems operate on discrete signals that are samples
of the sensed signal, rather than on continuous signals.
• Since most parameters in a plant operating continuously would
vary continuously, DACs and ADCs are required in the
implementation of such digital controllers.
• However, several additional blocks as shown in Figure 7.34, are
required to replace a continuous controller by a digital controller.
• The clock connected to the DACs and ADCs sends out pulses at a
periodic interval T, which in turn makes these converters send their
output signals to ensure that the controller output is synchronized with
the feedback from the plant.
• In this digital system design, a discrete function Hz(z) must be found so
that, for a piecewise constant input to the continuous system H(s), the
sampled output of the continuous system equals the discrete output.
• When a large number of identical systems is required, it is
economical to use parts programmed and tested at the time of
manufacture.
• In such applications microcontrollers are preferred.
• On the other hand, the field-programmable memory available on
many microcontrollers allows easy revision and even updates in
the field.
• As mentioned earlier, one of the approaches to implement digital
control is to use a microcontroller.
• A microcontroller-based design would be appropriate in large-
volume production scenarios and where the end user does not
need to alter the control.
• As is evident from the block schematic in Figure
• A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip consisting
of CPU, clock, timers, I/O ports, and memory.
 Programmable Logic Controller
• Another variant of the digital controller is a programmable logic
controller (PLC) used in automation of a plant or a smart system
operating at severe environmental and/or process conditions.
• Like the microcontroller, the PLC is also designed for multiple
input and output arrangements, but with extended operating
temperature ranges and immunity to electrical noise.
• Unlike microcontrollers that operate at 5V or less, PLCs typically
have a supply voltage requirement of 24 V.
• Control through them is typically simple and linear and does not
usually depend on history of variation in the control variable.
• PLCs usually have logic for single-variable feedback control loop
with a proportional, integral derivative or PID controller.
• PLCs are specifically suited for severe operating conditions such
as dust, moisture, temperature, heat, or vibration.
• Its I/O interface may be either built in or via external I/O modules
of a network including the PLC.
• In a PLC using 24V dc I/O, values above 22V dc may represent
ON, values below 2V dc may represent OFF, and intermediate
values are undefined.
• Analog signals are typically interpreted as integer values by the
PLC, with accuracy depending on the device and the number of
bits that store the data.
 Pressure Sensor
• One of the first sensors fabricated using micromachining
techniques was the pressure sensor.
• These are widely used in aerospace, automobile, biomedical,
and defense applications.
• In general, pressure sensors are based on measuring the
mechanical deformation caused in a membrane when it
experiences stress due to pressure of a fluid.
• The resulting strain or displacement (which is a measure of the
pressure on the membrane) is converted to electrical signals.
• Several principles are used to sense strain: piezoelectricity,
piezoresistivity, changes in capacitance, changes in resonant
frequency of vibrating elements in the structure, and changes
in optical resonance.
• Most conventional pressure sensors use strain gauges.
• These sensors use the change in the resistance of conductors
due to the change in their physical dimensions (deformations)
when subjected to strain.
• These are attached to the membrane and give information about
the strain experienced by the membrane due to the applied
pressure.
• However, if these sensors are made of semiconductors, the
change in the resistance is predominantly due to a change in
resistivity rather than to deformations. This effect, known as
piezoresistivity.
• Piezoresistive pressure sensors are simple to fabricate and
provide a directly readable electrical output.
• Further, they can be easily integrated with microelectronics
circuits, since the fabrication processes are compatible with IC
fabrication techniques.
• Therefore, we focus our discussion on piezoresistive pressure
sensors.
Design Considerations of a Piezoresistive
Pressure Sensor

• The piezoresistive effect can be quantified using the gauge

factor. The resistance of a rectangular conductor is expressed by

• where ρe is the resistivity and l, w, and t are the length, width,

and thickness of the conductor, respectively.
• When the resistor is subjected to strain, the relative change in
resistance is given by
• Here Δl, Δw, Δt, and Δ ρe are the changes in the respective
parameters due to the strain.
• Poisson’s ratio, v, relates the change in length to the change in
width and thickness of the piezoresistors by the following
equation:

• The gauge factor G (strain sensitivity) is given by

Pressure sensor involves
(a) determination of the thickness and geometrical dimensions of
the membrane and
(b) location of the piezoresistors on the membrane to achieve
maximum sensitivity.
 Performance Parameters of Pressure
Sensors
• At this stage let us look at some of the important performance
parameters of a pressure sensor.
• A typical response (output voltage of the Wheatstone bridge
versus the pressure) of a pressure sensor is shown in Figure 8.10.
• The sensitivity S is defined as the relative change of output
voltage per unit change of applied pressure (slope of the linear
portion of the curve in Figure 8.10).
• The offset voltage (VOFF) is the output voltage of the pressure sensor when
the applied pressure is zero.
• An offset voltage of about 65mV can be seen in the performance curve in
Figure 8.10.
• This is mainly due to some residual stress on the membrane or variability in
the four resistors.
• Now we come to the concept of nonlinearity.
• The output voltage does not vary linearly with pressure when the
applied pressure exceeds a certain value.
• Nonlinearity is defined with reference to the full-scale output
corresponding to the maximum pressure at which the sensor can
be used.
• This can be better appreciated by referring to the output voltage
VO versus applied pressure p and the endpoint straight line
• Nonlinearity in the piezoresistive pressure sensors is caused
mainly by the following:
1. The nonlinear relationship between stress and applied pressure.
2. The piezoresistive coefficient of silicon is generally considered
to be independent of stress. In practice, however, this is not really
true at high accuracy.
3. A difference in piezoresistive sensitivity between the resistors of
the Wheatstone bridge.
 SMART STRUCTURE IN VIBRATION
CONTROL
• The control of noise generated by vibration of structural
members is yet another application where smart materials can
be used.
• This has great impact in increasing the integrity of the structure.
• Noise can be airborne or structure-borne.
• Airborne noises are generated due to the pressure difference
caused by differential flow fields, as for example the
aerodynamic noise generated by a moving aircraft or helicopter.
• The structureborne noise is generated by vibrating structural
members.
• These members act as a conduit for the vibration (disturbance)
to propagate within the structure and are responsible for
screeching or high-frequency noise.
• Vibration reduction can be achieved passively by identifying
resonant conditions and modifying the geometry of the
structure so that the natural frequency of the system is faraway
from the driving frequency of the system.
• In the case study below, vibration levels in a beam modeled by
a thin-walled box are controlled using sensors and actuators
made of lead zirconate titanate, commonly known as PZT.
 PZT Transducers
• Piezoelectricity is attributed to an asymmetry in the unit cell and
the resultant generation of electric polarization dipoles due to the
mechanical distortion.
• Examples of piezoelectric materials include lead zirconate
titanate (more popularly known by the acronym PZT), lead
metaniobate, lead titanate, and their modifications.
• PZT is arguably the most widely used component in smart
systems.
• Its importance comes from its substantial piezoelectric properties.
• In these crystals, the force applied along one axis of the crystal
leads to the appearance of positive and negative charges on
opposite sides of the crystal along another axis.
• The strain induced by the force F leads to a physical
displacement of the charge Q within the unit cell.
• This polarization of the crystal leads to an accumulation of
charge
• Q=dF
• In general, forces in the x-, y- and z-directions contribute to
charges produced in any of the three directions.
• the piezoelectric coefficient d is a 3x3 matrix.
• Values of the piezoelectric coefficients of these materials are
usually made available by the manufacturer.
• Typical values of the piezoelectric charge coefficients are 1–100
pC/N.
• The relationship between dipole moment and mechanical
deformation is expressed as
• constitutive relations:

• where s is the mechanical stress, S the strain, E the electric

field, D the flux density, c the elastic constant, e the
piezoelectric constant, and ε0 the permittivity of free space.
• It may be noted that in the absence of piezoelectricity these
relations reduce to Hooke’s law and the constitutive relation for
dielectric materials, respectively.
The effectiveness of a piezoelectric material is best expressed in
terms of its electromechanical coupling coefficient K2.
By definition this is related to the other material parameters in the
above constitutive equations by
 Vibrations in Beams
• In this case study, vibration levels in a beam modeled by a
thin-walled box are controlled using PZT actuators.
• The exact and finite element solutions of the vibrations in
such a beam with attached piezoelectric patches are obtained.
• It was also shown that simple op-amp-based circuits can be
designed to have the desired transfer function.
• Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers can also be
digitally implemented with microprocessors.
• An experimental structure of a glass-epoxy composite box
beam with two bimorph surface-mounted PZT patches is shown
in Figure 8.33.
• Such thin-walled geometries are used extensively in aircraft
structural components due to their inherent advantage of high
stiffness and low weight.
• They are also used in many steel structures such as girders,
bridges, scaffolds, etc.
• Analysis of these structures involves secondary effects such as
warping, ovaling, etc.
• The PZT patches act as actuators through which both the
exciting electrical load and the control signals are applied.
• The vibration in the box beam is induced through a single patch
of PZT actuator using an oscillator.
• First the closed-loop responses using PI controller are obtained
using a SISO system and a single-output two-input system.
• The test specimen is excited in transverse bending mode by
applying a single-frequency sinusoidal voltage through PZT
actuators.
• Vibration suppression is performed by the PI controller.
• In this case, the tip acceleration is measured and the feedback
is given as proportional gain KP times tip acceleration
measured by the accelerometer sensor S1.
• In addition, an integral gain KI times the velocity of the tip
(obtained by integrating its acceleration) is also included in the
feedback.