Control Sensors and

Actuators
Lalith Gamage, PhD

MECH 520: CONTROL SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

3 Credits, Second Semester 2007/2008

Meeting Time & Place

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m.
CEME (Rusty Hut) 102

Instructor
Dr. Lalith Gamage
Office: ICICS 081
e-mail: gamage@mech.ubc.ca
web: www.researchcentre.apsc.ubc.ca

Course Outline
Introduction; Performance Specification; Component Matching; Control
Instrumentation Design; Bandwidth Issues; Analog Motion Sensors; Torque,
Force and Tactile Sensors; Digital Motion Sensors; Stepper Motors; DC and
AC Motors; Hydraulic Actuators; Mechatronics and Design Issues.

Grade Composition
Intermediate exam
Project proposal
Attendance/Participation
Final Take-Home Exam Project

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=
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30%
10%
10%
50%
100%

Textbook
De Silva, C.W., Sensors and Actuators Control System Instrumentation,
Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2007.

Learning Resources
Students are strongly advised to use Internet resources, lecture slides, course
text book, and other recommended references.
De Silva, C.W., MECHATRONICS An Integrated Approach, Taylor &
Francis, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2005.

Course Plan
Week

Starts

Topic

Read

Jan. 07

Introduction

Chapter 1

Jan. 14

Performance Specification, Control

Instrumentation Design

Chapter 3

Jan. 21

Component Matching

Chapter 2

Jan. 28

Bandwidth issues

Chapter 3

Feb. 04

Analog Motion Sensors

Chapter 4

Feb. 11 Project proposals due. Torque, Force, and Tactile Sensors

Feb. 18

Midterm Break

Feb. 25

Digital Motion Sensors

Chapter 5

Mar. 03

Stepper Motors

Chapter 6

10

Mar. 10

DC and AC Motors

Chapter 7

11

Mar. 17 (Exam on Mar. 19)

Hydraulic Actuators

Chapter 7

12

Mar. 24

Mechatronics and Design Issues.

13

Mar. 31

Project presentations.

14

Apr. 07

Project presentations.

Chapter 4

Final Take-Home Exam Project Report due in MECH office on April 14th.

Control, Instrumentation, and Design

Power
Reference
Command

Power

Power

Disturbance
Excitation

Control
Signal
Controller
(Digital or
Analog)

Signal
Conditioning

Actuator
Drive
Excitation

Response

Mechanical System
(Plant, Process)

Feedback
Signal

Power
(for active sensors)

Signal
Conditioning
Power

Sensor /
Transducer

Control System
A control system is a dynamic system that contains a controller as an
integral part. The purpose of the controller is to generate control signals that
will drive the process to be controlled in the desired manner

Actuators
Actuators are needed to perform the control actions as well as drive the plant
directly. Two types:
Direct Type: Motors of a robot arm link
Indirect: Opening a valve of a hydraulic system which does the actual
work

Sensors and Transducers

Sensors and transducers are necessary to measure output signals for
feedback control, to measure process variables for system monitoring, and
for a variety of other purposes

Process

Typical Sensors

Typical Actuators

Aircraft

Displacement, speed, acceleration,

elevation, heading, force pressure,
temperature, fluid flow, voltage,
current, global positioning system
(GPS)

DC motors, stepper motors,

relays, valve actuators, pumps,
heat sources, jet engines

Automobile

Displacement, speed, force, pressure,

temperature, fluid flow, fluid level,
voltage, current

DC motors, stepper motors,

valve actuators, pumps, heat
sources

Home Heating System

Temperature, pressure, fluid flow

Motors, pumps, heat sources

Milling Machine

Displacement, speed, force, acoustics, DC motors, AC motors

temperature, voltage, current

Robot

Optical image, displacement, speed,

force, torque, voltage, current

DC motors, stepper motors, AC

motors, hydraulic actuators

Wood Drying Kiln

Temperature, relative humidity,

moisture content, air flow

AC motors, DC motors, pumps,

heat sources

Control System Architecture

Reference
Command

Output

Signal
Conditioning

Control H/W

Actuator

Feedback
Signal
Signal
Conditioning

Analog Sensor /
Transducer

Plant

Open-Loop Control

Reference
Command

Controller

Signal
Conditioning

Actuator

Plant

No measurement of the response of the

system to make it behave in the desirable
manner
Plant has to be stable and completely and
accurately known
Inputs to the plant has to be precisely
generated

Controlled
Variable
(Output)

Feedback (Closed Loop) Control

Reference
Command

Controller

Plant

Output

Feedback
Signal
Measurement
for feedback

Measure the response and compare it with a

reference to minimize the error
On-Off Control (bang-bang)
Proportional (P) Control
Proportional Control with Integral (I) and Derivative
(D) Action PID Control

Digital Control
User
Interface
Commands

Digital
Control
Computer

Process
Signal
Conditioning/
Amplification

Sensor
Actuator

Signal
Conditioning/Filtering

Digital computer replaces the analog controller

Dedicated computers with real time processing

Response

Feedforward Control

Unknown
Input

Measurement
for feedforward

Reference
Command

Controller

Plant

Feedback
Signal
Measurement
for feedback

Output

Exhaust
Gases

Vent

Cold Water
In

Water

Thermal
Insulation

Burner
Chamber
Hot Water
Out

Pilot
Flame

Pilot Flame
Detector

Main
Flame

Natural
Gas

Room
Radiator

Thermocouple

Valve

Valve
Actuator

Thermostat
Temperature Controller
(On/Off) And Transmitter

Unknown
Inputs
w 1 w2 w3
Temperature
Set Point
(Input)

Controller

Sensor-Tranducer

Furnace

Room Temperature
(Output)

w 1 = Water Flow Rate

w 2 = Temperature of Cold Water into Furnace
w 3 = Temperature Outside The Room

Example 1.1
A simple mass-spring-damper system (simple oscillator) is excited by an
external force. Its displacement response y is given by the differential
equation

my&& + by& + ky = f ( t )

A block diagram representation of this system is shown below. Is this a

feedback control system? Explain and justify your answer.
f(t)

m
y

f(t)

s ( ms + b )

(a)

(b)

Example 1.2
Consider the system shown by the block diagram
Gp(S) Plant t/f
Gs(S) Controller t/f
Disturbance
Input (w)

H(S) Feedback t/f

Gf(S) Feedforward t/f
compensation

Gf(S)
Output (y)

Reference
Command
(u)

Gc(S)

GP(S)

Feedback
Signal

H(s)

The disturbance input w is measured, compensated using Gf and fed into the
controller along with the driving input u
(a) Obtain the transfer function relationship between the output y and the driving
input u in the absence of disturbance input w
(b) Show that in the absence of u the block diagram can be drawn as given below.
Obtain the transfer function relationship between y and w in this case

Disturbance
Input (w)

1 - GcGf

GP

Output (y)

GcH

(c) From (a) and (b) write an expression for y in terms of u and w
(d) Show that the effect of disturbance is fully compensated if the feedforward
compensator is given by

G f (S ) =

1
Gc ( S )