Lecture-11

CECOS UNIVERSITY
Of
IT & EMERGING SCIENCES

Instrumentation
and
Control systems
By
Engr.M Irfan Khan
Class Code: ME2012 A

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO

STUDY..?
Under standing the block diagram
representation of control systems
Solving the block diagrams and
getting the overall gain of the system
Understanding the basics of signal flow
graph representation of a control
systems

And

INTERPRETING BLOCK
DIAGRAMS

We often represent control systems using

block diagrams. A block diagram consists

of blocks that represent transfer functions
of the different variables of interest.
What is transfer function : A mathematical

function relating the output or response of

a system to the input or stimulus

VARIABLES
Variables are represented by arrows in
block diagrams
Variables correspond to a physical and
measurable quantity
Example: suppose youre modeling a process
for producing a dye for clothing
You must have a way of quantifying the dye
color!

Variables must have physical units

Actual speed units are MPH or km/hr
Blood glucose units are mg/dl

PHYSICAL UNITS
Determining the physical units of some quantities
is not a trivial task!
Example - setting the desired speed in the cruise
control system
This is actually an electrical signal in volts, but
can we still call it MPH?
It depends on what youre looking at how the
vehicle speed will vary on a steep slope vs. the
function of the cruise control electronics

PROCESSES
Processes are represented by the blocks in block
diagrams:
variable

Process

variable

Processes must have at least one input variable

and at least one output variable

PROCESSES
Most processes transform units:
Accelerator
depth (deg)

Engine

glucagon
(mg/dl)
insulin
(mg/dl)

Tissues

Engine
speed (rpm)

Glucose
(mg/sec)

PROCESSES
Processes can encompass sub-processes
A system is just a process w/ subprocesses!
Actual
glucose

& cells
measure
glucose
Actual
glucose

Measured
glucose

& cell
process

& cells
release
hormones
Glucagon
Insulin

Glucagon
Insulin

MEASUREMENT
PROCESSES
Processes that measure system outputs
are called sensors
Input is physical property (MPH, mg/dl,
etc.)
Output is electrical or mechanical signal
Typically model output to have units of
input
Actual
speed

Speedometer

Measured
speed

FEEDBACK CONTROL
SYSTEMS
Many systems measure their output and use this
measurement to control system behavior
This is known as feedback control the output is
fed back into the system
The summing junction is a special process that
compares the input and the feedback
Inputs to summing junction must have same
units!
input

process

sensor

output

GENERIC FEEDBACK CONTROL

SYSTEM
Input is the output we want the system to have
Summing junction subtracts the measured output
from the desired output, difference is error signal
Controller acts based on magnitude of error signal
Actuator provides external power to system and
effects changes based on controller output
Plant is the process we are trying to control
desired
output

controller

actuator

sensor

plant

output

GENERIC FEEDBACK CONTROL

SYSTEM
This is a general model, and may not be the
same for every feedback control system
Systems can have additional inputs known as
disturbances into or between processes
Can combine processes; typically controller
and actuator are combined
Describe and draw schematic, then recast your
model into this form if possible

desired
output

controller

actuator

sensor

plant

output

CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM

REVISITED

input: desired speed

output: actual speed
error: desired speed minus
measured speed
disturbance: wind, hills,
etc.

desired
speed

cruise
control

controller: cruise control

unit
wind,
actuator: engine
hills
plant: vehicle dynamics
sensor: speedometer
actual
engine
vehicle
speed
speedometer

GLUCOSE REGULATION
REVISITED

input: desired blood

glucose
output: actual blood
glucose
error: desired minus
measured blood glucose
disturbance: eating,
fasting, etc.

desired
glucose

controller: and cells

actuator: glucose storing
eating,
or releasing
tissues
fasting metabolism
plant: glucose
sensor: and cells
(again)
actual
glucose
glucose
tissues
metabol.
glucose

Disturbances
??
&
cells

&
cells

THERMOSTAT EXAMPLE

Set thermostat to desired room temperature

Thermostat measures room temperature
Furnace or AC turn on if measured <> desired
Air from furnace or AC changes room air
temperature

Disturbances
??

desired
temp.

thermostat

furnace
or AC

thermostat

external
air

room air

actual
temp.

TOILET FLUSH EXAMPLE

Float height determines desired water
level
Flush empties tank, float is lowered and
valve opens
Open valve allows water to enter tank
Float returns to desired level and valve
flush
closes

Disturbances
??

desired
level

float

valve

float

water
tank

actual
level

MANIPULATING AND
REDUCING BLOCK
DIAGRAMS

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS

Since each transfer function represents a linear

system, their product is commutative
ab = ba
Now understand the following example (cascade)

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS

Now let us consider a simple

feedback loop.

We have just solved two

simple cases
Cascade & feed
back loop

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram transformation)

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram transformation)

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

Examp
le

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

Examplestep1

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

Examplestep2

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

Examplestep3

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

Examplestep4

MANIPULATING AND REDUCING BLOCK

DIAGRAMS
(Block diagram Equivalence
transformation)

NOW ITS YOUR TURN