LAST NAME FIRST NAME

STUDENT NUMBER E-MAIL

Sapienza University of Rome

Special Master of Aerospace Engineering

Control Systems for Aerospace Engineering

Example of Midterm Exam (1 hour, 10 points)

Consider the following spacecraft model

I ÿ = u + Td (1)
where I is the moment of inertia about a principal axis of inertia, y is the angular position about that axis
(output), u is the torque about that axis generated by a torque actuator (control torque), and Td is the
torque about that axis generated by the external environment (disturbance torque).
Apply PD control
u = Kp e + Kd ė (2)
with proportional gain Kp > 0, derivative gain Kd > 0, and in which e is the error (in attitude) given by

e = r − (y + w) (3)

In the equation above r is the reference (attitude) and w is the measurement noise.

1. Neglect the effects of the disturbance torque and of the measurement noise setting
Td = w = 0, and obtain the differential equation of the closed-loop system. (0,5 points)

2. Obtain the expression of Y (s). (1 point)

3. Consider the constant reference r(t) = r, and determine the corresponding expression of
Y (s). (0,5 points)

Assume that  2
Kd Kp
−4 <0 (4)
I I
and consider the poles of Y (s) from question 3, which are equal to

p1 = σ + jω

p2 = σ − jω

p3 = 0

where s  2
Kd Kp Kd
σ=− ω= − (5)
2I I 2I

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4. Consider Y (s) from question 3, set y(0) = ẏ(0) = 0, and determine y(t) = L−1 [Y (s)] expressed
in terms of I, Kp , Kd , σ, ω, r. Simplify the expression of y(t) so that it does not contain
imaginary parts. (6 points)

5. Determine limt→∞ y(t) and limt→∞ e(t). (1 point)

6. Using Eq. (5), show that limt→∞ y(t) = r and limt→∞ e(t) = 0. (1 point)

PLEASE WRITE CLEARLY

YOU MUST EXPLAIN ALL YOUR STEPS

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 USEFUL RESULTS

Common Laplace transforms

f (t) F (s)

1
1
s
tn 1
n! sn+1
1
e−at
s+a
tn −at 1
e
n! (s + a)n+1
ω
sin(ωt)
s2 + ω 2
s
cos(ωt)
s2 + ω 2
ω
e−at sin(ωt)
(s + a)2 + ω 2
s+a
e−at cos(ωt)
(s + a)2 + ω 2

Laplace transform of derivatives

h i
L f˙(t) = sL[f (t)] − f (0)
h i
L f¨(t) = s2 L[f (t)] − f (0)s − f˙(0)

Partial fraction expansion

a0 sm + a1 sm−1 + · · · + am−1 s + am
X(s) = n>m k≥0
(s − p)k (s − pk+1 ) · · · (s − pn )

c1 c2 ck ck+1 cn
X(s) = + + ··· + + + ··· +
s − p (s − p)2 (s − p)k s − pk+1 s − pn

1 di
ck−i = lim [X(s)(s − p)k ] i = 0, . . . , k − 1
s→p i! dsi

ci = lim [X(s)(s − pi )] i = k + 1, . . . , n
s→pi