EYE on EDUCATION
A Linear Control System Simulation Toolbox Using Spreadsheets
By Ali El-Hajj, Karim Y. Kabalan, and Shahwan V. Khoury
S
ystem simulation serves as a tool for managing the
complexity of the mathematical expressions used to
represent systems and as a means of detailing their
performance. Simulation tools are always measured by their
effectiveness, complexity, cost, and, most of all, their contri-
bution to the understanding of the problem.
Spreadsheets are basic software packages available in al-
most all institutions; they are easy to learn, allow step-by- step
study of the behavior of a system and the influence of changing
one or more parameters related to this behavior, are equipped
with graphical display tools, and, most important, do not re-
quire much programming effort. Hence, spreadsheet pro-
grams have been used as a simulation tool in many
engineering problems. Lately, spreadsheets have been used to
simulate logic networks in [1]-[2] and control systems in
[3]-[4]. These simulations allow the generation and intercon-
nection of basic building blocks. The results have been very at-
tractive, simple, and useful for educational purposes.
In the case of logic circuits, the basic blocks simulated
are logic gates, flip-flops [1], the clock, and some medium-
scale integration circuits [2]. This method can simulate
combinational, sequential, synchronous, and asynchron-
ous networks. In the case of a linear control system, the ba-
sic blocks simulated are an adder and an integrator. Any
transfer function can be simulated in the s domain by con-
necting several integrators and adders with appropriate
scaling coefficients. An overall control system is conse-
quently simulated by connecting the constituent transfer
functions. Nonlinear control systems are also simulated in
[4] using nonlinear elements as some of the basic blocks.
Sampled data control systems can be simulated using the
delay z −1 as the basic block and where connecting several
z −1 blocks using appropriate scaling coefficients allows the
simulation of any transfer function in the z domain. Such
simulations allow calculation of the time response of a con-
trol system for any input signal.
In recent work [5], [6], improvements in the simulation
method exploited the new advanced features of the Micro-
soft Excel spreadsheet program. With these improvements,
simulation menus and toolbars were constructed, and a
graphical interface was used to represent a block using Ex-
cel’s standard drawing tools. It is possible to generate a
block or to connect two blocks by selecting a corresponding
menu item or by clicking on the corresponding toolbar but-
ton. Dialog sheets are used to input some of the simulation
El-Hajj (elhajj@aub.edu.lb), Kabalan, and Khoury are with the American University of Beirut, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture,
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, P.O. Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon.
0272-1708/00/$10.00©2000IEEE
8 IEEE Control Systems Magazine
parameters, and the Excel plotting facilities are used to dis-
play the simulation results.
This article presents a new method for simulating linear
control systems with spreadsheets. The interface makes
use of a “linear control toolbox” toolbar whose aim is to
make simulation simple and user friendly. The basic blocks
used are an adder, an integrator, and first- and second-order
systems. The procedure for simulating the adder and inte-
grator is similar in concept to the ones used in [3] and [6].
The first- and second-order system blocks are introduced in
this work to add more power and flexibility to the simula-
tion. Each of these basic blocks can be obtained by clicking a
corresponding button on the toolbar. Additional toolbar
buttons are created for connecting these blocks in a manner
specified by the user. Other buttons are added to initialize
the system and to run it for a specified number of iterations.
This package can be obtained, at no cost, from http://www.
aub.edu.lb/~elhajj.
To illustrate this method, in the next section we pres-
ent the block generation and connection tools. Then we
describe the simulation of the integrator and the first-or-
der block, followed by a description of the second-order
block. After providing some illustrative examples, we dis-
cuss the simulation method in detail, followed by con-
cluding remarks.
Simulation Tools
The spreadsheet tools used in the simulation are graphics,
formulas, macros, and toolbars. To simulate a basic block
[5], the drawing toolbar is used to represent this block us-
ing, in some cases, its conventional drawing found in text-
books. Formulas are then used to calculate the block output
as a function of the inputs and other parameters. These two
steps are recorded in a macro whose code (in Visual Basic)
is edited to ensure that all references are relative to the cur-
rent active worksheet cell, which is considered the first in-
put cell. The macro is next attached to a toolbar button. By
clicking on this button, the macro will be executed, causing
the block to be generated at the location of the active cell.
To create an adder, for example, the drawing toolbar is
used to draw the adder with three inputs (C6, C7, and C8)
and one output (E7) as shown in Fig. 1. The inputs are multi-
plied with scale factors stored at cells D6, D7, and D8 and ini-
tialized to one. These scaling factors can be directly
modified on the worksheet by the user. The formula
= C6*D6 + C7*D7 + C8*D8, which relates the output to the in-
December 2000
put, is written at cell E7. This process of drawing and writing
formulas is recorded in a macro called “Adder” and linked to
a button called “Adder” that is included in a toolbar called
“linear control toolbox.” This toolbar is constructed to
graphically simulate any linear control system. As shown in
Fig. 1, to generate the second adder, cell H9 is made the ac-
tive cell and the Adder button is clicked.
To manage the simulation process, a resetting and a
running mechanism is implemented. This is done using
some variables stored in the upper rows of the worksheet.
An initialization flag stored in cell B1 is set to zero when no
calculation is required and is set to one when a calcula-
tion is requested. Some blocks use this flag to reset their
states to preset initial conditions. A counter is stored in
cell B2 to indicate the number of iterations (i.e., spread-
sheet calculations) that are performed. This counter is in-
itialized to zero and incremented for each worksheet
calculation. This is done by writing at cell B2 the formula
= IF ($B$1 = 0;0;B2 + 1). The integration step is stored in cell
B3, and the time is calculated and stored in cell B4 using the
formula =$B$2 *$B$3. A spinner is used in cells F1-F2 to set
the number of worksheet calculations to be performed in a
single run. The resetting mechanism is created using the
Reset button. The underlying macro resets the initializa-
tion flag and the counter to zero. Resetting is needed be-
fore any new run, and the running mechanism is created
using the Run button. The underlying macro sets the initial-
ization flag to one and recalculates the worksheet the num-
ber of times indicated by the spinner. The “Run” macro can
be executed many consecutive times using different spin-
ner values.
The simulation requires connecting an output cell of
one block (source) to an input cell of another block (desti-
nation). This is done in two steps by drawing a line that
connects the centers of the two cells and by writing in the
destination cell a formula equal to the source cell address.
In the first step, the source cell is made active and the
Source button is clicked. The underlying macro calculates
and saves the address of the source cell. In the second
step, the destination cell is made active and the Destina-
tion button is clicked. The underlying macro calculates the
Figure 1. Simulation tools.
December 2000 IEEE Control Systems Magazine
address of the destination cell, writes in this cell a formula
equal to the source cell address, and draws a line that con-
nects the centers of the source and destination cells. The
Destination button will be active if clicked directly after the
Source button.
As an example, to connect the first adder output to the
second adder input, as shown in Fig. 1, cell E7 is made the ac-
tive cell, the Source button is clicked, then cell H9 is made
the active cell, and the Destination button is clicked.
Integrator and First-Order System Simulations
A first-order system is defined in the s domain by the trans-
fer function
Y ( s) 1
= .
X( s) s + a (1)
An integrator has the same transfer function as in (1) with
a =0. The output y(t ) is obtained as a function of the input
x(t ) by solving
dy
= f ( x, y ) = −ay + x
dt (2)
with y(0) = y0 = 0. Equation (2) can be written in discrete form
using the integration step h as follows:
yi + 1 = yi + f ( xi , yi )h = yi + ( −ayi + xi )h.
Many methods discussed in [7] can be used to calculate
the output sequence yi given an input sequence xi . An ap-
proach similar to the Heun method is used in this simula-
tion, but other methods can be used as well when more or
less accuracy is needed. In this method, the value of yi +1 is
predicted using the predictor equation
yi0+ 1 = yi + f ( xi , yi )h. (3)
An improved value of yi +1 is next obtained using the
corrector equation
f ( xi , yi ) + f (xi + 1 , yi0+ 1 )
yi + 1 = yi + h.
2
(4)
In the case of the first-order system (1),
the predictor and corrector equations
become
Predictor: yi0+ 1 = yi + ( −ayi + xi )h,
(5)
9
 Corrector: yi + 1 = yi +
(−ay + x − ay
i i
0
i +1 + xi + 1 )
h.
the case a =0 gave the same results as the integrator. This
simulation was also tested on more complicated examples
2 (6)
as discussed in the “Illustrative Examples” section.

In the case of an integrator, a =0 and the two previous equa- Second-Order System Simulation
tions are reduced to the trapezoidal rule [7] In this section, we define the simulation of the second-order
system. This system is defined in the s domain by the trans-
( xi + xi + 1 ) fer function
yi + 1 = yi + h.
2 (7)
Y ( s) as + b as −1 + bs −2
= 2 = −2 .
To simulate an integrator with input D6 and output F6, U ( s ) s + cs + d ds + cs −1 + 1 (8)
the drawing toolbar is used as shown in Fig. 2. For the cor-
rect operation of the integrator, xi and yi must be stored in A function X ( s ) is defined as
two cells used to calculate the output yi +1 and then updated
to new values used in the next iteration. Due to the row-wise Y ( s) U ( s)
calculation of the Excel worksheet, xi and yi are stored in X( s) = = .
as −1 + bs −2 ds −2 + cs −1 + 1
cells calculated after F6 (for example, cells D7 and E7). The
previous input value xi is stored in cell D7 by writing the for-
Defining the functions X1 = s −2 X and X2 = s −1 X , the follow-
mula = IF($B$1 = 0;0;D6) in this cell. The previous output
ing expressions are then obtained:
value yi is stored in cell E7 by writing = IF($B$1 = 0;0;F6) in
this cell . The output yi +1 is obtained at cell F6 by implement-
Y ( s ) = aX2 + bX1
ing (7) as follows:
U ( s ) = dX1 + cX2 + X . (9)
= IF($B$1 = 0;0;E7 + 0.5*$B$3*(D6 + D7)).
Using the definitions of X1 , X2 and (9), X1 , X2 , and U will then
As in the case of the adder, this process is automated us- satisfy the following equations:
ing the Integrator toolbar button that is attached to the “Inte-
grator” macro that draws and writes the integrator formulas sX1 = X2
using the active cell as the input cell of the integrator. sX2 = X = −dX1 − cX2 + U .
Consider the simulation of a first-order system with the
transfer function given in (1) using cell D6 as input and cell
F6 as output. The drawing toolbar is used to draw it as
shown in Fig. 3. The parameter a is stored in cell E5, initial-
ized to zero, and can be changed at any time by the user. As
in the case of the integrator, the previous input value xi is
stored in cell D7 by writing = IF($B$1 = 0;0;D6) in this cell.
The previous output value yi is stored in cell E7 by writing
the formula = IF($B$1 = 0;0;F6) in this cell. The predicted out-
put value yi0+1 of (5) is stored at cell E6 using
Figure 2. Integrator simulation.
= E7 + $B$3*( −E5*E7 + D7).

The corrected output yi +1 is obtained at cell F6 by imple-

menting (6) as follows:

= IF($B$1 = 0;0;E7 + 0.5*$B$3*( −E5*E7 + D7 − E5*E6 + D6)).

As in the case of the adder and the integrator, the

first-order system is customized using the First toolbar
button. To test this simulation, many runs were consid-
ered. Examples with known analytical solutions were tried,
and it was found that the simulation result matches the ex-
act solution. On the other hand, the first-order system with Figure 3. First-order system simulation.

10 IEEE Control Systems Magazine December 2000

 Fig. 4 shows a second-order system block with transfer func-
tion given in (8) using cell D6 as input and cell G6 as output.
The drawing toolbar is used to draw it, and the parameters a,
b, c, and d are stored in cells E4, F4, E5, and F5, respectively.
All these parameters are initialized to zero, but their values
can be changed at any time by the user. In Fig. 4, the parame-
ter values are:a =1, b = 2, c = 6, andd =5. As in the case of the in-
tegrator, the previous input value ui is stored in cell D7 by
writing = IF($B$1 = 0;0;D6) in this cell. To implement (14)-(18),
Figure 4. Second-order system simulation. x10,i + 1 is stored in cell D5, x 20,i + 1 in cell G5, x1 ,i + 1 in cell E6, x 2 ,i + 1 in
cell F6, x1,i in cell E7, and x 2,i in cell F7. x10,i + 1 is calculated by im-
(10) plementing formula (14) in cell D5 as follows:
Assuming that x1 (0) = x 2 (0) = 0, (10) can be written in the time
domain as = E7 + $B$3*F7.

dx1 x 20,i + 1 is calculated by implementing formula (15) in cell G5 as

= f1 ( x1 ,x 2 ,u ) = x 2
dt (11) follows:

= F7 + $B$3*( −F5*E7 − E5*F7 + D7).

dx 2
= f2 ( x1 ,x 2 ,u ) = −dx1 − cx 2 + u.
dt (12)
x1 ,i + 1 is calculated by implementing formula (16) in cell E6 as
The output y(t ) is found to be follows:

y(t ) = ax 2 (t ) + bx1 (t ). (13) = E7 + 0.5*$B$3*(F7 + G5).

Equations (11)-(13) can be written in discrete form using x 2 ,i + 1 is calculated by implementing formula (17) in cell F6 as
the integration step h. The same method used in the case of follows:
the first-order system is used to solve (11) and (12). The
variables x1 and x 2 are predicted using an equation similar to = F7 + 0.5*$B$3*( −F5*E7 − E5*F7 + D7 − F5*D5 − E5*G5 + D6).
(3):
x1,i is calculated by implementing in cell E7
x10,i + 1 = x1 ,i + x 2 ,i h, (14)
= IF($B$1 = 0;0;E6).

x 20,i + 1 = x 2 ,i + ( −dx1 ,i − cx 2 ,i + ui )h. x 2,i is calculated by implementing in cell F7 the formula

(15)

The corrected values x1 ,i + 1 and x 2 ,i + 1 are obtained using equa- = IF($B$1 = 0;0;F6).
tions similar to (4):
The output yi +1 is finally obtained by implementing formula
x 2 ,i + x 20,i + 1 (18) in cell G6 as
x1 ,i + 1 = x1 ,i + h,
2 (16)
= E4*F6 + F4*E6.

x 2 ,i + 1 = x 2 ,i +
(
( −dx1 ,i − cx 2 ,i + ui ) + −dx10,i + 1 − cx 20,i + 1 + ui +1 ) h. As in the case of the previous blocks, the second-order sys-
tem is customized using the Second toolbar button and then
2
tested.
(17)
The output yi +1 with the initial condition y(0) = y0 = 0 is then Illustrative Examples
given by To illustrate the method, two examples are considered, and
the results are compared with the actual values. In the first
yi + 1 = ax 2 ,i + 1 + bx1 ,i + 1 . (18) example, a unity feedback linear control system, the plant

December 2000 IEEE Control Systems Magazine 11

transfer function is a sec-
ond-order system represented
by the following transfer func-
tion [8, Ex. 10-3]:

4500K
G( s ) = .
s( s + 361.2)

This system is controlled

by a proportional integral (PI)
controller with gain K=181.2.
The spreadsheet simulation of
this linear system is shown in
Fig. 5. In this simulation, the
controller is represented by an
integrator and an adder con-
nected in a parallel/cascaded
fashion. The parameters KI Figure 5. Spreadsheet simulation of example 1.
and KP are stored in cells I2
and I3, respectively, and referenced at the adder’s inputs us- values are stored in range [B14-B114] by multiplying the
ing formulas. A second-order block is used to simulate the counter values in range [A14-A114] by the step in cell B3.
plant transfer function with appropriate coefficients. The Successive outputs at cell M6 (named OUTPUT) are stored
output of the second-order block is used as input to the first in range [C14-C114] by writing in cell C14 the formula
adder for the next iteration. Since Excel calculates its cells
by rows from left to right, the ordering and placement of de- = IF($B$1 = 0;0;IF(A14 = $B$2;OUTPUT;C14)).
vices should be done carefully and the output formulas of
some adders should be edited. In this example, the formula This formula is copied to the range [C15-C114]. The Excel
at the second adder’s output is edited to refer to cell F6 in- chart toolbar is then used for plotting the system responses
stead of H7, since H7 represents the value of F6 at the previ- as shown in Fig 6. Good agreement with the results in [8] is
ous iteration at the time when J6 is calculated. For the same obtained.
reason, the input to the first adder at cell D7 is edited to refer As a second example, consider the compensated system
directly to the system output =M6. An alternative would be shown in Fig. 7. A spreadsheet simulation of this system is
to change the connection path (M6, M9, D9, D7) to another shown in Fig. 8. The simulation of the linear transfer function is
path such as (M6, M3, D4, D6). In this last path, the input D6 done in the same way as in the previous example. The re-
is used instead of D7, and due to the cal-
culation of the worksheet by rows, the
present value of D6 is equal to the value
of M6 at the previous worksheet calcu-
lation. In this case, it is not necessary to
edit the content of D6 to refer directly to
the content of M6.
The unit step response is calculated
by applying a unit step function at the
input of the system, as indicated in cell
D5. For comparison, the same values
considered in [8] are also considered in
this case; that is, KP = 0.08 and KI = 0.08,
0.8, and 1.6. The corresponding system
responses are arranged in adjacent col-
umns. To record the output values for
counter values 0,5,10..., the range
[A14-A114] is filled with multiples of five
from 0 to 500. The corresponding time Figure 6. Unit step response of the system shown in Fig. 5.

12 IEEE Control Systems Magazine December 2000

 The size of the worksheet containing the code and the
K(s+2)
______ 1
___________ toolbar is on the order of 75 kb. Thus only limited computer
r(t ) c(t )
s+1 s2+2s+4 resources are needed to run the application. Furthermore,
this method is easy to use and simply requires learning the
function of each of the eight toolbar buttons. To analyze and
plot the results, the spreadsheet data processing facilities
can be used, which allows an iterative step-by-step or con-
Figure 7. Block diagram of example 2.
tinuous run of the simulated
system. This procedure shows
the values at the output of any
block in the worksheet. The
outputs with different parame-
ter value(s) can be simply ob-
tained and plotted using the
what-if feature of spread-
sheets.
This method is also suffi-
ciently accurate for a large
number of practical applica-
tions, since Excel stores num-
bers and performs calcul-
ations using 15 digits of preci-
sion. To increase the accuracy
Figure 8. Spreadsheet simulation of the system shown in Fig. 7.
of the results, the integration
sponse of the system is plotted in Fig. 9 by following an ap- step can be reduced or more sophisticated formulas can be
proach similar to that in the previous example. The results are used in simulating some blocks [7]. Reducing the integra-
in agreement with those obtained in [9] for the same example. tion step may lead to an increase in the number of iterations
(worksheet calculations), however, which makes this
Discussion method slow in simulating large control systems.
The method presented has its advantages and limitations In summary, this method is low in cost and suitable for
when compared with related simulation packages. As an ex- quick simulation when the user lacks the time or means to
ample, MATLAB-Simulink is an advanced software package write a sophisticated program or access a more sophisti-
widely used by engineers, students,
and instructors for simulating control
systems. Several undergraduate and
graduate students in our university
have copies of the package and had to
spend some time learning it.
The main advantage of the current
simulation method is its use of spread-
sheets that are widely available on
most computers (definitely more than
MATLAB) and are familiar to a large
class of users. Due to our familiarity
with spreadsheets, it was possible to
develop this application using macros
and formulas. This approach consider-
ably reduced the programming effort
that is usually required to develop sim-
ilar applications (see the “Simulation
Tools” section). The code obtained (in
Visual Basic) consists of a few pages
that can be directly accessed by users. Figure 9. Unit step response of the system shown in Fig. 7.

December 2000 IEEE Control Systems Magazine 13

cated package (i.e., MATLAB). It is useful in educational
settings where budgets and resources are sometimes lim-
ited, especially since a worksheet copy of this package can
be obtained from the Web (http://www.aub.edu.lb/~elhajj)
at no cost.
Conclusion
A new method has been presented for simulating linear con-
trol systems using modern spreadsheet programs. The
method is characterized by its flexibility, simplicity, and
availability. It has been verified for various cases, and exam-
ples were given for illustration. It is particularly useful for
educational exercises that require calculations to be re-
peated with different parameters and values.
Acknowledgment
This work is supported by the American University of Beirut
Research Board.
References
[1] A. El-Hajj and K.Y. Kabalan, “A spreadsheet simulation of logic networks,”
IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. 34, pp. 43-46, 1991.
[2] A. El-Hajj, K.Y. Kabalan, and M. Yehia, “Simulation of a class of integrated
circuits using spreadsheets,” Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 139, pt. G, no. 5, pp.
607-610, 1992.
[3] A. El-Hajj and K.Y. Kabalan, “Time domain analysis of linear control sys-
tems using spreadsheets,” IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 317-320, 1995.
[4] K.Y. Kabalan, A. El-Hajj, and W. Smari, “Nonlinear and sampled data con-
trol systems analysis using spreadsheets,” Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 143, pt. A,
no. 1, pp. 52-56, 1996.
[5] A. El-Hajj and M. Hazim, “On using spreadsheets for logic networks simula-
tion,” IEEE Trans. Educ., vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 311-319, 1998.
[6] A. El-Hajj, “Functional simulation using spreadsheets,” Simulation, vol. 73,
no. 2, pp. 80-90, Aug. 1999.
[7] S.C. Chapra and R.P. Canale, Numerical Methods for Engineers. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1990.
[8] B.C. Kuo, Automatic Control Systems, 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1995.
[9] R.C. Dorf and R.H. Bishop, Modern Control Systems. Reading, MA: Addison
Wesley, 1995.
14 IEEE Control Systems Magazine
Ali El-Hajj was born in Aramta, Lebanon. He received the
B.S. degree in physics from the Lebanese University, Leba-
non, in 1979; the degree of “Ingenieur” from L’Ecole Super-
ieure d’Electricite, France, in 1981; and the “Docteur
Ingenieur” degree from the University of Rennes I, France, in
1983. From 1983 to 1987, he was with the Electrical Engi-
neering Department at the Lebanese University. In 1987, he
joined the American University of Beirut where he is cur-
rently Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His
research interests are numerical solution of electromag-
netic field problems and engineering education.
Karim Y. Kabalan was born in Jbeil, Lebanon. He received
the B.S. degree in physics from the Lebanese University in
1979 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering
from Syracuse University in 1983 and 1985, respectively. Dur-
ing the 1986 fall semester, he was a visiting Assistant Profes-
sor of Electrical Engineering at Syracuse University.
Currently, he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering with the
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of
Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut.
His research interests are numerical solution of electromag-
netic field problems and software development.
Shahwan V. Khoury was born in Lebanon. He received his
B.E. degree in electrical engineering from Youngstown State
University in 1960 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Car-
negie Mellon University in 1961 and 1964, respectively. He
was a member of the Technical Staff (AT&T), Technical Di-
rector at Projects Studies and Implementation, San Fran-
cisco; Manager of Electromechanical Contracts with
Kettaneh, Lebanon; General Manager, Debbas Enterprise,
Lebanon; and Consultant, SDI, London. Currently, he is an
Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at the American University of Beirut. His research interests
are in numerical solution of electromagnetic field problems
and software development.
December 2000