Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Control_system

Control system
A control system manages, commands,
directs, or regulates the behavior of other
devices or systems using control loops. It can
range from a single home heating controller
using a thermostat controlling a domestic
boiler to large Industrial control systems
which are used for controlling processes or
machines.

For continuously modulated control, a

feedback controller is used to automatically
control a process or operation. The control
system compares the value or status of the
process variable (PV) being controlled with
the desired value or setpoint (SP), and
applies the difference as a control signal to The centrifugal governor is an
early proportional control
bring the process variable output of the plant
mechanism.
to the same value as the setpoint.

For sequential and combinational logic,

software logic, such as in a programmable logic controller, is used.

Contents
Open-loop and closed-loop control
Feedback control systems
Logic control
On–off control
Linear control
Proportional control
Furnace example
PID control
Derivative action
Integral action
Ramp up % per minute
Other techniques

1 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Fuzzy logic
Physical implementation
See also
References
External links

Open-loop and closed-loop control

There are two common classes of control action: open loop and closed loop.
In an open-loop control system, the control action from the controller is
independent of the process variable. An example of this is a central heating
boiler controlled only by a timer. The control action is the switching on or off
of the boiler. The process variable is the building temperature. This
controller operates the heating system for a constant time regardless of the
temperature of the building.

In a closed-loop control system, the control action from the controller is

dependent on the desired and actual process variable. In the case of the
boiler analogy, this would utilise a thermostat to monitor the building
temperature, and feed back a signal to ensure the controller output
maintains the building temperature close to that set on the thermostat. A
closed loop controller has a feedback loop which ensures the controller
exerts a control action to control a process variable at the same value as the
setpoint. For this reason, closed-loop controllers are also called feedback
controllers.[1]

Feedback control systems

In the case of linear feedback systems, a control loop including sensors,
control algorithms, and actuators is arranged in an attempt to regulate a
variable at a setpoint (SP). An everyday example is the cruise control on a
road vehicle; where external influences such as hills would cause speed
changes, and the driver has the ability to alter the desired set speed. The
PID algorithm in the controller restores the actual speed to the desired
speed in the optimum way, with minimal delay or overshoot, by controlling
the power output of the vehicle's engine.

Control systems that include some sensing of the results they are trying to
achieve are making use of feedback and can adapt to varying circumstances
to some extent. Open-loop control systems do not make use of feedback, and
run only in pre-arranged ways.

2 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Logic control
Logic control systems for industrial
and commercial machinery were
historically implemented by
interconnected electrical relays and
cam timers using ladder logic.
Today, most such systems are
constructed with microcontrollers
or more specialized programmable
logic controllers (PLCs). The
notation of ladder logic is still in Example of a single industrial control loop;
use as a programming method for showing continuously modulated control of
PLCs.[2] process flow.

Logic controllers may respond to

switches and sensors, and can cause the
machinery to start and stop various
operations through the use of actuators.
Logic controllers are used to sequence
mechanical operations in many applications.
A basic feedback loop
Examples include elevators, washing
machines and other systems with interrelated
operations. An automatic sequential control system may trigger a series of
mechanical actuators in the correct sequence to perform a task. For
example, various electric and pneumatic transducers may fold and glue a
cardboard box, fill it with product and then seal it in an automatic packaging
machine.

PLC software can be written in many different ways – ladder diagrams, SFC
(sequential function charts) or statement lists.[3]

On–off control
On–off control uses a feedback controller that switches abruptly between
two states. A simple bi-metallic domestic thermostat can be described as an
on-off controller. When the temperature in the room (PV) goes below the
user setting (SP), the heater is switched on. Another example is a pressure
switch on an air compressor. When the pressure (PV) drops below the
setpoint (SP) the compressor is powered. Refrigerators and vacuum pumps
contain similar mechanisms. Simple on–off control systems like these can be
cheap and effective.

Linear control

3 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Linear control systems use negative feedback to produce a control signal to

maintain the controlled PV at the desired SP. There are several types of
linear control systems with different capabilities.

Proportional control
Proportional control is a type of
linear feedback control system in
which a correction is applied to the
controlled variable which is
proportional to the difference
between the desired value (SP) and
the measured value (PV). Two
classic mechanical examples are
the toilet bowl float proportioning Step responses for a second order system
valve and the fly-ball governor. defined by the transfer function

The proportional control system is , where is the

more complex than an on–off damping ratio and is the undamped
control system, but simpler than a natural frequency.
proportional-integral-derivative
(PID) control system used, for
instance, in an automobile cruise control. On–off control will work for
systems that do not require high accuracy or responsiveness, but is not
effective for rapid and timely corrections and responses. Proportional
control overcomes this by modulating the manipulated variable (MV), such
as a control valve, at a gain level which avoids instability, but applies
correction as fast as practicable by applying the optimum quantity of
proportional correction.

A drawback of proportional control is that it cannot eliminate the residual

SP–PV error, as it requires an error to generate a proportional output. A PI
controller can be used to overcome this. The PI controller uses a
proportional term (P) to remove the gross error, and an integral term (I) to
eliminate the residual offset error by integrating the error over time.

In some systems there are practical limits to the range of the MV. For
example, a heater has a limit to how much heat it can produce and a valve
can open only so far. Adjustments to the gain simultaneously alter the range
of error values over which the MV is between these limits. The width of this
range, in units of the error variable and therefore of the PV, is called the
proportional band (PB).

Furnace example

4 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

When controlling the temperature of an industrial furnace, it is usually

better to control the opening of the fuel valve in proportion to the current
needs of the furnace. This helps avoid thermal shocks and applies heat more
effectively.

At low gains, only a small corrective action is applied when errors are
detected. The system may be safe and stable, but may be sluggish in
response to changing conditions. Errors will remain uncorrected for
relatively long periods of time and the system is overdamped. If the
proportional gain is increased, such systems become more responsive and
errors are dealt with more quickly. There is an optimal value for the gain
setting when the overall system is said to be critically damped. Increases in
loop gain beyond this point lead to oscillations in the PV and such a system
is underdamped. Adjusting gain to achieve critically damped behavior is
known as tuning the control system.

In the underdamped case, the furnace heats quickly. Once the setpoint is
reached, stored heat within the heater sub-system and in the walls of the
furnace will keep the measured temperature rising beyond what is required.
After rising above the setpoint, the temperature falls back and eventually
heat is applied again. Any delay in reheating the heater sub-system allows
the furnace temperature to fall further below setpoint and the cycle repeats.
The temperature oscillations that an underdamped furnace control system
produces are undesirable.

In a critically damped system, as the temperature approaches the setpoint,

the heat input begins to be reduced, the rate of heating of the furnace has
time to slow and the system avoids overshoot. Overshoot is also avoided in
an underdamped system but an underdamped system is unnecessarily slow
to initially reach setpoint respond to external changes to the system, e.g.
opening the furnace door.

PID control
Apart from sluggish performance to avoid oscillations, another problem with
proportional-only control is that power application is always in direct
proportion to the error. In the example above we assumed that the set
temperature could be maintained with 50% power. What happens if the
furnace is required in a different application where a higher set temperature
will require 80% power to maintain it? If the gain was finally set to a 50° PB,
then 80% power will not be applied unless the furnace is 15° below setpoint,
so for this other application the operators will have to remember always to
set the setpoint temperature 15° higher than actually needed. This 15°
figure is not completely constant either: it will depend on the surrounding
ambient temperature, as well as other factors that affect heat loss from or

5 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

absorption within the furnace.

To resolve these two problems,

many feedback control schemes
include mathematical extensions to
improve performance. The most
common extensions lead to
proportional-integral-derivative
control, or PID control.

Derivative action A block diagram of a PID controller

The derivative part is concerned

with the rate-of-change of the error
with time: If the measured variable
approaches the setpoint rapidly,
then the actuator is backed off
early to allow it to coast to the
required level; conversely if the
measured value begins to move
rapidly away from the setpoint,
extra effort is applied—in
proportion to that rapidity—to try
to maintain it.
Effects of varying PID parameters (Kp,Ki,Kd)
Derivative action makes a control on the step response of a system.
system behave much more
intelligently. On control systems
like the tuning of the temperature of a furnace, or perhaps the motion-
control of a heavy item like a gun or camera on a moving vehicle, the
derivative action of a well-tuned PID controller can allow it to reach and
maintain a setpoint better than most skilled human operators could.

If derivative action is over-applied, it can lead to oscillations too. An example

would be a PV that increased rapidly towards SP, then halted early and
seemed to "shy away" from the setpoint before rising towards it again.

Integral action
The integral term magnifies the effect of long-term steady-state errors,
applying ever-increasing effort until they reduce to zero. In the example of
the furnace above working at various temperatures, if the heat being applied
does not bring the furnace up to setpoint, for whatever reason, integral
action increasingly moves the proportional band relative to the setpoint until
the PV error is reduced to zero and the setpoint is achieved.

6 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Ramp up % per minute

Some controllers include the option
to limit the "ramp up   % per
minute". This option can be very
helpful in stabilizing small boilers
(3 MBTUH), especially during the
summer, during light loads. A utility
boiler "unit may be required to
change load at a rate of as much as
5% per minute (IEA Coal Online - 2,
2007)".[4]

Change of response of second order system

Other techniques to a step input for varying Ki values.

It is possible to filter the PV or

error signal. Doing so can reduce the response of the system to undesirable
frequencies, to help reduce instability or oscillations. Some feedback
systems will oscillate at just one frequency. By filtering out that frequency,
more "stiff" feedback can be applied, making the system more responsive
without shaking itself apart.

Feedback systems can be combined. In cascade control, one control loop

applies control algorithms to a measured variable against a setpoint, but
then provides a varying setpoint to another control loop rather than affecting
process variables directly. If a system has several different measured
variables to be controlled, separate control systems will be present for each
of them.

Control engineering in many applications produces control systems that are

more complex than PID control. Examples of such fields include fly-by-wire
aircraft control systems, chemical plants, and oil refineries. Model predictive
control systems are designed using specialized computer-aided-design
software and empirical mathematical models of the system to be controlled.

Hybrid systems of PID and logic control are widely used. The output from a
linear controller may be interlocked by logic for instance.

Fuzzy logic
Fuzzy logic is an attempt to apply the easy design of logic controllers to the
control of complex continuously varying systems. Basically, a measurement
in a fuzzy logic system can be partly true, that is if yes is 1 and no is 0, a
fuzzy measurement can be between 0 and 1.

The rules of the system are written in natural language and translated into

7 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

fuzzy logic. For example, the design for a furnace would start with: "If the
temperature is too high, reduce the fuel to the furnace. If the temperature is
too low, increase the fuel to the furnace."

Measurements from the real world (such as the temperature of a furnace)

are converted to values between 0 and 1 by seeing where they fall on a
triangle. Usually, the tip of the triangle is the maximum possible value which
translates to 1.

Fuzzy logic, then, modifies Boolean logic to be arithmetical. Usually the

"not" operation is "output = 1 - input," the "and" operation is "output =
input.1 multiplied by input.2," and "or" is "output = 1 - ((1 - input.1)
multiplied by (1 - input.2))". This reduces to Boolean arithmetic if values are
restricted to 0 and 1, instead of allowed to range in the unit interval [0,1].

The last step is to "defuzzify" an output. Basically, the fuzzy calculations

make a value between zero and one. That number is used to select a value
on a line whose slope and height converts the fuzzy value to a real-world
output number. The number then controls real machinery.

If the triangles are defined correctly and rules are right the result can be a
good control system.

When a robust fuzzy design is reduced into a single, quick calculation, it

begins to resemble a conventional feedback loop solution and it might
appear that the fuzzy design was unnecessary. However, the fuzzy logic
paradigm may provide scalability for large control systems where
conventional methods become unwieldy or costly to derive.

Fuzzy electronics is an electronic technology that uses fuzzy logic instead of

the two-value logic more commonly used in digital electronics.

Physical implementation
The range of implementation is from compact controllers often with
dedicated software for a particular machine or device, to distributed control
systems for industrial process control.

Logic systems and feedback controllers are usually implemented with

programmable logic controllers.

See also
Behavior trees (artificial intelligence, robotics and control)
Building automation
Coefficient diagram method

8 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Control engineering
Control theory
Cybernetics
Distributed control system
Droop speed control
Education and training of electrical and
A DCS control room where plant
electronics engineers
information and controls are
EPICS displayed on computer graphics
Good regulator screens. The operators are
Hierarchical control system seated as they can view and
control any part of the process
HVAC control system
Industrial control systems from their screens, whilst
retaining a plant overview.
Motion control
Networked control system
Numerical control
Perceptual control theory
PID controller
Process control
Process optimization
Programmable logic controller
Sampled data systems A control panel of a hydraulic
SCADA heat press machine with
dedicated software for that
VisSim
function

References
1. "Feedback and control systems" - JJ Di Steffano, AR Stubberud, IJ Williams.
Schaums outline series, McGraw-Hill 1967
2. Kuphaldt, Tony R. "Chapter 6 LADDER LOGIC" (http://www.ibiblio.org
/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/Digital/DIGI_6.html). Lessons In Electric Circuits --
Volume IV. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20100912090415/http:
//www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/Digital/DIGI_6.html) from the
original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
3. Brady, Ian. "Programmable logic controllers - benefits and applications"
(http://www.optimacs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/PLC-report.pdf)
(PDF). PLCs. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140202000040/http:
//www.optimacs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/PLC-report.pdf) (PDF)
from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
4. "Archived copy" (http://www.seeei.org.il/prdFiles/2702_desc3.pdf) (PDF).
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140805131600/http:
//www.seeei.org.il/prdFiles/2702_desc3.pdf) (PDF) from the original on
2014-08-05. Retrieved 2014-04-07. ABB: Power Generation Energy

9 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM
Control system - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_system

Efficient Design of Auxiliary Systems in Fossil-Fuel Power Plants, Page 262,

Section: Load Following

External links
Semiautonomous Flight Direction - Reference unmannedaircraft.org
(http://www.unmannedaircraft.org/f/pat6460810.pdf)
Control System Toolbox (http://www.mathworks.com/products/control/) for
design and analysis of control systems.
Control Systems Manufacturer (http://www.trminternational.com/) Design
and Manufacture of control systems.
Mathematica functions for the analysis, design, and simulation of control
systems (http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/guide
/ControlSystems.html)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Control_system&

oldid=927792148"

This page was last edited on 24 November 2019, at 20:51 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional

terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

10 of 10 12/23/19, 4:52 AM