INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)

NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.

ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

EXPERIMENT 5

AIM: To study the configuration and evaluate the performance characteristics of a

feedback Light Intensity Control System

APPARATUS: light intensity control system kit

Theoretical Background:

A feedback control system is usually represented as a block diagram

comprising of (i) the plant or the process to be controlled, (ii) the controller, to
provide an adequate signal to the controlled plant, (iii) the measurement block - a
transducer to convert the usually non electrical output signal into an electrical
signal, and (iv) an error detector which compares the measured value of the output
with the command signal and generates an appropriate error. This is shown in
Fig.1. In the present experiment a light panel, consisting of a number of lamps, is
taken as the plant

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

The unit may be divided into the following sections.

(a) Signal Sources : A variable d.c. source of 0-1 volt is used as the reference or
command signal. Also, a square wave of approx. 5 Hz is available as forcing input

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

for studying the transient response. A steady CRO display, despite the frequency
being very small, is ensured by X-Y mode operation with a triangular wave applied
to the X-amplifier. This triangular wave is also generated internally.

(b) Controller: This is a calibrated amplifier of 0-100 gain followed by a suitable

power amplifier to operate the lamps

(c) Process : The process consists of a light panel having four lamps termed
controlled lamps, three of which are at the vertices of an equilateral triangle and
the fourth one is at the centre. A diffuser glass plate ensures uniform illumination
in the box where the light panel is fixed. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 2.

(d) Transducer: Light intensity is measured by an LDR (light dependent

resistance) and a signal conditioning amplifier.

(e) Disturbance Lamps : A set of three lamps mounted symmetrically on the light
panel and having individual ON/OFF switches are used as disturbance lamps. All
the lamps are matched to within 10% by selection.

A simplified block diagram of the system with proportional control only is shown
in Fig. 3.
Here, the variables used are defined as,
VR : Reference voltage, adjustable from 0 to 1 volt
VE : Error voltage applied to the amplifier
K : Amplifier gain, adjustable from 0 to 100 with a 10 turn potentiometer and a
Calibrated dial
VL : Amplifier output voltage which is fed to the four controlled lamps L2, L4, L6
and L7 connected in parallel
IC : Intensity of the light from controlled lamps falling on the sensor
F1 : Represents the non-linear relationship between the lamp voltage VL and the
Intensity IC, i.e. IC = F1 (VL)
ID : Intensity of the light from disturbance lamps, L1, L3 and L5, which could be
individually switched 'ON' and 'OFF'
I : Total light intensity falling on the sensor.
VF : Voltage developed by the sensor block
F2 : Represents the non-linear relationship between the sensor output VF and total
light intensity at the sensor surface, I, i.e. VF=F2(I)

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The following subsections outline the different experiments designed on the set up.
Characteristics of the Non-Linearities
Study of any system usually begins with an analysis of its sub-systems. The
characterization of the non-linear sections of the system is therefore very
important. The steps for this experiment are given below.

• Set up the system in open loop with VR=0 and K=0.

• Switch ON the disturbance lamps one by one and read VF
• After three readings, as explained in sec. 3.2(a), obtain another three readings by
adjusting VR and K.
• Tabulate the readings as shown below and plot VF Vs. n, the number of lamps
switched 'ON'. Graph-1 shows the non-linear characteristics of the LDR sensor

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

 Switch OFF the disturbance lamps. Continue operation in the open loop.
 Adjust VR and K to vary VL in small steps and record VF in each case.
 Also obtain and record at each step the effective value of n from Graph-1.
 Tabulate the data as below

 Plot Graph-2, between n and VL to depict the non-linear characteristics of the

lamps
 Plot Graph-3 between VF and VL to depict the loop non-linearity.

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

Vf

Error with P and PI Control

In this experiment the purpose is to study how the error varies as a function of
forward gain K. Also at each step the improvement achieved by PI control is
observed. The steps for the experiment are given below.
• Connect the system in closed loop. Switch OFF all the disturbance lamps. Put
P/PI switch to P position.
• Set VR = 0.5V. For various settings of K (= 5, 10, 15, 20………) record the
values of VE, VL and VF.
• For each reading calculate and record

Compare the measured and computed values of error VE

• Further, at each reading put the P/PI switch to PI position and observe how the
error voltage, VE decreases. Record this VE and switch back to P-control for the
next reading.
• Tabulate the readings as under

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

Disturbance Rejection
This experiment is designed to study the disturbance rejection properties of
negative feedback as a function of the forward gain. The various steps for this
experiment are
• Operate the system in close loop with all disturbance lamps switched OFF.
• Set K to 10. Adjust VR to get VF=0.6
• Switch 'ON' the disturbance lamps one by one and at each step record the value of
VF.
• Calculate further the percentage increase in intensity (i.e. VF) every time a
disturbance lamp is switched 'ON',

• Set K = 40. Adjust VR to get VF=0.6. Repeat the above steps.

• Repeat with K=70. Tabulate the readings as under

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701

 INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN (ICCT)
NEW VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388 121 DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT.
ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGG. DEPT.

Dynamic Response
This experiment is aimed at observing the time taken by the lamp filaments to heat
up and cool down when a square wave command signal is superimposed on the
normal reference or command VR. The important thing to observe here is that the
basic nature of the response is dependent on the operating point or the value of VR.
This phenomenon is due to non-linearity in the system and will not be observed in
a linear system.

The steps for conducting this part are,

• Connect the system in closed loop with all disturbance lamps switched OFF.
• Set VR=0.5, K=50 and connect the square wave source to the error detector. The
controlled lamps will flicker which can be seen by opening the lamp unit cover.
• Operate a double beam CRO in the X-Y mode. Connect the X,Y and ground
terminals on the panel. Observe the waveform on the screen.
• Vary VR and comment on the results.
A typical response obtained through a storage CRO may be seen in Fig. 4

Fig 4 DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF THE LAMP

LAB MANUAL- CONTROL SYSYTEM SUBJECT CODE: 141701