Control Engineering - 2024 entry

The advancement of technology during the 20th century put control engineering on the map - and it still plays a critical role in everything from simple household washing machines to high performance fighter aircraft. This module will give you a fundamental understanding of control engineering for single input single output systems. In particular, you will analyse the fundamental concept of feedback and its impact on system dynamics. You will study the performance of closed loop systems from a time domain and frequency domain perspective. Classical approaches to studying closed loop systems will be introduced including root-locus, Nyquist and Bode diagram methods. The module will also describe a method for parameterizing all stabilizing controllers for a given plant model, and how this result can be used from a design perspective. The module will also introduce the fundamentals of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, which you will use to analyse and design control systems. The module will describe the concepts of gain and phase margins and the H-infinity norm, for assessing the robustness of closed loop systems to modelling uncertainty. The lectures are supported by computer laboratories for modelling and simulation of systems using the Control Engineering toolbox in Matlab.

This module introduces the concepts of feedback and stability for single input single output systems. It exposes you to standard control concepts and calculations in both the time and frequency domain. The module will introduce the concepts of gain and phase margins and the H-infinity norm, for assessing the robustness of closed loop systems to modelling uncertainty. A detailed analysis of proportional, integral and derivative controllers for single input single output control loops will be explored. The aim is to present several analytical, numerical and graphical techniques to analyse and design control systems for single input single output systems. It also provides an introduction to the Control Engineering toolbox in Matlab for use as a design tool to realise and evaluate the performance of control systems.

This is a constituent module of one or more degree programmes which are accredited by a professional engineering institution under licence from the Engineering Council. The learning outcomes for this module have been mapped to the output standards required for an accredited programme, as listed in the current version of the Engineering Council’s ‘Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes’ document (AHEP-V3).

This module contributes to learning outcomes SM2m, SM3m, SM5m SM2p, SM3p, SM4m, SM6m, EA2m, EA3m EA2p, EA3p, EA5m, EA6m D3p, D3m, D6m, D6p, D4p

A full list of the referenced outcomes is provided online: http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/emps/subjects/engineering/accreditation/

The AHEP document can be viewed in full on the Engineering Council’s website, at http://www.engc.org.uk/

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge: SM2m, SM3m, SM5m SM2p, SM3p, SM4m, SM6m, EA3m EA2p, EA3p, EA4m

1.      Exemplify, through analytical and simulation work, knowledge and understanding of basic concepts required for the analysis and interpretation of systems dynamics

2.      Illustrate, through analytical and simulation work, knowledge and understanding of the power and limitations of feedback systems

3.      Derive simple performance specifications for closed-loop systems and analyse simple examples using analytical and simulation techniques

4.      With limited guidance, use computational tools to design and analyse control systems

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge: EA5m, EA6m D3p

5.      Reveal improved analytical design skills

6.      Show improved ability to interpret data in terms of mathematical models

7.      Apply your theoretical knowledge to the solution of a real problem

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge: D4p, G1p, SM2p, SM3p

8.      Illustrate basic project management skills: setting realistic targets, allocating tasks and reviewing progress

9.      Demonstrate improved written, graphical and oral communication skills

1: A review of transfer functions of linear systems

2: Block diagram manipulation

3: Open and closed-loop control systems

4: Time delays

5: Sinusoidal response of linear systems

6: Nyquist plots

7: Bode diagrams

8: Sensitivity of control systems to parameter variations

9: Disturbance rejection

10: Transient response

11: Steady-state error

12: The stability of linear feedback systems

13: Routh Hurwitz criterion

14: Coprime factorization of transfer functions

15: Youla parameterizations of all stabilizing controllers

16: Nyquist Stability criterion

17: Root locus plots

18: PID control and Ziegler-Nichols tuning

19: Gain and phase margins

20: The H-infinity norm and its interpretation

None

Reassessment will be by a single written exam only worth 100% of the module. For deferred candidates, the mark will be uncapped. For referred candidates, the mark will be capped at 40%.

Reading list for this module: