Dedan Kimathi University of Technology

University Examinations 2015/2016

FOURTH YEAR EXAMINATION FOR
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN MECHATRONIC
ENGINEERING

EMT 2402 CONTROL ENGINEERING I

DATE: DURATION: 2 HOURS TIME:

INSTRUCTIONS

1. This paper consists of FIVE questions.

2. You are required to answer THREE questions only.
3. Question ONE is compulsory
4. Attempt ONE question from section B and another ONE question in section C.
5. Question ONE carries 30 Marks and the others carry 20 marks each.
6. All dimensions are in millimeters unless otherwise stated.

1
SECTION A
Question One (30 Marks)
1. (a) Many Luxury automobiles have thermostatically controlled air-conditioning systems
for the comfort of the passengers. Sketch a block diagram of an air-conditioning
system where the driver sets the desired interior temperature on a dashboard panel.
Identify the various components and variables and classify using standard control
terms, and also identify possible sources of disturbances to the system. [8 Marks]
(b) i. A novice control engineer was attempting to model rocket flight.
• Characterize the mathematical model developed. [2 Marks]
• How appropriate would be a transfer function be for this model. Explain
[2 Marks]
ii. The fuzzy controller design schematically illustrated in Figure Q2b ii require
two inputs, namely velocity error and acceleration in order to generate the
appropriate output. Fuzify the two inputs into three levels and draw their
membership functions. [6 Marks]

Fig Q1bii: Fuzzy controller design

(c) Consider the system

Fig Q1c

i. For H1 = H2 = 0, what is the transfer function from R to θ? [4 Marks]

ii. For H1 6= 0, H2 6= 0, what is the transfer function from R to Y ? [8 Marks]

2
SECTION B: (Answer only ONE question from this section)

Question TWO (20 Marks)

2. (a) Assume zero initial conditions, find the response y(t); the displacement of the node
between the dashpot and the spring for the system shown in Figure Q 2a(a). The
profile of the displacement of the right node x0 (t) o is shown in Figure Q2a(b).

Fig Q2a.

i. Find the time constant τ of the response y(t) in terms of b and k . [8 Marks]
ii. Plot the response y(t). [2 Marks]
iii. Use the final value theorem to find the steady state value yss = lim inf y(t) [2
Marks]
(b) Given the system shown in Figure Q2b, find J and D to yield 20% overshoot and a
settling time of 2 seconds for a step input of torque T (t) [8 Marks]

Fig Q2b.

Question THREE (20 Marks)

3. (a) The Hubble space telescope control system has the following structure
where Y (s) is the pointing angle and R(s) is the commanded angle.
i. Let the disturbance D(s) be a unity step input and let R(s) = 0. Calculate the
steady state value of the output, yss , as a function of the general gains K and
/or K1 [2 Marks]
ii. Find the values of K and K1 to achieve an overshoot of only 10% and a peak
time of 2 seconds with respect to a unity step command in R(s) (for zero
disturbance) [8 Marks]

3
 Figure Q3(a)

(b) Rotor mounted in bearings is shown in the figure below. External torque T (t ) is
applied to the system.

Fig Q1b: Rotor

i. Obtain mathematical model of the system [2 Marks]

ii. Find and graph the response of the system to a ramp input of the form r(t) = Bt
[8 Marks]

SECTION C: (Answer only ONE question from this section)

Question FOUR (20 Marks)

4. (a) Consider the feedback system

Fig Q4a

i. Sketch the root locus for the plant G1. What type of feedback gains K would
you use for these plants, large or small? why? [5 Marks]

s2 − 4s + 10
G1 =
s(s + 2)(s + 8)

ii. Suppose that as a feedback designer you are allowed to use only either very large
K or unity K. Which would you choose for each of the following two plants? (If

4
 you opt for unity K you need to justify your answer by Rouths criterion.) [5
Marks]
2(s + 10)
G3 =
(s + 5)(s2 + 2s − 3)
(b) The Bode plots of a system G(s) are

Figure Q4(b)

i. Justifying your answer, write an approximate expression for G(s). [6 Marks]

ii. Then sketch a Nyqist diagram based on the Bode plot. [6 Marks]

Question FIVE (20 Marks)

5. (a) Consider the following system:

Fig Q5a

i. Suppose
s+4
C(s) =
s + 20
which is a phase-lead compensator. Sketch the root locus of the closed-loop
system. [5 Marks]

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 ii. Using Routh Hurwitz method find the range of the gain K (K > 0) for which
the feedback system is asymptotically stable. [5 Marks]
(b) i. Plot the Nyquist diagram of the system
1
G(s) =
s(s + 2)2

and determine exactly the gain margin, GM(not in decibels but in regular linear
units) gain margin, GM (not in decibels but in regular, ‘linear units). [5
Marks]
ii. Sketch the Bode plots for the system
s+1
P (s) =
(s − 1)2 (1 + 0.1s)2

[5 Marks]