Fundamentals of Control Engineering

Higher education teachers: Nedeljković David

Subject description

Prerequisits:

• Enrolment in the study year.
• Knowledge of Mathematics I-II, Physics I-II, Electrical Engineering Fundamentals I-II, Measurements, Electrical Machines.
• Before taking the exam the student has to accomplish the laboratory exercises and to prepare the corresponding report.
• Laboratory work must be carried out in groups with a small number of students due to the increased danger (high voltage and rotating parts).

Content (Syllabus outline):

Linear systems and their descriptions: step response, Laplace transform and transfer function, frequency response (Bode, Nyquist, Nichols plots). Block diagrams, open-loop, closed-loop systems and corresponding transfer functions. Stability, steady state error, dynamic error. Features of elements of control systems in power electronics and electrical drives. PID controllers and their realization with analogue and digital electronics. Optimization of controllers' parameters. Cascade control systems, process control systems. Features of digital control. Influence of nonlinearities, limit cycles, integrator wind-up. Basics of simulations and use of appropriate tools in control system design. Examples of control systems in power electronics and electrical drives.

Objectives and competences:

The student will master fundamental topics in the field of control engineering, with emphasis on linear systems. He will meet simpler methods to design control systems and learn how to use these methods with state-of-the-art software tools. The student will develop a critical approach to operate, optimize and upgrade the control systems. With some additional knowledge, the student will be able to design simpler control systems in the field of power engineering.

Intended learning outcomes:

• Knowledge and understanding: The student will understand the basic concepts in the field of control engineering and know simpler methods to describe the electrical and mechanical systems.
• Application: The student will efficiently operate implemented control systems in the field of power electronics and if necessary, he/she will be able to upgrade and optimize them.
• Reflection: The student will be aware of static and dynamic features of the elements of control systems. He/she will know how to evaluate the impact of these features on the effectiveness of control.

• Transferable skills: The skills acquired in this course will provide a basis for understanding and study of control in other courses covering power engineering, electrical drives and electrical technological processes. In addition to control systems in technology, the student will understand the operation of feedback systems in the nature and society.

Learning and teaching methods:

• Lectures (45 hours) and
• laboratory exercises (15 hours).

Study materials

Readings:

1. Gene F. Franklin, J. David Powell, Abbas Emami-Naeini: Feedback control of dynamic systems, Addison-Wesley, 2010.
2. Dogan Ibrahim: Microcontroller based applied digital control: J. Wiley & Sons, 2006.
3. Werner Leonhard: Control of Electrical Drives, Springer; 2001.