2/15/2018 Control Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink - Cruise Control: Root Locus Controller Design

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INTRODUCTION CRUISE CONTROL MOTOR SPEED

SYSTEM

MODELING Cruise Control: Root Locus

ANALYSIS Controller Design

Key MATLAB commands used in this tutorial are: tf ,

CONTROL
rlocus , feedback , step
PID

ROOT LOCUS

Related
FREQUENCY
Tutorial
Links
STATE-SPACE
Intro to
DIGITAL
Root Locus

Lead/Lag

SIMULINK Control

Root Locus
MODELING
Activity
CONTROL
Example
Animation

Related
External
Links
Design in
MATLAB

Root Locus
Video

Contents

System model

System parameters

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Performance specifications

Proportional control

Lag controller

System model

The transfer function model for the cruise control problem is given below. Please
see the Cruise Control: System Modeling page for the derivation.

(1)

System parameters

For this example, let's assume that the parameters of the system are

(m) vehicle mass 1000 kg

(b) damping coefficient 50 N.s/m

(r) reference speed 10 m/s

and the block diagram of a typical unity feedback system is shown below.

Performance specifications

Rise time < 5 sec

Overshoot < 10%

Steady-state error < 2%

Proportional control

Recall from the Introduction: Root Locus Controller Design page, the root-locus
plot shows the locations of all possible closed-loop poles when a single gain is
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varied from zero to infinity. Thus, only a proportional controller, , will be

considered to solve this problem. The closed-loop transfer function becomes:

(2)

Also, from the Introduction: Root Locus Controller Design page, we know that
the MATLAB command sgrid can be used to display an acceptable region of
the root-locus plot. To use the sgrid, both the damping ratio, , and the natural
frequency, , need to be determined first. The following two equations will be
used to find the damping ratio and the natural frequency:

(3)

(4)

where

= Natural Frequency [rad\s]

= Damping Ratio

= Rise time [s]

= Maximum Overshoot

One of our design criteria is to have a rise time of less than 5 seconds. From the
first equation, we see that the natural frequency must be greater than 0.36. Also
using the second equation, we see that the damping ratio must be greater than
0.6, since the maximum overshoot must be less than 10%.

Now, we are ready to generate a root-locus plot and use the sgrid to find an
acceptable region on the root-locus. Create a new m-file and enter the following
commands.

m = 1000;
b = 50;

r = 10;

s = tf('s');
P_cruise = 1/(m*s+b);

rlocus(P_cruise)
axis([-0.6 0 -0.6 0.6]);
sgrid(0.6, 0.36)

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The two dotted lines in an angle indicate the locations of constant damping ratio
( =0.6); the damping ratio is greater than 0.6 in between these lines and less
than 0.6 outside the lines. The semi-ellipse indicates the locations of constant
natural frequency ( =0.36); the natural frequency is greater than 0.36 outside
the semi-ellipse, and smaller than 0.36 inside.

We can then find a gain to place the closed-loop poles in the desired region by
employing the rlocfind command. Add the code
[Kp,poles]=rlocfind(P_cruise) onto the end of your m-file to help you
choose a specific loop gain. After running in the command window, you should
see a prompt asking you to pick a point on the root-locus plot. Since you want to
pick a point in between dotted lines ( >0.6) and outside the semi-ellipse (
>0.36), click on the real axis just outside the semi-ellipse (around -0.4) as
indicated by the cross mark in the following figure.

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After doing this, you should see the following output in the MATLAB command
window.

Select a point in the graphics window

selected_point =

-0.4002 + 0.0019i

Kp =

350.2419

poles =

-0.4002

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Note that the value returned from your MATLAB command window may not be
exactly the same, but should at least have the same order of magnitude. This
returned value can be used as the gain for the compensator and the closed-loop
step response can be generated as follows.

Kp = 350.2419;
sys_cl = feedback(Kp*P_cruise,1);
t = 0:0.1:20;
step(r*sys_cl,t)

With the gain Kp you just chose, the rise time and the overshoot criteria have
been met; however, a steady-state error of more than 10% remains.

Lag controller

To reduce the steady-state error, a lag controller will be added to the system.
The transfer function of the lag controller is:

(5)

The closed-loop transfer function (not including ) now becomes:

(6)

Finally, including the loop gain , the closed-loop transfer function becomes:

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(7)

If you read the "Lag or Phase-Lag Compensator using Root-Locus" section in

the Lead and Lag Compensator Design page, the pole and the zero of a lag
controller need to be placed close together. Also, it states that the steady-state
error will be reduced by a factor of . For these reasons, let equal 0.3
and equal 0.03.

Create a new m-file, and enter the following commands.

zo = 0.3;
po = 0.03;

s = tf('s');
C_lag = (s+zo)/(s+po);

rlocus(C_lag*P_cruise);
axis([-0.6 0 -0.4 0.4])
sgrid(0.6,0.36);

Using the rlocfind command again, we can choose a new loop gain . Enter
the code [Kp,poles]=rlocfind(C_lag*P_cruise) into the command window
and click on the real axis around -0.4 as shown in the following figure.

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After doing this, you should see the following output in the MATLAB command
window.

Select a point in the graphics window

selected_point =

-0.4002 - 0.0012i

Kp =

1.2936e+03

poles =

-0.9733

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-0.4003

We can then generate the new closed-loop step response as follows.

Kp = 1293.6;
sys_cl = feedback(Kp*C_lag*P_cruise,1);
t = 0:0.1:20;
step(r*sys_cl,t)
axis([0 20 0 12])

As you can see, the steady-state error has been reduced to near zero. The
overshoot is a result of the zero added in the lag controller. For now all of the
design criteria have been met and no further iterations are needed; however,
you should experiment with different and values to see what their effect is
on the closed-loop system response.

Published with MATLAB® 9.2

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