How are systems controlled?

We are surrounded in our daily lives by many engineering systems that work
automatically at the push of a few buttons. The washing machine, toaster, air-
conditioning system or even the handphone are examples of such intelligent
systems. In fact, the human being is a sophisticated mega-system made of
many small intelligent systems.
Take Bob walking to the bus-stop, as an example.

Figure 1: Bob walking to the bus stop

By sensing the environment using his eyes, Bob’s brain checks this input
continuously and decides if he has reached his destination. If he has not, he
continues walking straight, else he stops walking.
Engineering systems are no different! Sensing the environment through
passive and active sensors gives us ‘eyes’, while modifying the environment
through motors (or actuators) gives us ‘legs’. However, to make our systems
smart, we need to give it a ‘brain’!
In this chapter, we will learn how systems are typically controlled and
attempt to control our very own drone in the studio sessions!
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Student Preparation

In preparation for the studio sessions, students are expected to read and
understand this chapter.

Inputs vs Outputs

Figure 2: Block Diagram of a System’s

Inputs and Outputs

Our phones, toasters and microwaves work automatically at the push

of a few buttons. From the switches to the light dependent resistor we en-
countered in Week 8, these sensors in essence provide information about the
physical world to an engineering system. This useful information allows the
system to make decisions and are inputs to the system.
Outputs of an engineering system are actuators or parameters that our
system controls. Just like our legs or the motors we controlled in Week 9,
these actuators allow us to modify our environment, such as moving a car
forwards or turning on the air cooler to cool the environment.

Figure 3: Inputs and Outputs of a Hairdryer

Let us use a hair dryer as an example. It receives a temperature setting as

an input from you and outputs hot air at the required temperature for as long
it is switched on.
What about the air-conditioning unit? It similarly receives a temperature
setting from you and modifies temperature. However, apart from the setpoint,
it also uses a temperature sensor or thermostat to monitor the temperature in
the room. If the temperature is higher than the set-point, the system controls
the air-conditioning unit to blow cold air into the room. Otherwise, the air
cooler is off.
The temperature sensor monitors the effects of the air-con unit and the ad-
ditional input information allows it to keep the temperature at a comfortable
 H OW A R E S Y S T E M S C O N T RO L L E D ? 3

Figure 4: Inputs and Outputs of a Hairdryer

25◦ C.
Look around the house and pick one appliance (not the hair dryer or aircon
of course!). What are the inputs to and outputs of this appliance?

What-loop Control?

Figure 5: Open Loop Control

The hair dryer is an example of an open loop control system, as the out-
put is available regardless of how much your hair has dried or if your scalp
is burning! In open loop control systems, the output of the system is not
measured and there is no information provided on the current status of the
system. The input directly controls the output.
Just like a water dispenser, if you turn on the valve, water flows out, else
no water flows out. There is no information on the amount of water that has
flowed into your cup.

Figure 6: Closed Loop Control

Earlier, we saw Bob walking to the bus-stop. Imagine now if Bob decides
to close his eyes! What would happen? Bob would continue to take steps
forward but without the input information provided on his location, Bob
would not be able to stop exactly at his destination.
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The air-conditioning unit and Bob are examples of closed loop control
systems.
In contrast to open loop control, a closed loop control system requires
us to observe the effects of the output of the system. This lets us detect if a
specific measurable task has been completed.

This is called feedback.

For example, in Bob’s case, his eyes provide feedback of whether he is at

his destination. For the air-conditioning unit, the temperature sensor provides
feedback whether the temperature of the room is at the setpoint. Similarly,
fuel pumps at petrol stations dispense exactly the exact amount of petrol (and
not a drop more) with the help of feedback from flow meters!
With feedback providing constant information on whether the task has
been accomplished, closed loop control systems can often be automated and
are more robust as it is able to handle variations in the system. Even if the
fuel pump was having a loose valve and supplying fuel at a faster rate than
usual, it would still only supply you the required amount, though in a shorter
time!
Think about the appliance you identified in the previous section. Is it a
open or closed loop control system?

Representing the Brain

To design a ‘brain’ for a system that can be understood by all engineers

requires a common form of representation that can be easily understood.
There are many tools such as the Unified Modeling Language (UML) or Data
Flow Diagrams (DFD) available but in this chapter we are going to explore
State Diagrams.
State diagrams allow us to describe the behaviour of our system in an easy
way. Let’s use our air-conditioner with a setpoint of 25◦ C as an example.

1. First, let’s specify the inputs and outputs for our system.

• Inputs : Setpoint of 25◦ C, Temperature of Room, T

• Outputs : Air Cooler

2. Next, let’s represent the different actions of our system using boxes. Here,
the Air Cooler is either ON or OFF. These are called the different states of • Why is this important?
the system. Each state can also be labeled with a descriptive state name for • What happens if states are not mutually
easy reference. exclusive?
Notice how these states are mutually exclusive? This means that both of these
states cannot possibly be happening at the same time, eg. the Cooler cannot
be both ON and OFF at the same time.
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Figure 7: Two Possible Actions for Air-

Conditioning System

3. In the last step, we simply connect the different boxes using arrows to
define the conditions for how our system moves from state to state.

Figure 8: State transitions occuring

on(event).

In our air-conditioning controller, if the air cooler was OFF, we would like to
turn it on if the temperature exceeds the desired setpoint of 25◦ C. Otherwise,
if the temperature was equal to or lower than 25◦ C, we should keep it OFF.
To represent this, we simply connect the boxes with arrows that signify
the transitions between the states. We label these transitions with conditions
that must be true for the transition to occur. These conditions are also called
guards as they guard the transition and prevent if from happening if the
condition is not satisfied!

These conditions can be defined in several ways :

• on (event)

• after (time)

• else
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Consider what happens now if we were in the ‘Cooler ON’ state, but
the temperature stays persistently at 27◦ C because it is a sunny day? By all
means, we should keep the Cooler ON until the temperature drops to 25◦ C.
To represent this, we can use the else condition with an arrow from the
state and back to itself again.

Figure 9: State Diagram for Air-

Conditioning System

Using these three handy steps, develop a state diagram for the appliance
that you picked earlier.

Supplementary Viewings

• Understanding Control Systems : Open-Loop Control Systems

• Understanding Control Systems : Closed-Loop Feedback Control Systems