PREPARED BY: JUNE FAMUR JR.

 Isthe simplest form of feedback control.

An on-off controller simply drives the
manipulated variable from fully closed to
fully open depending on the position of
the controlled variable relative to the set
point. A common example of on-off
control is the temperature control in a
domestic heating system.
 When the temperature is below the thermostat set point the
heating system is switched on and when the temperature is
above the set point the heating switches off.
 There is, however, a bit of subtlety applied in practical on-off
systems. If the heating switches on and off the instant the
measured temperature crossed the set point then the system
would chatter - repeatedly switch on and off at very high
frequency. If this happened the boiler wouldn't last very
long! To avoid chattering, practical on-off controllers usually
have a dead band around the set point. When the measured
value lies within this dead-band the controller does nothing
- its only when the value moves outside that action is taken.
The effect of this is to introduce continuous oscillation in the
value of the controlled variable - the large the dead-band
the higher the amplitude and lower the frequency.
 The On Off Controller or two position
controller is the simplest, cheapest and the
most used controllers. It is used in domestic
heating systems, refrigeration, water tanks,
etc. When the measured variable is below
the set point, the controller is ON and the
output signal has maximum value. When the
measured variable is above the set point,
the controller is OFF and output is zero.
Due to mechanical friction or arcing of electrical contacts,
the controller actually goes on slightly below the set point
and goes off slightly above the set point. This differential
gap in the controller output may be deliberately
increased to give decreased frequency of operation and
reduced wear.
 The favourable conditions for using On Off Controller
are as follows:
 The reaction rate should be slow.
 There should be little or no dead time.
 There should be little or no transfer lag.

Dead time causes the value of the measured variable to

go beyond the limit set by the differential gap, since the
presence of dead time means a delay in corrective
action of the controller. The greater the dead time, the
greater the amplitude and period as shown in Fig. 21.4.
With both the dead time and the transfer lag, the measured variable
exceeds the controller differential gap, as seen from Figs 21.4 and
21.5. With the transfer lag, all the changes are more gradual. Hence,
the measured variable peaks due to the effect of transfer lag are
rounded off on the two position controllers and are not as sharp as
they are due to dead time effect.
 In an industrial plant, a closed-loop control
system has the role of keeping a measured physical
signal to a predefined value (set point). The physical
signal, also called controlled variable, can be of any
kind, electrical (voltage, current, power), mechanical
(position, speed, force, torque), hydraulic (pressure,
flow) or thermal (temperature). The difference between
the controlled variable (measured) and the predefined
value is called error.
 The input of the controller is the error and
the controller output is an actuation signal which is
send to an actuator. The controlled variable is further
measured with a sensor and the information is feed
back to the controller.
 The difference between the set point and the plant
output (measured) occurs because of
the disturbances which affect the plant (process). The
role of the controller is to reject these disturbances and
keep the plant output (controlled variable) to the
predefined value (set point).
 The ways in which the controller reacts to the error are
called control laws or control modes. In industrial
applications there are several control laws used, most
of them being on-off control, PID control or other more
advanced laws (fuzzy, neuro-fuzzy, optimal, etc.).
 FEED BACK CONTROLS
- Feedback controls are widely used in
modern automated systems. A feedback
control system consists of five basic
components: (1) input, (2) process being
controlled, (3) output, (4) sensing elements,
and (5) controller and actuating devices.
These five components are illustrated
in Figure 1. The term closed-loop feedback
control is often used to describe this kind of
system.
 The input to the system is the reference value, or set point, for the
system output. This represents the desired operating value of the output.
Using the previous example of the heating system as an illustration, the
input is the desired temperature setting for a room. The process being
controlled is the heater (e.g., furnace). In other feedback systems, the
process might be a manufacturing operation, the rocket engines on
a space shuttle, the automobile engine in cruise control, or any of a
variety of other processes to which power is applied. The output is the
variable of the process that is being measured and compared to the input;
in the above example, it is room temperature.
 The sensing elements are the measuring devices used in the feedback
loop to monitor the value of the output variable. In the heating system
example, this function is normally accomplished using a bimetallic strip.
This device consists of two metal strips joined along their lengths. The two
metals possess different thermal expansion coefficients; thus, when the
temperature of the strip is raised, it flexes in direct proportion to the
temperature change. As such, the bimetallic strip is capable of measuring
temperature. There are many different kinds of sensors used in feedback
control systems for automation.
 The purpose of the controller and actuating devices in the
feedback system is to compare the measured output value with.
the reference input value and to reduce the difference between
them. In general, the controller and actuator of the system are the
mechanisms by which changes in the process are accomplished to
influence the output variable. These mechanisms are usually
designed specifically for the system and consist of devices such as
motors, valves, solenoid switches, piston cylinders, gears, power
screws, pulley systems, chain drives, and other mechanical and
electrical components.
 The switch connected to the bimetallic strip of the thermostat is
the controller and actuating device for the heating system. When
the output (room temperature) is below the set point, the switch
turns on the heater. When the temperature exceeds the set point,
the heat is turned off.

 Simplicity is the primary reason why On-Off Control is
not used in commercial applications. Most homeowners
would agree that a certain amount of variability in their
oven’s temperature – as an example – is expected.
Processes like an oven are simple. For one, they don’t
interact with other processes. And second, if you’re a
bad cook, then more precise control probably isn’t the
answer. In contrast, industrial process manufacturing is
complex. Processes are highly dynamic and interactive.
Whether in terms of safety or economics, the benefits
of more precise control are significant.
Following are a few aspects of On-Off Control that you
should keep in mind when considering it for commercial
application:
 An Open or Shut Case

As its name implies, On-Off Control assigns the

Controller Output (CO) to one of two positions such
that the final control element (FCE) is either fully
open or fully closed. Unlike intermediate value or
PID control, there is no in between. Most industrial
processes require greater latitude when it comes to
adjusting the CO’s position.
 Ups and Downs

On-Off Control can result in excessive variability as

the controller has so few options for maintaining Set
Point. A process equipped with On-Off Control will
constantly overshoot its Set Point and cycle as a
result. The work demanded of the FCE regularly
accelerates the time to failure and increases
maintenance costs.
 Setting Boundaries

Deadband is a range of operation around the Set

Point and within which the controller’s action will
not change. On-Off Control with Deadband
establishes upper and lower boundaries that are
acceptable to the control loop’s operation. While
Deadband’s “cushion” reduces wear on the FCE,
variability remains within the process which can
present challenges for other downstream
processes.
 Most industrial processes require tighter control
than is possible with On-Off Control. While it is
frequently used in industrial HVAC and simple
furnaces, On-Off Control is used sparingly in
industrial process manufacturing. Given its
ability to achieve tighter and more stable control,
intermediate value PID-based control is well
suited to industrial application requirements. To
learn more about these basic and advanced
control strategies, consider taking a training
course from a recognized authority on process
control.
 Incontrol theory, an on/off controller,
also known as a hysteresis controller, is a
feedback controller that switches
abruptly between two states. These
controllers may be realized in terms of
any element that provides hysteresis.
They are often used to control a plant that
accepts a binary input, for example a
furnace that is either completely on or
completely off.
 Forexample, a thermostat is a simple
negative-feedback control: when the
temperature (the “process variable” or
PV) goes below a set point (SP), the
heater is switched on. Another example
could be a pressure switch on an air
compressor: when the pressure (PV)
drops below the threshold (SP), the pump
is powered. Refrigerators and vacuum
pumps contain similar mechanisms.
 The valve in the inflow line to the system is an
electrically operated solenoid valve. (Remember
an electrically operated solenoid valve has only
two operating positions . fully open or fully
closed.) Assume that under initial conditions with
a demand on the system the level will start to fall
and V1 will have to be opened to provide an
inflow. This can easily be achieved by mounting a
differential pressure switch, P1 at the bottom of
the tank to operate when the level falls to L1.
When the level is at L1 the liquid will be height
h1 above switch. The pressure at the switch will
be P1 = ρgh1.
 ρ. The mass density of the liquid

 g. The acceleration due to gravity

 h1. The height of the liquid

 The resulting switch closure can energize the solenoid valve
V1 causing an inflow to the tank. Assuming the valve is
correctly sized, this will cause a rise in the level back
towards the setpoint. In order to arrest the rise in level the
built in differential feature of the switch can be employed to
de-energize the solenoid valve when level L2 is reached.
This system will achieve a mean level in the tank about the
desired setpoint. This method is known as ON/OFF control.
Clearly it is impossible to maintain the system at the setpoint
since there must be a difference in the operating levels L1
and L2 as the valve can only be energized or de-energized.
It is often counterproductive to try to reduce the differential
between L1 and L2 to too small a value as this will result in
excessive cycling, and hence wear, of the valve.
 Summary

 On/off control – control signal is either

0% or 100%
 Control at set point not achievable, a
dead band must be incorporated.
 Useful for large, sluggish systems
particularly those incorporating electric
heaters.