Actuators and Drives

(MEC 304)

Lecture 4

Dr. Ahmed Amer Shahin

CSE dept. Faculty of Eng. Zagazig Univ.
[email protected]

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Credits for the original slides go to Dr. Ahmed Helmi
 Chapter 2
Component Interconnection and Signal Conditioning

• Components Interconnection.
• Impedance characteristics.
• Amplifiers.
• Bridge circuits.
• Analog and digital filters.
• Modulators.
• ADC and DAC.
• Multiplexers.
• Linearization devices.

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 Analog Filters
• A filter is a device that allows through only the desirable part
of a signal, rejecting the unwanted part.
• Unwanted signals can seriously degrade the performance of
a control system.
• External disturbances, error components in excitations, and
noise generated internally within system components and
instrumentation are undesired signals, which may be
removed by a filter.
• A filter is capable of shaping a signal in a desired manner.

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 Categories of Filters
1. Low-pass filters

2. High-pass filters

3. Band-pass filters

4. Band-reject (or notch) filters

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Categories of Filters

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 Low-pass Filter

• The simple circuit for low-pass filter is shown below

• It passes low frequency and rejects high frequency

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 Low-pass Filter
• The frequency response of the low-pass filter is shown below

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 Low-pass Filter
• The cutoff frequency (fc), also called corner or critical
frequency, of a filter is defined as the frequency at which
the output power is reduced to one-half of the input
power (or at which the ratio of the output to the input
voltage is 0.707).
• In the case of the first order low-pass filter, the cutoff
frequency is given by:
1
fc =
2RC
• The output to input ratio is determined by

Vout 1
=
Vin
1 +  f 
2

 fc 
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 Filter Design
To design a filter we need first to choose a suitable corner
frequency, fc, satisfying the criteria or the specifications.
Then, suitable values for R and C are determined.

– Select a standard capacitor value in the pF to F range.

– Calculate the required resistance value, if R < 1 k or R > 1 M,
pick another capacitor.
– Consider device tolerance
– If exact value is required, use trimmer resistor

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 Example
A measurement signal has a frequency < 1 kHz, but there is
unwanted noise at about 1 MHz. Design a low-pass filter that
attenuates the noise to 1%?
Answer
• At frequency f = 1 MHz, it is required to have Vout /Vin = 0.01
• Therefore, using the relationship,
Vout 1
=
Vin
1+  f 
2

• the critical frequency fc = 10 kHz.  fc 

• Let us use 0.01 uF capacitor. Then, from the following

relationship, we get R = 1591 Ω.
1
fc =
2 RC
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 Gain in decibel
• It is the log of the ratio of output to input voltage (or power)
multiplied by 20 (or 10 for power):

 
voltage gain in dB = 20 log Vo 
 Vi 

 
power gain in dB = 10 log Po 
 Pi 
• For example, the ratio Vo/Vi = 0.707 is equivalent to -3dB.

• Also, the ratio Vo/Vi = 0.1 is equivalent to -20dB.

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 High-pass Filter
• High-pass filter passes high frequencies and
rejects low frequencies.

• The circuit for RC high-pass is shown below

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 High-pass Filter
The ratio of output voltage to input voltage
of the high pass filter is
 f 
Vout =  fc 
Vin
1+  f 
2

 fc 

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Example 2

Pulses for a stepping motor are being transmitted

at 2000 Hz. Design a filter to reduce 60 Hz noise
(due to electric line frequency) but reduce the
pulses by no more than 3 dB.

Answer
• First, it is clear that a high pass filter is required.
• In order to find its corner frequency, fc, we know
that at f = 2000 Hz, the ratio Vo/Vi = -3dB.
• From the relationship
 
gain in dB = 20 log Vo   Vo = 0.707
 Vi  Vi
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Answer (continued)

• Substituting by Vo/Vi = 0.707 and f = 2000 in the following

relationship
 f 
Vout =  fc 
Vin
1+  f 
2

 fc 

yields fc = 2000 Hz.

1
• Let us use C = 0.01 uF capacitor, then using fc =
2 RC
R = 7.96 kΩ.
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Answer (continued)

• We have finished designing the filter, but we want to

check to what extent the 60 Hz noise is attenuated.

• Again, substituting by f = 60 Hz and fc = 2000 in the

following relationship
 f 
Vout =  fc 
Vin
1+  f 
2

 fc 
yields Vo/Vi = 0.03 which means that the noise has been
reduced to only 3% with the designed filter which is very
good result.
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 Analog/Digital Filters
• Passive analog filters employ analog circuits containing passive
elements such as resistors and capacitors (and sometimes
inductors) only.

• An external power source is not needed in a passive filter.

• Active analog filter is typically containing active components such
as transistors or op-amps.

• Today analog filters in the form of monolithic IC chips.

• Digital filters, which employ digital signal processing to achieve
filtering, are also widely used today.

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 Active Filters Pros
• Loading effects and interaction with other components are
negligible because active filters can provide a very high input
impedance and a very low output impedance.
• They can be used with low signal levels because both signal
amplification and filtering can be provided by the same active
circuit.

• They are widely available in a low-cost and compact IC form.

• They can be easily integrated with digital devices.

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 Active Filters Cons
• They need an external power supply.
• They are susceptible to saturation-type nonlinearity at
high signal levels.

• They can introduce many types of internal noise and

unmodeled signal errors (offset, bias signals, etc.).

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Active low-pass Filter

Passive low-pass filter

Active low-pass filter

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 Active low-pass Filter
• Think first in the passive filter (RC circuit):

Transfer function:

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 Active low-pass Filter
• For the active filter (RC with op-amp circuit):

• The op-amp with feedback resistor is in fact a voltage follower.

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 Active low-pass Filter
• Frequency response transfer function:

where, ω is the input signal frequency.

• When ω<< τ, the magnitude is approximately 1.

• Thus, 1/τ is the cut-off frequency:

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Active high-pass Filter

Passive high-pass filter

Active high-pass filter

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 Active low-pass Filter
• Active filters are much better in cascaded circuits.
• If two passive filter stages are connected together, the overall
transfer function is not equal to the product of the transfer
functions of the individual stages (input impedance of the
second stage is not sufficiently larger than output impedance
of the first stage).
• But for active filters, op-amp with feedback introduces a high
input impedance and low output impedance, and the voltage
gain at unity (in voltage follower).

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