CPDC HOMEWORK 1

Cara Nalbandian

Due: 09/13/2024

Question 1:
In addition to a thermostatically operated home heating system, identify two other
feedback control systems that can be found in most residences. Describe briefly how
each of them works; include sensor, measuring device and final control element.

Two other feedback control systems that can be found in most residences are
ovens and coffee makers.
When using an oven, a thermometer is used to measure the temperature
inside the oven, which is often displayed to the user when preheating an oven. The
thermostat inside of most electric ovens is the sensor that sends a signal to the
oven’s coils—the final control element—to maintain the internal temperature of the
oven if the temperature begins to drop once it has reached its set point.
Coffee makers also work similarly to ovens when heating up the water used
to make drip coffee. Coffee makers use a thermometer to measure the temperature
of the coils boiling the water, which is then sent to a sensor to determine if the coils
are overheating or not. If the coils get too hot, the sensor sends information to the
coils—the final control element—to turn off until they cool down enough to be
turned back on.

Question 2:
Does a typical microwave oven utilize feedback control to set cooking temperature or
to determine if the food is cooked?

A typical microwave oven will utilize feedback control to determine if the

food is cooked when using specific features, such as the defrost or reheat functions.
These two functions measure the temperature of the food to determine how much
time is left for it to fully cook.
However, when you press the number buttons to cook food for a specified
amount of time, feedback control is not used as the cooking time is a set value.

Question 3:
In class, we described the case of heating up a room as a control example. In addition
to ambient temperature, can you think of at least two other disturbances that can
influence the temperature of the house?

Two other disturbances that can influence the temperature of the house are
leaving the windows or doors open and using a fireplace.

Question 4:
A non electronic household appliance that utilizes built-in feedback control is the
water tank in a toilet. Identify the control objective and the controlled variable, the
measuring device and the final control element in this process.
 The control objective is the set height of the water in the tank of the toilet,
which can be written as h = hsp. The control variable is the height of the water in the
tank, which can be represented with h. The measuring device can be argued to be
the float, which floats on the top of the water in the tank when it is full and sinks
when the water is displaced from the tank. The final control element in this process
is the fill valve, which opens when the float sinks far enough to indicate the toilet’s
tank needs to be filled again, readjusting the height of the water until the float rises
high enough to close the valve.

Question 5:
In steering a car, identify the sensor (measuring device), the final control element
and the controller.

In steering a car, the measuring device is the steering angle sensor, which
measures the angle at which the driver turns the steering wheel. This information is
then transferred to the car’s internal computer, which is the controller that matches
the driver’s steering to the car’s wheels. The final control element is the steering
rack, which takes information from the car’s internal computer to directly control
the movement of the wheels and where they steer.

Question 6:
Which of the following statements are true? Justify your answer.

(a) Feedback and feedforward control both require a measured variable

This statement is true. The feedback control system measures the controlled
variable to adjust the manipulated variable, and the feedforward control system
measures the disturbance to adjust the manipulated variable.

(b) The process variable to be controlled is measured in feedback control.

This statement is true since in feedback control systems, the controlled variable
is measured to adjust the manipulated variable as needed.

(c) Feedforward control can be perfect in the theoretical sense that the controller can
take action via the manipulated variable even while the controlled variable remains
equal to its desired value.

This statement is true if we are speaking theoretically and after the controlled
variable has reached the desired set point. If the feedforward control system can
measure a disturbance and immediately adjust the manipulated variable to
maintain the controlled variable, then theoretically this could be a perfect
system. However, in real world applications this is not the case.

(d) Feedforward control can provide perfect control; that is, the output can be
kept at its desired value, even with an imperfect process model.
As stated in the previous statement, in real world applications feedforward
control systems can not provide perfect control to the point where the control
variable always remains equal to the desired value. After measuring the
disturbance, the manipulated variable often can not be altered with enough
speed to prevent the control variable from changing slightly.

(e) Feedback control will always take action regardless of the accuracy of any
process model that was used to design it and the source of a disturbance.

This statement is false as feedback control will not always take action depending
on the process model that is used and the disturbance that takes place. If the set
point that is defined is a range of values, if the control variable changes but stays
within the range defined, the feedback control system will not take action to
restabilize the control variable. Additionally, some feedback control systems
may only take action if the control variable falls below or falls above a certain
threshold. For a home heating system, if the use of a fireplace causes a
disturbance, the feedback control system will not take action since the control
variable—the temperature of the room—did not fall below the set point value.

(f) Disturbances are Input Variables.

Disturbances are input variables as they are usually a part of the surroundings
that affect the process occurring. In feedforward control systems, disturbances
are measured, which adjusts the manipulated variable to return the control
variable to the set point.

(g) Output variables are associated with exit flow streams.

Output variables are associated with exit flow streams as they are often the
result of the process’ effect on the surroundings. Input variables cause output
variables, so they are often compared to inlet and outlet flow streams.