Basic elements of control system

Basic elements of control system

In recent years, control systems have gained an increasingly importance in the development and advancement of the modern civilization and technology. Figure shows the basic components of a control system. Disregard the complexity of the system; it consists of an input (objective), the control system and its output (result). Practically our day-to-day activities are affected by some type of control systems. There are two main branches of control systems:

1) Open-loop systems and

2) Closed-loop systems.

1. Open-loop systems:

The open-loop system is also called the non-feedback system. This is the simpler of the two systems. A simple example is illustrated by the speed control of an automobile as shown in Figure 1-2. In this open-loop system, there is no way to ensure the actual speed is close to the desired speed automatically. The actual speed might be way off the desired speed because of the wind speed and/or road conditions, such as uphill or downhill etc.

2. Closed-loop systems:

The closed-loop system is also called the feedback system. A simple closed-system is shown in Figure 1-3. It has a mechanism to ensure the actual speed is close to the desired speed automatically.