ELEC-C8201:

Control & Automation

Lecturers: Kai Zenger, Themistoklis Charalambous and
Valeriy Vyatkin
Assistant (for the control part): Jani Arponen
Assistant (for the automation part): Udayanto Atmojo,
Pranay Jhunjhunwala
Email: firstname.secondname@aalto.fi
 Course structure and teachers
1. Control part ( 8 lectures, 8 exercise sessions, 8 Quizzes,
4 homework problems)

- Kai Zenger (TuAs building, room 3574), distant

- Themistoklis Charalambous (Otakaari 5, I3 Wing, room I306A ), distant
- Jani Arponen, (assistant), distant

2. Automation part (4 lectures, 4 exercises, 2 homework problems.

Details of the automation part will be published, when that part
begins, March 16th)

- Valeriy Vyatkin (TuAs, 3575), distant

- Atmojo Udayanto, assistant, (TuAs, 3558), distant
- Pranay Jhunjhunwala, assistant, distant
 Material
The control part consists of lectures, exercise sessions, quiz problems
and home assignments.

The course book (control part) is (R.C.Dorf, R.H. Bishop: Modern

Control Systems, Pearson Education International, 12th edition;
available in the net). Note: the book is large and is intended to be
used when needed and on your own choice. It is possible to pass the
course based on teaching and material given in course pages only.

Lecture slides and exercises with solutions will appear in course

pages (MyCourses).

Quiz problems and homework assignments will also appear in course

pages. The solutions must be submitted in due time in the portal.
Quiz problems will be given once a week, homework assignments
approximately every two weeks.
 Requirements to pass the course
Final exam: Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 9:00-12:00, distant. You do
not have to register to the exam, registration to the course is enough. However,
for later exams (next: Thursday 17th of May 2021, 16:30-19:30) you have to register.

Homework assignments: 4 homework assignments in the control part, 2

homework assignments for the automation part.
First homework will be published during the second lecture week.
Solution time approximately two weeks.

Quiz problems: Each Quiz is published 24 hours before the lecture starts,
and the deadline (Quiz closes) is 15 minutes before the lecture starts.
Exception: The first Quiz will be published on the day of the first lecture,
and the solution time is 48 hours. The Quiz problems concern the material of
the previous lecture and also material on the coming lecture (lecture slides are
available 24 hours before the lecture.
 Grading

Grading is based on the following formula

Quiz Homework Exam
AS %  *10  *30  * 60
12 36 60
(An additional feedback bonus of 3 AS% is given to those who give feedback.)

12 Quiz problems, max 12x1=12 points

6 Homework assignments, max 6x6=36 points
Exam: 6 problems max 10 points each, max 60 points.

The weights: Quiz 10%, Homework 30%, Exam 60%

Grading: AS%: 40: 1, 50:2, 60:3, 70:4, 80:5

(if you have reached 40%, then grade is 1, etc.)
 Schedule of the Control part

January 12: Introduction, models of physical systems, Laplace transformation,

Block diagram algebra, (Dorf and Bishop: Ch1, Ch2.2-2.6)
January 19: State-space representation, relation between state-space-
representation and transfer function (Ch 3)
January 26: Stability, poles, zeros, performance, steady-state error (Ch 5)
February 2: Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion (Ch 6.1-6.2)
February 9: The Root locus method (Ch 7.1-7.5)
February 16: Frequency response methods (Ch 8.1-8.5)
Week 8: Evaluation and examination week: no teaching in the course
March 2: The Nyquist stability criterion (Ch 9.1-9.4)
March 9: Controllability and observability (Ch 11.1-11.5)
Automation part starts….

Lectures are on Tuesdays. The exercises are always on Thursday, same week.
 Control part: Lectures and exercises

Lectures are on Tuesdays 10:15-12. Zoom link is given in MyCourses pages

of the course. The same link is valid for all lectures. The lecture is also
recorded and set in MyCourse pages afterwards.

The exercises are on Thursdays 10:15-12, same week as the lecture.

Separate Zoom link is provided. But: about one day before the exercise
session a recording is shown, where the assistant solves the problems. The
actual Zoom session, Thursday 10:15-12, is reserved for commenting the
solutions and for asking questions on-line from the assistant.

Note: In the Automation part (starting 16th of March) some different teaching
methods may be used. These are introduced then. However, the evaluation
principles (grading) remain the same.
What is control?

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 Controlling your speed
controller disturbance (road slope)
feet
engine torque/
desired speed brake speed

vehicle

speed
observation

• The vehicle speed must be controlled in order to reach and maintain the
desired speed …
• ... in spite of changes of road slope and desired speed

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 Automatic cruise control
controller disturbance (road slope)
Engine Control Unit
engine torque/
desired speed brake speed

vehicle

speed
measurement

• The vehicle speed must be controlled in order to reach and maintain the
desired speed …
• ... in spite of changes of road slope and desired speed

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An every day control system: the flushing toilet

desired level • After a toilet is flushed, the water tank must

be refilled to a desired level
actual level • This is done with a simple control system
using a valve controlled by a floating ball

+
desired
Σ Valve
actual
water - water
level level
measured
water level
Float

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 Open-loop vs closed-loop control
Open-loop control Closed-loop control
(feedforward control) (feedback control)

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 Application areas of control & automation
• Automotive, Aeronautics & aerospace engineering
• Process control (chemical, pharmaceutical, …)
• Environmental systems
• Manufacturing
• Robotics
• Supply chains
• Financial engineering
• Telecommunications
• Power electronics
• Power networks
• …

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 Segway Human Transporter
The SegwayTM Human Transporter (HT) is the first
self-balancing, electric-powered transportation
device.

Dynamic stabilization enables Segway HT to work

seamlessly with the body’s movements.

Gyroscopes and tilt sensors in Segway HT monitor a

user’s center of gravity at about 100 times a second.
When a person leans slightly forward, Segway HT
moves forward. When leaning back, Segway HT
moves back.

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 Balancing a mini Segway-like robot
A project for understanding the process of:
How to design a (modern) control system?
• Understand the automation problem:
• Which variables can we control?
• What are the output variables?
• What should we measure?
• What are the disturbances?
• Derive a simplified mathematical model

• Obtain a reliable simulation model

• Synthesize the control algorithm

• Test in simulations, validate on the real system (robot)

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Summary of the course

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 Content of the course
 From control:
Representations of dynamical systems (transfer functions, state-space
representation), simple modeling of a dynamical system (process), the control
problem, negative feedback, poles, zeros, stability, controllability, observability,
PID controller, state controllers, frequency domain techniques.

 From automation:
This course will address the problem of how to design simple automation systems
that include feedback. It includes basic structures and functions of automation
systems. Sensors and automation networks. Automation programming (PLC).

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 Learning outcomes
 From control: The student
• understands the principles and analysis methods of dynamical systems
• can design controllers by different methods and verify the operation of the
closed loop system by analytical means and through simulation

 From automation: The student

• understands the hardware and software architectures of automation systems
• can use automation programming languages of PLCs
• designs methods and patterns learned with hands on experience

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 Preliminaries
 Prerequisites:
MATLAB, Signals and Systems, Differential calculus, Basics of computer
programming, Boolean algebra, Matrix Algebra

 Assessment methods and criteria:

Quiz problems, homework assignments, final examination.

 Courses where this course is a prerequisite:

• Digital and Optimal Control (ELEC-E8101)
• Automation Systems Synthesis and Analysis (ELEC-E8110)
• Distributed and Intelligent Automation Systems (ELEC-E8102), but practically
we accepted there students without prerequisites.

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