Find a real-world (household, industrial, etc.) control system that uses (1) some kind of transducers (transducer units) and (2) feedback control.
a) What is the system of your choice? State the product name, ID and make, and describe the purpose, application and overall goal of the whole system. Then briefly describe the role of the feedback system (which you later describe in more details) to achieve the overall goal.
[10 marks]
(b) Briefly state the goal of the feedback system. Draw the block diagramof the feedback system, show controller/plant and the input/output measured variables.
[10 marks]
(c) What sensors (transducers) are used in the feedback system? Describe (1) brief mechanism, (2) expected input variable and range, (3) output range and accuracy. The answer isexpected to be more than just “displacement sensor” but more detailed, such as LVDT, optical shaft encoder, etc. You may refer to a similar sensor/product if it is difficult to extract quantitative information directly from the product specification.
[20 marks]
(d) What alternative transducers are available to achieve the same purpose? Discuss the likely reason why the type of transducer in (c) was chosen by the designer over other options.
[10 marks]
[10 marks] (f) What are (1) the total cost, (2) the most expensive part and its cost, and (3) the cost of
transducer?
[5 marks] (g) Discuss the accuracy of the feedback system, considering its impact on the intended
(e) Describe expected nature of the signal output from the transducer (e.g. level of voltage/current, noise level, etc.). What kind of signal conditioning is needed?
application of the whole system.
[15 marks]
(h) Discuss the limitation of the feedback system and how that can be improved both in instrumentation and control aspects. Considering these improvements, discuss why the
designers have not included them in the design.
[20 marks]