ME31002

Linear Systems and Control

Lecture Note 2
Dr XJ Jing

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Transfer Function

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 Laplace transform: This is a preparation content which is supposed
to have been studied well already in your math

 The Laplace transform is an integral transform that converts a function of a real

variable (often time) to a function of a complex variable. The transform is a powerful
tool for solving differential equations. In particular, it transforms differential
equations into algebraic equations and convolution into multiplication .
 A great majority of physical systems are linear or approximately linear within some
range of its variables. The use of Laplace transformation can facilitate the analysis of
dynamic responses of such a linear system.


 Laplace Transformation of f(t) (  | f (t ) | dt   )

0

F ( s)   f (t )e  st dt  L[ f (t )]
0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplace_tra
 Inverse Laplace transform of F(s) nsform#:~:text=In%20mathematics%2
C%20the%20Laplace%20transform,(co
  j mplex%20frequency).
1

 st
f (t )  F ( s ) e ds
2 j   j
t
d 1
 s = σ + jω s   dt
dt s 0
The control theory and methods later are highly relying on this math tool which is used to
transform the time-domain physical meaningful things into the s-domain counterparts losing
direct link with their original physical meaning. This is one big reason for us not easy to
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understand some control theory and methods.
 Laplace transform - examples

 Exponential function  Step function

f (t )  0 for t  0
 t
f (t )  0 for t  0
 Ae for t  0
 A for t  0
 

 t  t  s t
L Ae   Ae e dt 
0 L A   Ae
s t
dt
 0
 (  s )t
 Ae dt
0
 A
s
 A
s 

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 Laplace transform - examples

 Ramp function  Sinusoidal function

f (t )  0 for t  0 f (t )  0 for t0

 At for t  0  A sin  t for t0

L At  

 At e
s t
dt sin  t  1
2j
e j t
 e  j t 
L  A sin  t 
0

 A 1
2 j s  j
 A 1
2 j s  j
e s t 
A e s t
 At   s
dt 
A
s 0 0 s 2
2


s t
 A
s e dt
0

 A
s2

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Laplace transform

Laplace transform table

Impulse signal
Step(position) signal

Ramp(velocity) signal

Exponential signal

Sinusoidal signal
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Laplace transform theorems

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Laplace transform – supplementary table

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 Using Tables to find the Laplace
Transform and its inverse
We should know how to use Laplace tables to find the Laplace transform and its inverse

g (t )  e t (1  sin t )  e t  e t sin t
G ( s)  L(e t  e t sin t )  L(e t )  L(e t sin t )
1 1 s2  s  1
  
s  1 ( s  1) 2  1 ( s  1)( s 2  2 s  2)

s 1 0.5 0.25 0.25

G ( s)    
s 2 ( s  2) s 2
s s2
 0.5 0.25 0.25 
g (t )  L1 (G ( s))  L1  2   
s s s  2
 0.5   0.25  1  0.25  1  1  1  1  1  1 
 L1  2   L1   L    0.5L  2   0.25L    0.25L  
s   s  s  2 s  s s  2
 0.5t  0.25  0.25e2t

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Inverse Laplace transform can be done by
looking up Laplace tables too

 Need to use partial fraction.

 Express F(s) in terms of simple functions of s for which the inverse
Laplace transforms are already known.
 Example

F (s)  s3
( s  1)( s  2 )

 a
s 1  b
s2

a  s3
s2  s  1
2
b  s3
s 1  s  2
 1
L1 F ( s )  L1  2
s 1  L 1 1
s2 
 2e  t  e  2t
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 Transfer functions
• A control system is often described by a model
expressed as a differential equation
• A different equation can be further transformed into a
transfer function through Laplace Transform

 Definition. The impulse response of a linear time-

invarying system is the response of the system to  (t )
and is often denoted h(t)

h(t)


1 t  0
 (t )  
0 else 
y (t )  h(t   )r ( )d
0
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 Transfer function
Definition:
Transfer function is the Laplace transform of the impulse response

Laplace Transform
G( s)  L h(t )
A system 
r(t) Different y(t)
Y ( s )  G ( s) R( s)
equations

R(s) Y(s)
G(s)
In the S domain, the input output relationship is very
straightforward in the block diagram, i.e., Y=G*R.
This is not possible in the original time domain

 Y(s), G(s) and R(s) are Laplace transforms of y(t), h(t) and r(t),
respectively
 G(s) is the Transfer Function of the system 12
 t
d 1
s 0
s  dt

Transfer Functions
dt
dny
a0 n
 a0 s nY ( s ) an y  anY ( s )
dt

 Supposing that all initial conditions are zero,

for any system described by the following
differential equation (y—output, x—input)

dny d n 1 y dy
a0  a  .......... .... a n 1  an y
dt n 1
1
dt n dt
d mx d m1 x dx
 b0 m  b1 m 1  .......... .......bm1  bm x
dt dt dt

Taking Laplace Transforms converts the differential

equation into the following algebraic equation

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 Transfer Functions

This can be expressed as: Y(s)=G(s)X(s)

 Transfer function
 Supposing that all initial conditions are zero, for any system
described by the following differential equation (y—output,
x—input)
dny d n 1 y dy
a0  a  .......... .... a n 1  an y
dt n 1
1
dt n dt
d mx d m1 x dx
 b0 m  b1 m 1  .......... .......bm1  bm x
dt dt dt

 Its transfer function is given by

L [output] Y (s)
G(s) = =
L [input] zero initial conditions
X ( s)

b0 s m  b1 s m 1  .......... .....  bm 1 s  bm
=
a 0 s n  a1 s n 1  .......... ......  a n 1 s  a n
 The system is called an nth order system
 a0=1 monic polynomial
 m<=n proper rational function; m<n strictly proper rational function
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Example (Heating system). As a simple example of
a system having a pure time delay consider the heating
system shown below.
The transfer function from input (the voltage applied to
the heating element) to the output (the temperature as
seen by the thermocouple) is approximately of the
form:
Summary

Transfer functions describe the input-

output properties of linear systems in
algebraic form.
 Definitions: Zeros and poles of transfer function

b0 s m  b1s m 1  .......... .....  bm 1s  bm N ( s )

G(s)  n 1

a0 s  a1s  .......... ......  an 1s  an D( s )
n

D(s) ------ characteristic polynomial

D(s)  0 ------ characteristic equation whose roots are system poles

N (s)  0 ------ whose roots are system zeros

We will consider a general transfer function of the form

1, 1,…, m and 1, 2, ,,, n are the zeros and poles of
the transfer function, respectively. 19
Example
d 2 y (t ) dy(t ) du(t )
2 2
 10  12 y (t )   5u (t )
dt dt dt
2s 2Y ( s )  10sY ( s )  12Y ( s )  sU ( s )  5U ( s )
Y ( s) s5
G ( s)   2
U ( s ) 2 s  10s  12
0.5s  2.5

( s  2)( s  3)
A A
 1  2
s2 s3
A ( s  3)  A2 ( s  2)  A1  A2  0.5
 1 
( s  2)( s  3) 3 A1  2 A2  2.5
 A1  ( s  2)G ( s ) s  2  1.5

 A2  ( s  3)G ( s ) s  3  1

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Steady state analysis
Use Laplace transform and transfer function, we can do steady
state analysis now for a system. Given a system model, we can
find the transfer function. Further given the input, we can
know the output response of the system at steady state (i.e.,
the response value when the time goes to infinity).

Example:
d 3 y (t ) du(t )
3 3
 2 y (t ) 
dt dt
 Find the transfer function G(s)
 If the input is u(t) (step signal), what is the output Y(s)
 The steady state output y(∞)=?

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 t
dny

d 1
s  dt a0 n
 a 0 s nY ( s ) a n y  a nY ( s )
dt s dt
0

Final value theorem

Solution

1) d 3 y (t ) du (t )
3 3
 2 y (t )  Apply LT to each item
dt dt
3s 3Y ( s )  2Y ( s)  sU ( s)
2) s
G ( s)  Y ( s) / U ( s)  Obtain TF with output/input
3s 3  2
3) Y ( s )  G ( s ) *U ( s ) Find the output expression

1
Y ( s)  Note that:
The steady state analysis can be
3s  2
3
applied to any signal of a system
y ()  lim sY ( s)  0 leading to steady state output
response, steady state error,
s 0
steady state X, …
Apply Final value theorem 22
Laplace Transform and Final Value Theorem

Find y(t) and y(∞).

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Laplace Transform and Final Value Theorem

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Laplace Transform and Final Value Theorem

Therefore, y(t) 0 for t ∞

Or using Final Value theorem y(∞)=lim[sY(s)]=0 for s0 25

 Class exercises

Given the transfer function above, find the step response and the
steady state response

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 Questions 1
1. Find the differential equation for the transfer
function G(s)=(2s+1)/(s2+6s+2)
2. Find steady state output response i.e., y(∞)
for the systems in Q1 when the input is a
unit step signal.

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Example: Step Response

Use MATLAB to find the step response of the following transfer function:

We can separate out our numerator and denominator polynomials as such:

num = [79 916 1000];

den = [1 30 300 1000 0];
sys = tf(num, den); % if you are using the System Identification Toolbox
instead of the Control System Tooolbox: sys = idtf(num, den);

Now, we can get our step response from the step function, and plot it for
time from 1 to 10 seconds:

T = 1:0.001:10; step(sys, T);

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