Castañeda, Jann Amiel Nidehn B.

ECE131L/B14

INTERPRETATION
In the Experiment, the step response of a second order function is observed. As discussed
in the previous experiments, a second order system is represented by a transfer function having a
constant numerator and a second order Laplace equation, where the highest exponent of the
complex frequency variable ‘s’ is 2. In the previous experiment, the impulse response and the step
responses are obtained. The step response is generally obtained to observe the stability of a system.

A second order system is classified into three categories, underdamped, undamped and
overdamped. In the experiment, the following were observed by the plot of the responses. It was
determined that for an undamped system, the resulting output appears to be unchanged and
continuously oscillating without any decrease or increase with the envelope boundary. The
underdamped system shows an oscillating system which has an overshoot then decreases until the
value converges into a constant value. The overdamped system, shows a quickly converging
waveform, while the critically damped system shows a steadily increasing system which appears
to be most stable.

It was also observed in part 4 of the experiment that the underdamped system seemed to
have many parameters which determine the quality of the control system. The parameters were
analyzed using LTI View of the response waveform. The said parameters are the %Overshoot,
Peak time, the Rise Time, and the particular Settling time of the system. In part 3 of the experiment,
it was also shown that the pole zero map can be used to determine what kind of second order
system the function is by observing the position of the poles. This was done so using the
‘pzmap(sys)’ command in MATLAB.

In the seatwork and in part 1 of the experiment, it was discussed that the Natural Frequency
and the Damping Ratio of the system controls the kind of damping the system has. These
parameters can be obtained by using the values of the coefficients of the transfer functions.
However in MATLAB, a readymade command can be used to obtain these variables ‘[Wn,
Z]=damp(sys)’ where only the transfer function would be required, hence decreasing any time
consuming computations. Given these two parameters, the transfer function with the parameters
%OS, Trise, Tsett, Tpeak, can be obtained. This was practiced in the 6th part of the experiment
using a MATLAB m-file.
Conclusion

- MATLAB Can be used to easily observe the characteristics of a Second Order System.
- The step response can be used to observe the second order characteristics, easily used using
the ‘step()’ command.
- The Systems can be categorized into undamped, where the system is simply oscillating
without decrease and changes in the boundary;
- The Overdamped systems shows a quickly converging response, while the critically
damped system shows a system slowly stabilizing;
- The Underdamped system has many parameters, but generally shows a waveform which
rises more than the convergence value then stabilizes over time.
- The Pole-Zero plot of a function can be used to determine what kind of second order system
is given by observing the positions of the poles in the plot.
- The LTI View can be used to analyze the response of the functions and to determine the
%OS, Rise Time, Peak Time, and Settling Time.
- The Natural frequency and the Damping Ratio determine what kind of system it is. These
parameters can be easily obtained using the [Wn, Z]=damp(TF) commands.