The role of Digital Controller in Control System
There are generally two types of control system. One is analog control system and another one is the digital control system. What do you know about the Digital Control System? It is the Control system which uses digital controller or Computers to act as system controllers. Here, the input and output of the digital controller is an analog signal. There is a huge importance of digital controller in the control system. It is the base of the control system. In the digital controller, the error signal is converted into digital form during sampling time.The conversion of the error signal is done by the sample and hold circuit. Sometimes, A/D converter or analog to digital converter is used in this process. After the conversion, its output is transmitted to plant through the actuator. Hence, the digital controller is the base of the digital control system.
There are various elements in the control system which play an equally important role as digital controller. They are A/D converter, D/A converter, plant, transducer, sampling and hold circuit.
A/D converter- The A/D converter is defined as the encoder which converts analog signals into digital signals.
The quantization of analog signals is carried out in A/D converter process.
D/A converter- Similarly, D/A converter are defined as the decoder which converts digital signals into analog signals. Here, the digital signals are binary signals. The binary signals can be transmitted and stored without any loss. Whereas, the examples of analog signals are current, voltage, etc. The A/D converter and D/A converter are important in the whole process.
Transducer- Another important element in the control system is the transducer. It is the physical device or converter which converts input signal of one form of energy into the output signal of another form of energy. There are various types of the transducer. They are an electrical transducer, a mechanical transducer, thermal transducer, an optical transducer, etc.
Sampling- It is defined as the phenomenon that helps in converting various continuous time signals into discrete time signals.
Hold circuit- It is also called S/H circuit i.e. sample and hold circuit. The main function of the sample and hold circuit in the control system is that it takes certain analog signals and holds it for the specific time. You must be aware that the hold circuit only holds the constant value of analog signals. It doesn't hold an infinite value number of input signals. Here, the holding signal is generally electrical. Other types of signals like the optical signal can also be held. But for that operation firstly the signal should be converted into electrical one.