A history of control engineering 1930-1955

S. Bennett

Peter Peregrinus Ltd. on behalf of the Institution of Electrical Engineers

Contents

Page Preface vii

1 Control technology in the 1930s 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Electric power industry 2 1.3 Sectional drives 7 1.4 Amplidyne, Metadyne and military applications 10 1.5 Stabilisation of ships 15 1.6 Automatic steering and auto-pilots 18 1.7 Summary 20 1.8 Notes and references 23

2 Process control : technology and theory 28 2.1 Introduction 28 2.2 Measuring and recording instruments 29 2.3 Introduction of automatic controllers 31 2.4 Problems of on-off control 34 2.5 Wide band proportional control 39 2.6 Derivative control action 46 2.7 Process control theory 49 2.8 Process simulators 55 2.9 Tuning of three term controllers 60 2.10 Summary 61 2.11 Notes and references 64

The electronic negative feedback amplifier 70 3.1 The repeater amplifier 71 3.2 The invention of the negative feedback amplifier 73 3.3 The practical carrier amplifier 76 3.4 Nyquist and the stability criterion 81 3.5 Hendrik W. Bode 84 3.6 Wireless communication systems 86 3.7 Summary 89 3.8 Notes and references 92

vi Contents

4 Theory and design of servomechanisms 97 4.1 Network analyser 97 4.2 Product integraph 98 4.3 Differential analyser 103 4.4 Cinema integraph 104 4.5 High speed servomechanism 106 4.6 Theory of servomechanisms 108 4.7 Summary 110 4.8 Notes and references 112

5 Wartime: problems and organisations 115 5.1 Anti-aircraft fire control 115 5.2 Organisation in the UK 117 5.3 Organisation in the USA 120 5.4 Relationships between civilian scientists and engineers, and military

government personnel 124 5.5 The systems approach 125 5.6 Notes and references 127

6 Development of design techniques for servomechanisms 1939-1945 130 6.1 Remote power controls for heavy AA guns 130 6.2 British approach to design 133 6.3 Development of design methods in the USA 136 6.4 Albert C. Hall and frequency response design methods 140 6.5 The Radiation Laboratory and automatic tracking 143 6.6 Frederick C. Williams 146 6.7 A.L. Whiteley, the inverse Nyquist technique and 'Standard Forms' 148 6.8 The practical problems arising from non-linearities 153 6.9 Relay and pulsed servomechanisms 155 6.10 Notes and references 157

7 Smoothing and prediction: 1939-1945 164 7.1 Manual tracking 165 7.2 Smoothing circuits for predictors 168 7.3 Gun predictor developments 170 7.4 Background to Wiener's work 175 7.5 The Wiener predictor 176 7.6 Notes and references 181

8 The classical years: 1945-1955 186 8.1 Technical publications on developments during the Second World

War 189 8.2 The root locus technique 196 8.3 Analogue simulation 198 8.4 The transition to modern control 200 8.5 Notes and references 205

Bibliography 208

Selected technical publications 217

Index 245