A plant in control theory is the combination of process and actuator. A plant is often referred to with a transfer function(commonly in the s-domain) which indicates the relation between an input signal and the output signal of a system without feedback, commonly determined by physical properties of the system. An example would be an actuator with its transfer of the input of the actuator to its physical displacement. In a system with feedback, the plant still has the same transfer function, but a control unit and a feedback loop (with their respective transfer functions) are added to the system.
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Plant (control theory) in the context of Control system
A control system manages, commands, directs, or regulates the behavior of other devices or systems using control loops. It can range from a single home heating controller using a thermostat controlling a domestic boiler to large industrial control systems which are used for controlling processes or machines. The control systems are designed via control engineering process.
For continuously modulated control, a feedback controller is used to automatically control a process or operation. The control system compares the value or status of the process variable (PV) being controlled with the desired value or setpoint (SP), and applies the difference as a control signal to bring the process variable output of the plant to the same value as the setpoint.
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