Steering system of a ship

[Chris12341234]

Greetings to everyone, 

I am currently running a project in LabVIEW by ''control and design'' and I am in trouble solving the following problem...

A mathematical model of a steering system has been developed for a ship moving at a constant velocity
and for small deviations from the desired track. The transfer
function of the ship is:

𝐺(𝑠) =𝐸(𝑠)/𝛿 (𝑠)=(0.164(𝑆 + 0.2)(0.32 − 𝑆))/(𝑆^2(𝑆 + 0.25)(𝑆 − 0.009))

where E(s) is the Laplace transform of the deviation of the ship from the desired
heading and δ(s) is the Laplace transform of the angle of deflection of the steering rudder. The deviation of the ship from the straight track is measured by radar and is used to generate the error signal, as shown in Figure 2. This error
signal is used to control the rudder angle δ(s).

With the switch S opened, I must find a bode diagram of the system to check whether a system is stable or unstable. If the system is unstable I need to discuss what an unstable ship-steering system indicates in terms of the transient response of the system. Then, I have to repeat this when switch S is closed.
Question for both switch S opened and closed:

Is it possible to stabilize this system by changing the gain of the transfer
function G(s)? (Using Root Locus?)
Is it possible to stabilize this system using a suitable controller?

[Bob_Schor]

Sounds like an undergraduate Engineering class problem (Signal Theory?).  Are you taking such a course?  Have you taken such a course?  I'd recommend looking for a local "partner", "tutor/mentor", or paying a visit to the library.

Bob Schor

[Chris12341234]

Yes, it is an undergraduate problem that I have to run in LabVIEW. I am sad to tell that help is not provided by tutor/mentors and local partners are struggling too. I could spend many hours in the library but time is limited and I both I and my classmates are newbies using the software...

Thanks for your help and sorry for any inconvenience.

[Bob_Schor]

Do you have LabVIEW's Control Design and Simulation Module installed on your computers?  [Since I'm not doing Control work, I have not installed this on my machine, and I suspect most users won't bother installing it].  It has routines that will do Root Locus, and may enable you to build and test models (not unlike Simulink on some other Software Platform).

But if you are not familiar with Bode Plots, LaPlace Transforms, Root-Locus Plots, etc. (which I think of as an Engineering class in Controls or Systems, not sure of the name of the course), I'm not sure how useful this will be!

Bob Schor

[RTMicrochip]

This looks like an interesting control project.  I see the PID (proportional/integral/differential) palette under the Control & Simulation category.  There are some very useful Lead-Lag models and tuning VIs already available.  Depending on the sampling rates, do you need to implement z-transforms ?

[Chris12341234]

The system needs to be designed with ''Control Design'' tab like the example attached in the picture. In the initial example, am not sure how to connect all the parts in order to obtain the desired outcome.