axcontrol, Author at AX Control, Inc.

How Electricity Works

It’s not a stretch to say electricity is one of the most impactful discoveries of human existence. But how does it work?

We take electricity for granted these days. But think of everything we do with electricity. We cook our food, light our homes, keep our families warm with it. It powers our vehicles. And it keeps many of our waking hours filled with entertainment. But do you know how electricity works?

Electricity is one of most of the impactful technologies to human existence.

close-up of an Edison bulb with others in the background as we ponder how electricity works — Electricity is useful, helpful, even beautiful. But how does it work?

How does electricity work?

Is the electric shock we receive from staticky socks the same as power coming into our television and computer? If they aren’t, how do they relate to each other? And what about batteries? Also, how does the power stored there relate to those other kinds of power?

In simplest terms, the power in your socks, in batteries, and coming into your home are all the same. Each one has electric current moving particles from areas of a different charge. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about annoying static, a charge hidden in batteries, or high voltage lines. In each case, there is a discharge occurring as the system tries to find a balance between positively and negatively charged electrons. Read more below.

A Degree Isn’t a Prereq for a Good-Paying Job

If you don’t have a 4-year degree but still want a good-paying job, try manufacturing.

The sector is still strong across the country. According to a 2019 Georgetown University Study, manufacturing industries provide the best paying jobs in 35 states for workers who do not hold a bachelor’s degree.

The field is good for 4-year graduates, too. Workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher make more within manufacturing fields than they do in other industries.

Closeup of a manufacturing worker. Manufacturing offers many people a good-paying job without a traditional degree. — thanks to trapezemike for this manufacturing image / Pixabay

While blue-collar workers are paid well in manufacturing, the proportion of blue-collar jobs is shrinking compared to higher-skilled positions. From 1991 to 2016, the percentage of good (starting at $35,000 with a median of $56,000) blue-collar jobs had declined from 27% to 16% of the manufacturing workforce.

Manufacturers are now experiencing a shortage of properly trained workers with skills in installation, production, and maintenance trades. But fast-tracking prepartion is possible. Workers prepare for jobs by completing apprenticeships, certificates, or 2-year programs.

Industries also need degreed workers who understand new advances in manufacturing. For example, manufacturing needs workers that understand AI, VR/AR usage, robotics adoption, the use of digital twins, and other high-tech processes.

Over one-fourth of the manufacturing workforce will retire over the next decade. Unfortunately, this will only deepen existing challenges facing the industry.

What Kinds of Jobs are Available?

Many careers in manufacturing would qualify as a “good-paying job.” But some of the best that don’t require a 4-year degree include:

CNC programmer. Some manufacturers run their own “boot camps” to train potential workers
Electrician. This job typically requires state licensing.
Warehouse supervisor. Logistics experience and/or training is often valued more than a degree.
Welder. Experience or a 2-year degree suffices.
Maintenance Mechanic. Automation equipment is expensive. Anyone with mechanical aptitude who can increase its longevity is valued.

PID and Servo Tutorial

PID, or Proportional-Integral-Derivative, is a control method used in industrial automation. This tutorial will clear up some misconceptions about this term.

PID controllers have been used in some form since the early 1900s. They were originally based upon a 19th-century governor speed limiter. Early PID-like controllers were used to automatically steer ships for the US Navy. These controllers were developed by Nicolas Minorsky. He focused on designing a system that would provide stability against both small and large disturbances.

Today, nearly 95% of closed-loop industrial systems use PID control.

PID is essentially a feedback loop control made out of code. It can sometimes be made from the hardware. PID, which stands for Proportional Integral Derivative, is made up of three separate parts that have been joined. However, in some situations, all three parts of the control are not needed. As a result, you can have P control, PD control, or PI control.

Explanation of PID Parts

P=Proportional. The proportional component of PID allows for the correction of a value in proportion to an expected error. For example, if in building a system, you know your battery will slowly discharge and likely provide less power to your system, you can write a (P) value to correct for this known value error to control your output accordingly.
I=Integral. The integral component of PID essentially takes up the slack left by (P.) It is the running sum of previous errors. What this means, is whatever small amount of error left over after (P) is accounted for is taken care of by (I.)
D=Derivative. The last bit of the PID code is supposed to predict the future. The derivative component finds the difference between any current error and any previous error and adjusts the output accordingly. Control loops that include a (D) component can significantly more time to ‘dial in’ due to the complex nature of the derivative.

PID frequencies are relative to the bandwidth of the servo or process, where the Integral term is most effective at low frequencies, Proportional at moderate frequencies, and Differential at higher frequencies. PID is more common in process control where pressures, temperatures, position, etc need to be optimally controlled.

The Effects of PID

In order to properly discuss the effects of PID, we must first look at a basic closed-loop servo and the equation for a closed-loop response. In the Sept. 1990 issue of Motion Control, this block diagram of a basic servo and its response formula were published.

bode 1-1

In the top diagram, we have the element (A). The action of the summing junction is to subtract the feedback signal (F) from the input (C) with the result known as the error signal (E)=C-F.

The Bode diagram (below) shows how open-loop gain A in an amplifier/motor combination typically experiences a decrease of amplitude by a factor of 10 for every factor of 10 increase in frequency.

Bode 1

The net effect is that A is also A-90° since it has a gain factor of A and a phase lag of 90°. This closed-loop response [F/C = A/(1+A)]

As A’ approaches 1 on the Bode diagram (at 10 rad/sec in the example) the denominator becomes 1+1 -180°=1-1=0 and F/C becomes infinite. As a result, severe oscillations can occur. But in order to maintain a stable system, the denominator must not be allowed to approach zero. A commonly accepted design goal is for A’ to have -135° of phase shift or less (45° of phase margin) This will result in a 25% overshoot of the closed-loop system in response to small step inputs.

As the phase margin gets larger, the amount and number of overshoots diminish. In addition, as the phase margin gets smaller, the overshoots get larger and will “ring” for longer periods. Finally, a sustained oscillation will occur.

Conclusion

PID provides phase compensation to improve the performance of the servo, using coding to create a closed-loop servo with a wider bandwidth and a greater gain (thus greater accuracy) within that bandwidth. If no velocity loop exists, PID is a good alternative.

Take a look at our current Woodward servo position controller stock for real-world examples of these machines.