Block diagrams give us graph-like ways to visually represent systems, especially control systems. They’re important because they allow us to model sub-systems and their dependencies, and how inputs flow to outputs.
Translating between complicated block diagrams and closed form transfer functions is possible, but somewhat time costly.
Basic configurations
A cascaded connection gives us:
A parallel connection gives us:
A feedback connection gives us the below. Note that the - sign denotes a negative feedback connection.
Block manipulation
There are also several other ways we can manipulate blocks to give us an easier block diagram. We should simplify the interconnections from the inside to the outside.
