We are all familiar with the Ferris wheel featured at state fairs and carnivals. George Ferris was

Question:

We are all familiar with the Ferris wheel featured at state fairs and carnivals. George Ferris was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1859; he later moved to Nevada and then graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1881. By 1891, Ferris had considerable experience with iron, steel, and bridge construction. He conceived and constructed his famous wheel for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago [8]. To avoid upsetting passengers, set a requirement that the steady-state speed must be controlled to within 5% of the desired speed for the system shown in Figure E5.12.
(a) Determine the required gain K to achieve the steady-state requirement.
(b) For the gain of part (a), determine and plot the error e(t) for a disturbance Td(s) = 1/s. Does the speed change more than 5%? (Set R(s) = 0 and recall that E(s) = R(s) - T(s).)
Figure E5.12
Speed control of a Ferris wheel.