REGULATOR (AUTOMATIC CONTROL)

In automatic control, a 'regulator' is a device which has the function of maintaining a designated characteristic. It performs the activity of managing or maintaining a range of values, in a machine. The measurable property of a device is managed closely by specified conditions or an advance set value; or it can be a variable according to a predetermined arrangement scheme. It can be used generally to connote any set of various controls or devices for regulating or controlling items or objects.
Examples are a 'voltage regulator' (which can be a transformer whose voltage ratio of transformation can be adjusted, or an electronic circuit that produces a defined voltage), a 'gas regulator', such as a diving regulator, which maintains its output at a fixed pressure lower than its input, and a 'fuel regulator' (which controls the supply of fuel).
Regulators can be designed to control anything from gasses or fluids, to light or electricity. Speed can be 'regulated' by; electronic, mechanical, or electro-mechanical means. Such instances include;

★ Electronic regulators as used in model railway sets where the voltage is raised or lowered to control the speed of the engine

★ Mechanical systems such as valves as used in fluid control systems. Purely mechanical pre-automotive systems included such designs as the Watt centrifugal governor whereas modern systems may have electronic fluid speed sensing components directing solenoids to set the valve to the desired rate.

★ Complex electro-mechanical speed control systems used to maintain speeds in modern cars (cruise control) - often including hydraulic components,

★ An aircraft engine's constant speed unit changes the propellor pitch to maintain engine speed.

Contents

See also

See also

★ Governor (device)

★ process control