Controllers

CH 7

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Introduction
 Suppose you have a system that needs to
be controlled
 Your software gives commands, the
system responds to it
– Turn x degrees to the right
– Move forward 15 wheel rotations
 Can you always trust your commands will
be executed accurately?
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Problem example

overshoot Ripple

setpoint

 Increase the quantity until you get to the setpoint

– Temperature, angle, speed, etc
 If too much, reduce the quantity, until the setpoint

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On off control

Push back, against the direction of the error

with constant action u
Error is e = x - xset

To prevent chatter around e = 0,

Household thermostat. Not very subtle.

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Hysteresis
 Does a thermostat work exactly that way?
– Temperature control loop

 How can you prevent such frequent motor

action?

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Temperature control response
by On-OFF

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Closed loop controller

setpoint error signal output

controller system

measured quantity

• closed loop because it has feedback

• output is measured at a certain frequency
• signal is generated at a certain frequency
• which frequency is not smaller?

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On-off control
 For some systems, on-off signaling is sufficient
 For example, a thermostat, when the heater is
either on or off, and early cruise-control systems
– Could do airflow or speed control also
– More modern systems do it
 Depending on the frequency of control, overhead
of on-off, etc, this could cause overshoots and
undershoots (ripples)
– Oscillation is a common behavior in control systems
– Need to avoid it at all costs… well, almost all costs

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Proportional control
 Good alternative to on-off control: more “control”
 Signal becomes proportional to the error
– P ( setpoint – output )
– Example, car speed for cruise control
 Need to find out value of constant P
– Tuning the controller is a hard job
– If P is too high, what happens?
– If P is too low, what happens?
 Typically a prop cntrl decreases response time
(quickly gets to the setpoint) but increases overshoot
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Adding derivative control
 To avoid (or reduce) overshoot/ripple, take into
account how fast are you approaching the
setpoint
– If very fast, overshoot may be forthcoming: reduce
the signal recommended by the proportional
controller
– If very slow, may never get to setpoint: increase the
signal
– In general: D ( current measure – previous measure)
 PD controllers are slower than P, but less
oscillation, smaller overshoot/ripple
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Integral control
 There may still be error in the PD controller
– For example, the output is close to setpoint
 P is very small and so is the error, discretization of signal
will provide no change in the P controller
 D controller will not change signal, unless there is change in
output
 Take the sum of the errors over time, even if
they’re small, they’ll eventually add up
– I * sum_over_time (setpoint — output)
 Again the main problem is the value of I
 Can we let sum grow to infinity?
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Characteristic of the process

 Time constant
 Process gain
 Dead Time

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Time constant
 The time required for a process to reach
63.2% of the total change.
 Process Gain:

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Time constant

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 Summary
 Different types of controllers
 PID hardest task is tuning

Controller Response Overshoot Error

time
On-off Smallest Highest Large
Proportional Small Large Small
Integral Decreases Increases Zero
Derivative Increases Decreases Small change

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 Where to Get More Information
 newton.ex.ac.uk/teaching/CDHW/Feedback/
 ~don/cs1567/reference/pidworksheet.xls
 Process/Industrial Instruments and Controls
Handbook by Douglas M.Considine
 Chemical Engineering by RC

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 example: level control
Flow in
 The inlet flow comes from
an upstream process, and
may change with time

 The level in the tank must

be kept constant in spite of
Flow out
these changes

If the outlet flow is simply set equal to the inlet flow, the
tank may overflow or run empty (because of flow 17
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measurement errors)
 Introducing a level controller
Flow in
 The level controller
(LC) looks at the level
SP (monitoring)
LC
LT

 If the level starts to

increase, the LC sends
Flow out
a signal to the output
valve to vary the output
flow (change)

This is the essence of feedback control 18

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Feedback control
 It is the most important and widely used control
strategy
 It is a closed-loop control strategy

Block diagram
disturbance

comparator manipulated
ysp variable y
+ controller process
– error
set-point controlle
variabl
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transmitter
 Back to level control
Flow in
desired value
(set-point)
transmitter
disturbance

SP

LC
LT

controller
controlled
variable
(measurement)

process
Flow out

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More on control jargon
 Input variables : independently stimulate the system; they can
induce change in the internal conditions of the process
– manipulated (or control) variables u; m  at our disposal
– disturbance variables d  we cannot do anything on them

 Output variables : measurements y, by which one obtains

information about the internal state of the system (e.g. temperature,
level, viscosity, refractive index)

 States : minimum set x of variables essentials for completely

describing the internal condition of a process (e.g. composition, holdup
enthalpy)

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 Process dynamics
 Given a dynamic model of the process, it
investigates the process response to various
input changes

Two elements are necessary:

• a dynamic model of the process

• a known forcing function

A A

u (t ) Step input u (t ) Pulse input

0 0 22
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0 0 b time