MnE 602, Fall 2004

Technical Presentation
By David Basile

PID Control - An Overview

 What is PID Control?
• PID Control is a method of automatically
controlling a manufacturing or process parameter
to a desired setpoint (SP).
• PID Control is a Closed Loop control method.
Meaning that feedback from the process is utilized
in order to gauge how close you are to where you
want to be.
 Components of PID Control
• Three things are needed in order to apply PID control
to an application:
• Sensor / Feedback - Provides the controller with the
current value of what you are trying to measure. This
measurement is typically referred to as feedback or process
variable (PV).
• Controller (PLC) - Looks at where you are currently at and
sends a signal to the output in order to move the process
closer to the setpoint.
• Output - Changes the magnitude of the variable we are
measuring. Sometimes referred to as Control Variable (CV)
 Closed Loop PID Control
PLC
Inp Ou
PID Algorithm uts tp
uts

Examples:

Encoder (Position) Motor

Tachometer (Velocity)
Thermometer (Temperature) Valve

Sensor Input or Process Variable (PV) Output or Control Variable (CV)

Affects Value Of
 PID In Everyday Life
• When you drive your car you drive the speed limit
of 55 mph.
• The Closed Loop elements in this example are:
• Speedometer (Sensor / Feedback) - shows your true
speed.
• Your Brain (PLC / Controller) - compares your speed
to speed limit and moves your foot down on pedal.
• Gas Pedal (Output) - increases / decreases the speed of
the car via change in fuel flow to the engine. Executed
through 0-100% depression of the pedal.
 Error and Disturbances
• As you drive, disturbances affect the speed of the car.
(Wind Resistance, Friction, Inclines etc.)
• This might slow you down which creates an error in
your driving speed. Now you are moving 50mph.
• Error (e) is the difference between the setpoint
(55mph) and and the process variable (PV,
speedometer reading of 50 mph) that we are attempting
to hold.
e = SP-PV = 5 mph
 PID - What does it stand for?
• PID Stands for the following:
• P - Proportional Control
• I - Integral Control
• D - Derivative Control

• These Three Components combine to provide control at

the desired setpoint.
 Proportional Control
• The Output (CV) is proportional to the
error.
CV(t) = k · e(t)
k is a constant of proportionality referred to as Proportional Gain. It is
essentially the slope of the output function.

• This is very intuitive. To correct a large

error in your speed, you would press down
the pedal a large percentage of the way to
the floor.
 Integral Control
• Proportional Control is effective, but because the load / disturbances are always changing our
proportional equation alone cannot compensate and so a steady state error or offset will remain.
(We must stay on the defined line according to P only control)

CV(t)

CV(t) = k · e(t) k =1

e(t)

Setpoint
Offset
 Integral Control
• To eliminate this offset, the integral control does
exactly what is says. It integrates the error over
time. It is basically like moving the Proportional
Line up and down the axis (changing the y-
intercept of the line)
CV(t) = Kpe(t) + Ki ∫ e(t) dt where Ki is the reset constant

Proportional Term Integral Term

• This would be like trying to catch up to the car ahead of you. Over
time if you did not see the car getting closer you would start to increase
the pressure on the pedal. The longer you waited without gaining on
him the harder you would press down. So the integral looks at how
long the error has existed and contributes based on that factor.
 Derivative Control
• One additional tool might speed up the time it takes to get
to the desired setpoint. In the case of Derivative action,
how quickly the error is changing allows us to react more
effectively.
• Derivative Action adds another contributing term to the
output that is proportional to the rate of change of the
error.

CV(t) = Kpe(t) + Ki ∫ e(t) dt + Kd de/dt where Kd is the rate constant

Proportional Term Integral Term Derivative Term

• Might look at this as if one of the tires blew, your speed

would drop rapidly. In order to get back to 55 mph you
would need to press down even further on the gas pedal.
 PID In Summary

• PID is the workhorse of industry for closed

loop control of manufacturing processes.
• It has proven itself effective in many
applications ranging from motion control to
refinery operations for over 50 years.