Control systems tune themselves
A
Microstar Laboratories product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jun 18, 2007
Microstar Laboratorie has shown how off the shelf components can be used to build a control system that tunes itself.
Microstar Laboratorie, maker of Data Acquisition Processor (DAP) boards, has shown how off the shelf components can be used to build a control system that tunes itself.
Every DAP board includes a processor running a real-time operating system, DAPL, that is controlled from PC software.
The user specifies the real-time behaviour of the DAP board by downloading commands for DAPL to execute at runtime.
A new Pizst processing command takes basic PID functionality and extends it with self-scheduling injection test and analysis processing that does not interfere with control loop operation.
The derivative term is not tuned, but can be set manually.
The gain adjustments use the iterative feedback technique.
This approach estimates a gradient direction for loop tuning improvements using measurements - rather than pure mathematical analysis.
It does not determine specific gains to apply but produces incremental adjustments that improve existing gains.
The original iterative feedback method requires large disturbances inconsistent with online operation.
The Pizst command uses a variation of the original method: a small injected test signal riding on top of a fixed setpoint level signal.
Each tuning test cycle is followed by a period of undisturbed operation using the adjusted controller gains.
This variation of the original method allows the controller to continue operating online throughout the tuning process.
And that opens the door to automatic tuning.
Off the shelf components can be used to build a control system that tunes itself.
Every DAP board runs DAPL, and any DAP board can execute the Pizst command.
An application based on a single board using a basic PID algorithm and optimised for multiple channel operation can be updated at time intervals as short as 0.05ms on every channel, without ever missing an update.
DAP boards work well as multiples in a synchronised network.
DAPstudio can be downloaded to control DAPL on any DAP board, and the Pizst command can be downloaded to try it out in a proof-of-concept experiment.
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