A versatile simulation tool for virtual implementation of proportional integral and derivative (PID) controllers

Abstract

This thesis proposes an interactive software tool that can be used to compute complete sets of Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) Controllers from knowledge of the plant transfer function/frequency response data. This is based on research results and algorithms developed by Bhattacharyya and others. Until these research results were published, it was not known if a nominal system could be stabilized using PID Controllers, and current PID Controller designs are carried out using ad hoc tuning rules. By using simulations, engineers can best plan for and observe the stabilizing effect each of the variables has on system performance in a realistic environment. The software application developed calculates and optimizes complete stabilizing sets of PID Controllers for a rational Linear Time Invariant (LTI) system, and has been developed for analytical models of plants with and without time delay. Further, these PID Controller sets are optimized to project subsets simultaneously satisfying multiple performance index specifications. Sets of PID Controllers that stabilize a system are also calculated automatically from knowledge of the frequency response of the plant. It allows the user ease of design and the ability to customize the final solution while permitting full control over source parameters. This thesis includes an introduction to the algorithms that have been developed for plant stabilization, a complete description of the graphical user interface, the simulation of the algorithms performed using LabVIEW, and a summary of future work.