CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR BEHAVIOR PREDICTION OF SECOND ORDER CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM IN AUTOMATED INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES

The process requirements, in a manufacturing environment, are subject to fluctuations dependent on both internal and external factors. Thus, most modern industries utilize automated control systems, which can make the necessary dynamic adjustments for achieving optimum productivity and product quality. The PID, PI, and PD controllers are widely relied upon for such automated control of processes. However, the adjustment and optimization of some of the functional aspects of these controllers, according to the process demands, are time consuming. Such fine tunings are usually done based upon expert knowledge and tech manuals. This study addresses this problem and presents a solution. The authors illustrate the simulation and development of a controller, using a GUI in MATLAB 2008, which is able to accept the process requirements as input and simulate necessary control actions based on the predictions made. The simulator, discussed, only handles Second Order Systems, which are prevalent in automated industrial control systems. The inputs required are the transfer function of the process and some relevant data from the corresponding frequency response domain. From these, the simulator can predict the closed loop behavior of the system. After the predictions, the GUI provides three viable controller choices to the user. The controller options are PI, PD, or PID types which offer greater flexibility to the user in optimizing the present condition of the process based on the fine tuned parameters for the chosen controller as determined by the simulator. Hence, the efficient operation and optimum output of the automated process is ensured. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]