PID Autotuning for a Plant Modeled in Simulink
To use PID autotuning for a plant modeled in Simulink, you incorporate a PID autotuner
block into the model. You can control the autotuning process while the model is running.
When tuning is complete you can validate tuned controller parameters against the
simulated plant. Using PID autotuning this way can be useful for generating an initial PID
design that you later refine with real-time autotuning.Workflow for Autotuning in Simulink
The following steps provide a general overview of the workflow for PID autotuning in
Simulink using the Closed-Loop PID Autotuner or Open-Loop PID Autotuner blocks.(^1) Incorporate a PID autotuner block on page 8-9 into your model between the PID
controller and the plant.
(^2) Configure the start/stop signal on page 8-11 that controls when the tuning
experiment begins and ends.
(^3) Specify controller parameters on page 8-12 such as controller type and the target
bandwidth for tuning.
(^4) Configure experiment parameters on page 8-13 such as the amplitudes of the
perturbations injected during the frequency-response experiment.
(^5) Run the model and initiate tuning on page 8-13. Use the start/stop signal to initiate
the PID autotuning process. When you start the process, the autotuner block injects
test signals and measures the response of the plant.
(^6) Stop the experiment on page 8-14 with the start/stop signal. When the experiment
stops, the autotuner block computes and returns tuned PID gains. You can examine
the tuned gains for reasonableness.
(^7) Transfer the tuned gains on page 8-14 from the autotuner block to your PID
controller. You can then validate the performance of the tuned controller in Simulink.
Step 1. Incorporate Autotuner into Model
The following illustration shows one way to incorporate a Closed-Loop PID Autotuner
block in between your PID controller and your plant.
PID Autotuning for a Plant Modeled in Simulink