An Introduction to

PID Controllers
Written by George Gillard
Published: 22-July-2017
Updated: 10-November-2017
Introduction
A PID Controller, if created and tuned well, is a powerful tool in programming for
incredibly efficient and accurate movements. There are three key components
behind the PID Controller Proportional, Integral, and Derivative, from which the
acronym PID originates from. However, you dont strictly need to use all three
together for example, you could create just a P controller, a PI controller, or a PD
controller.

In this guide, well learn about each component, how they work together, and how
to put it all into practice. There will be some pseudocode examples to help out
along the way. PID by nature involves calculus, however dont be put off if you
havent learned calculus yet, as Ive attempted to design this guide to be easy
enough for anyone to understand.

Sections:
1. Background Information
2. P: Proportional
3. I: Integral
4. D: Derivative
5. Tuning
6. Conclusion

This guide is provided to assist those learning how to program VEX Robots. This is
a free document, but I ask that you ask for my consent before redistributing online.
Please feel free to share a link to the original source. This document, along with
my other guides, are available for free download from http://georgegillard.com.

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1. Background Information
Before cracking into the nitty-gritty of a PID controller, a bit of history into the
development provides some useful insight:

It was not until 1922 that PID controllers were first developed using
a theoretical analysis, by Russian American engineer Nicolas
Minorsky for automatic ship steering. Minorsky was designing
automatic steering systems for the US Navy and based his analysis
on observations of a helmsman, noting the helmsman steered the
ship based not only on the current course error, but also on past
error, as well as the current rate of change; this was then given a
mathematical treatment by Minorsky. His goal was stability, not
general control, which simplified the problem significantly. While
proportional control provides stability against small disturbances,
it was insufficient for dealing with a steady disturbance, notably a
stiff gale (due to steady-state error), which required adding the
integral term. Finally, the derivative term was added to improve
stability and control.

Trials were carried out on the USS New Mexico, with the controller
controlling the angular velocity (not angle) of the rudder. PI control
yielded sustained yaw (angular error) of 2. Adding the D element
yielded a yaw error of 1/6, better than most helmsmen could
achieve.

- Wikipedia

Typical basic programming used on a robot is along the lines of run at a constant
power until you reach a certain point and then stop. In an ideal world, wed be
able to do this, and stop exactly on the spot. However, in the real world, there are
additional and largely unpredictable factors that will cause our system to
overshoot the setpoint (ideal target), such as momentum (influenced by speed
and hence battery voltage) or other external influences.

Ideal World Real World

Speed

Speed

Distance Distance

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2. P: Proportional
The Proportional component provides the bulk of the power for controlling your
system. The key objective is to give a large amount of power when there is a long
way to go, but only a small amount of power when youre nearly at your setpoint.
This results in a smooth deceleration through the movement as you approach the
setpoint.

2.1 The Error

Firstly, a variable is created, called the error. The error is really simple just the
difference between the current sensor value, and what you want that sensor value
to reach (the setpoint). For example, the error could be the distance remaining to
be travelled, the height remaining to be lifted to, etc. If your phone battery was at
30% and you were charging it to reach 100%, the error would be 70% - its just the
difference between where youre at, and where you want to be.

As youd suspect, to calculate the error, youd create something as simple as this:

error = setpoint sensor value

To solidify the understanding of the error, have a look at the following table. The
goal is for a robot to drive a total of 1000 units:

Target value (setpoint) Current sensor reading Error

1000 0 1000
1000 200 800
1000 400 600
1000 600 400
1000 800 200
1000 1000 0

Similarly, if the robot then overshot the setpoint, the error would begin to become
negative (indicating the robot now needs to go in reverse):

Target value (setpoint) Current sensor reading Error

1000 600 400
1000 800 200
1000 1000 0
1000 1200 -200
1000 1400 -400

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2.2 Assigning an Output Power
To achieve the nice smooth deceleration that the Proportional Controller
provides, we could simply set the power of our motors to be equal to the error, like
so:

error = setpoint sensor value

power = error

However, you may find that the power values dont seem to be scaled right. The
robot may be a bit too gentle approaching the target, and may in fact not have
enough power at all to reach the setpoint when the error becomes small. Or
alternatively, the robot might be a bit aggressive, and it might significantly
overshoot, and then overcorrect, in a never-ending cycle.
To combat this issue, we introduce another value, the proportional constant (kP).
Simply put, we multiply the error by kP when we assign the error to the output
power. Later well tune this value to get the desired output, but for now heres how
wed implement it:

error = setpoint sensor value

power = error*kP

Up until now, weve skipped over a fairly critical part of the PID (or P, so far)
controller. Currently, we could run the code and it would perform the calculations
once. However, wed obviously need to keep recalculating these values as our
robot moves, otherwise our error and powers will never update. To fix this, we put
everything in a loop.
Heres some slightly more realistic pseudocode, which with some completion
would work absolutely fine for many situations:

void myPID(int setpoint)

{
while ( some condition )
{
error = setpoint sensor value;
power = error*kP;
}
}

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3. I: Integral
You may recall from the short bit if history covered in the introduction that the
proportional term was determined to be sufficient for small disturbances, but not
much else. The integral term is going to give us some versatility when it comes to
other disturbances (e.g. a stiff gale was a problem in the case of the automatic
ship steering). Youll also find with the proportional component that once the
error becomes small you have very little power, and might see some significant
remaining error that just isnt eliminated the integral will get rid of this for you
by slowly increasing the power. The integral is going to be concerned with looking
back in time over all the errors your system has calculated. By definition, an
integral is an area under a curve in calculus. For our purposes, calculating the
integral using standard calculus isnt really feasible, so we do it the easy way.
Were going to work out the total area by summing the area of many thin slices.

3.1 The Maths

The example below shows a curve with the area estimated using rectangular slices
much like what were going to do with our code. Each slice is as tall as the error,
and has a constant width were going to call dT. As we can see, it isnt perfect,
but gives a decent estimation of the area. A smaller value for dT (thinner slices)
gives us a more accurate estimation of the area.
Error

Time

The area under the curve for each cycle of our loop is going to be the current
error, multiplied by the time it takes for that cycle of the loop. Its a rough
approximation, but it works fine for us with such slim slices of time.

area = error * dT

The integral is equal to the sum of all of these areas. At any instant, it is the sum of
the areas of all the previous cycles, so we create a variable (integral), and add on
the new slice of area in each cycle of our loop:

integral = integral + error*dT

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Since dT is normally a constant delay that we ourselves set (e.g. wait 15
milliseconds per cycle of the loop), we can factor it out later and hence tend to
ignore its existence. Hence, well use this to calculate our integral:

integral = integral + error

Consider a case where our error is decreasing at a nice constant rate (not realistic),
ignoring dT. The following table describes how the integral would be calculated:

Cycle No. Error Integral

1 1000 1000
2 800 1800
3 600 2400
4 400 2800
5 200 3000

Now, consider what would happen if we had some external influence that caused
our error to reduce more slowly. In the above example it decreased 200 units per
cycle. The next table considers what would happen if that was 100:

Cycle No. Error Integral

1 1000 1000
2 900 1900
3 800 2700
4 700 3400
5 600 4000

As we can see, in the first example our integral was 3000 after 5 cycles. Now, with
a slower deceleration, its 4000. This increase in value is our indicator of some
external influence and will help create some more versatile control for our system.

3.2 Assigning an Output Power

A higher value of the integral indicates that there is some external influence
slowing down our system. Hence, to combat this we add some extra power to give
a bit more of a boost, and to accomplish this we add the integral to the existing
output. To account for the scaling issues just like we saw for the proportional term,
we introduce another constant kI. As you can probably tell, our integral is likely
going to be a huge number, thus entirely useless as an output power as-is, so we
often expect kI to be quite small compared to kP, especially in cases where we are
neglecting dT in our equations.

power = error*kP + integral*kI

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We typically dont bother with brackets to separate each term because our order
of operations (BEDMAS/BODMAS) takes care of that for us, but feel free to include
them if it makes it easier to read, like so:

power = (error*kP) + (integral*kI)

Our code so far would now look something like this pseudocode:

void myPID(int setpoint)

{
while ( some condition )
{
error = setpoint sensor value;
integral = integral + error;
power = error*kP + integral*kI;
wait 15 mSec;
}
}

The 15 milliseconds wait at the end is really important this is our dT. Without it,
your integral value will skyrocket to some huge number as numbers get added
together without any break, and 15 milliseconds is quite fast enough for an
accurate integral for most of our purposes. This delay will also prove to be critical
for the derivative term soon, as Im sure youll realise when we reach that section.
If you dont consider a constant dT, you will need to measure the time per cycle
and consider that in your integral calculation.

3.3 Issues
3.3.1 Problem No. 1:
When the error reaches zero, that is youve made it to the setpoint, the integral is
most likely going to be significant enough to keep the output power high enough
to continue. This can be a nuisance in situations where you dont need any
additional power to hold the position e.g. if this is for a drive train on a flat surface,
if your wheels continue turning thats somewhat of an issue!

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In these cases, we can reset the integral to zero once our error passes the setpoint,
like so:

void myPID(int setpoint)

{
while ( some condition )
{
error = setpoint sensor value;
integral = integral + error;
if (error = 0 or passes setpoint)
integral = 0;
power = error*kP + integral*kI;
wait 15 mSec;
}
}

Note: if this PID controller is for a system that needs a bit of help to hold its position
(e.g. an arm lifting up some weight), you absolutely should not try this. When your
error passes the setpoint, the integral value will gradually be diminished and it will
still settle. This is only suitable for systems that maintain their sensor value with
zero power (e.g. wheels on a flat surface).

3.3.2 Problem No. 2:

Integral windup is an issue where a large change in setpoint occurs (e.g. 0 to 1000),
causing the integral to start calculating for huge error values. This then results in
an unusably high value for the integral when you really want it (i.e. near the
setpoint). Theres a few ways to combat this problem:

Solution #1: Limit the value that the integral can reach.

if (integral is huge)
integral = maximum value;

Solution #2: Limit the range in which the integral is allowed to build up in (i.e. once
the error is below a certain value, or once the current output power is less than a
certain value, e.g. 100%).

if ( error is big )
integral = 0;

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Solution #3: Gradually increase the error between its previous value (e.g. 0) and
its new value (e.g. 1000). This is a little more complicated to code, and a little out
of the scope of this guide, but is still very possible.

For this guide, well use the second solution using the error as a limiting factor, as
its a little more useful than the first but still simple to program.

3.4 The New Code

The PI controller weve created so far would be something like this:

void myPID(int setpoint)

{
while ( some condition )
{
error = setpoint sensor value;
integral = integral + error;
if (error = 0 or passes setpoint)
integral = 0;
if (error is outside useful range)
integral = 0;
power = error*kP + integral*kI;
wait 15 mSec;
}
}

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4. D: Derivative
So far weve looked at controlling the output power based on the current error,
and past errors. Now, were going to look a bit into the future. The idea of the
derivative is to look at the rate of change of our error how fast are we approaching
the setpoint? Do we need to slow down a bit? The contribution from the derivative
will be in the direction opposite to your current direction of travel, with a larger
magnitude for a greater speed. It typically will be outweighed by the proportional
and integral components, but if theres some deviation from normal and the
robot is going faster for some reason, the derivative component will become
larger and your output power will be reduced. Similarly, if your robot is going
slower than normal, the derivative component will be smaller in magnitude and
hence the output power will become greater.

4.1 The Maths

As described above, the derivative is the rate of change. In calculus, this is also the
gradient (slope) of your curve. If your curve is steeper, you will have a bigger
gradient (and thus a larger derivative).
Error

Time

In general, to find the gradient of a curve, youd do something like this:

2 1
= =
2 1

For us, our Y axis is our error, and our change in X is dT, so our derivative is:

=

Just like with the integral, if we treat dT as a constant, we can ignore its effect in
our calculations and merge it in with our constants later on.

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We can use the existing error we have for our current error, but for our
previous error we need to add in a new variable. All well make this variable do
is keep track of that our error was in the previous cycle.
So, to calculate our error, well use something like this:

derivative = error prevError;

prevError = error

4.2 Assigning an Output Power

Just like for the Proportional and Integral components, we add a constant (kD)
to account for issues with scaling for our derivative. A value that is too high will
cause instability - with the power contribution from the derivative overpowering
the total power momentarily. A value that is too small will cause a derivative
component that may as well not exist.

To incorporate to our existing output power, we add our derivate component onto
the end, like as follows:

power = error*kP + integral*kI + derivative*kD

Our PID controller now looks something like this:

void myPID(int setpoint)

{
while ( some condition )
{
error = setpoint sensor value;
integral = integral + error;
if (error = 0 or passes setpoint)
integral = 0;
if (error is outside useful range)
integral = 0;
derivative = error prevError;
prevError = error;
power = error*kP + integral*kI + derivative*kD;
wait 15 mSec;
}
}

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5. Tuning
The most time and labour intensive, as well as generally the most frustrating and
tedious part of a PID controller is tuning the constants to make it all work well.
There are different ways of tuning these constants, from using computers to
mathematics and just trial & error. Im going to discuss the last two options, the
most popular for most educational/competition robots being trial & error. At all
times when tuning, its worthwhile keeping an eye on the value of the error or
sensor, instead of just relying on sight to judge what looks right.

First of all, well look into some factors that determine the behaviour and
performance of our PID controller in reality:

Rise time the time it takes to get from the beginning point to the target
point
Overshoot how far beyond the target your system goes when passing the
target
Settling time the time it takes to settle back down when encountering a
change
Steady-state error the error at the equilibrium, when its stopped moving
Stability the smoothness of the motion

Now, lets check out how these are effected by an increase in our three constants:

Settling Steady-State
Parameter Rise Time Overshoot Stability
Time Error
kP Decrease Increase N/A Decrease Worsens
(faster) (further) (more precise)

kI Decrease Increase Increase Decrease Worsens

(faster) (further) (takes longer) (more precise)

kD N/A Decrease Decrease N/A Improves*

(closer) (quicker)
- Wikipedia

* If kD is small enough. Too much kD can make it worse! Since the derivative term
acts in the opposite direction to the proportional and integral components, if the
power produced by the derivative term is too great it will outweigh the
proportional and integral components, causing the robot to slow down and
potentially stop when it shouldnt. When the robot slows down, the derivative
component will weaken and the robot will once again be able to continue, only
until the derivative term becomes strong enough once again to slow the robot
down unnecessarily. The resulting motion looks jumpy, or jittery.

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Note: for the steady-state error, its important to remember that reliability is
generally more important than accuracy. By that, if youre always exactly 10 units
over the target, thats typically better than having a steady-state error ranging
between -5 to +5, because you can then just predict youll be 10 units over and
adjust as appropriate.

5.1 Trial & Error (Manual Tuning)

This method of tuning your PID controller is done entirely by you, with no extra
tools to help you out other than your fundamental knowledge and understanding.
It can be the most repetitive and tedious process, but often considered the
simplest.

First of all, you set all three constants (kP, kI, kD) to zero. This disables them.
Well tune them one by one, rather than jumping straight in. We generally tune
in the order of Proportional, Derivative, Integral, that is, we tune in the order of kP,
kD and finally kI. This entire process relies on making a prediction for your
constant (trial), and then adjusting it when it doesnt go to plan (error). Its
important to be prepared to stop your robot (both by disabling it from your
program or a switch, and by physically catching it if necessary), as youll likely
make a prediction that is far off an appropriate value. So long as youre ready, there
typically isnt too much harm in just experimenting.

1. Increase kP until the robot oscillates just slightly, once or twice. Were
interested in achieving a fast motion to the target here, but not too violent
it needs to settle, and in a reasonable amount of time!

2. Start adding kD until the steady-state error starts to decrease until

something suitable. This will allow us to maintain the fast motion from the
Proportional component, whilst minimising the overshoot. You may need
to go back to adjusting kP a little.

3. Start adding kI until any minor steady-state error and disturbances are
accounted for. You may need to adjust kD when doing this.

4. Using the knowledge from the table on the previous page, keep adjusting
the constants until you end up with a nice, quick but smooth motion that
youre happy with.

This can be very frustrating and difficult the first few times, but it gets a lot better
with practice, and youll be able to guess fairly accurate values for your constants
with a bit of experience.

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5.2 Mathematical Tuning
Mathematics can be used to provide a decent estimate for your PID constants.
Typically, youll need to make some manual adjustments afterwards, but
mathematical models can do a reasonable amount of the bulk of the work for you.
For this, well look at the Ziegler-Nichols method, which also requires a little bit of
manual work at the beginning for the calculations.

Just as for the trial & error method, begin by disabling all three constants (set them
to zero).

1. Increase kP until you get steady continuous oscillations. These need to be

stable and consistent. Record this value as kU (ultimate or critical gain).
2. Measure the period of the oscillations caused by step 1. That is, the time it
takes to do a full cycle from a point back to itself. You can measure this with
a bit of programming, or with a stopwatch. Its a good idea to measure many
oscillations and then divide the time by the number of oscillations to get a
good average. Record this number as pU (period for ultimate or critical
gain).
3. Calculate the approximate constant values from the following table,
depending on the type of your controller:

kP kI kD
P 0.5*kU 0 0
PI 0.45*kU 0.54*kU/pU 0
PD 0.8*kU 0 0.1*kU*pU
PID 0.6*kU 1.2*kU/pU 0.075*kU*pU
- Wikipedia

As previously mentioned, youll most likely need to make some adjustments

through trial & error to perfect the motion. The values in the tables above for kI
and kD do not account for any assumption for ignoring dT, so you would need to
accommodate that as well in your calculations.

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6. Conclusion
This document covers the basics of creating a PID controller. Weve looked at all
three components, and how they can help to create a reliable autonomous
movement for your system.

Its important to note that there are other features you may need to implement to
your code to improve the controller. Its also important to note that you dont need
all three components to create a good controller depending on your situation, a
P, PI, or PD controller might be just as good, if not more appropriate.
Understanding the fundamentals behind how and why a PID controller works will
aid you tremendously with your programming. It is worthwhile searching for
some examples online for various applications to broaden your knowledge.

I hope this guide has helped you, and I wish you the best of luck with your
programming!

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