Self-Tuning Control: Laboratory Real - Time Education

Abstract

The combination of the automatic control theory courses and practical implementation of the designed controller algorithms in real-time conditions is very important for training of the control engineers. This contribution presents a MATLAB-Toolbox for design, simulation verification and especially real-time implementation of single input - single output (SISO) discrete self-tuning controllers. The proposed adaptive controllers what are included into a Toolbox can be divided into three groups. The first group covers PID adaptive algorithms using traditional Ziegler-Nichols method for the setting of the controller parameters, the second group of described controllers is based on the pole placement design and the third group contains the controllers derived on the other approaches (dead-beat, minimum variance etc.). The controllers are implemented as an encapsulated SIMULINK blocks and thus allows users simple integration into existing SIMULINK schemas. The process of developing real-time applications using MATLAB Real-Time Workshop and several control courses is also presented. The MATLAB-Toolbox is very successfully used in Adaptive Control Course in education practice for design and verification of self-tuning control systems in real-time. It is suitable for design and verification of the industrial controllers, too. The MATLAB-Toolbox is available free of charge at Internet site - http://www.utb.cz/stctool/.