PID Tuning Tutorial

"Learn How To Tune PID Loops
First Time, Every Time"

I'll show you the exact, step-by-step method that PID Tuning consultants use to get the fastest response and max stability from almost any PID control loop.

17 March 2009

Dear Engineering Professional,

Are you pulling your hair out with frustration trying to tune your PID loop using trial and error?

I'll let you into a secret: the PID Tuning pros have a special name for that 'trial and error' method.

They Call it "The WAG Method."

That stands for Wild Assed Guess. Because if there is no science or methodology behind your tuning then the chance of you stumbling across the exact combination of P, I and D gains that will deliver the fastest, most stable response is approximately zero.

Have you also tried the infamous Ziegler Nichols technique yet? You know the one - It forces you to send your system unstable before suggesting tuning constants that leave your loop always teetering on instability.

How is it that a technique invented in the 1940's that rarely works outside of a laboratory (with its sterile, ideal conditions) is still pedalled by almost everyone in the industry as THE way to tune a PID loop?

How's your Calculus these days?

Are you fed up with websites and textbooks full of equations like this??

PID Tuning Algorithm

The truth is you don't need to understand control theory or equations like that evil looking one above to successfully tune most PID loops.

You don't need to plough through pages of dry text books trying to separate the academic theory from the practical techniques that you can actually use in the real world.

I'm a Chartered Professional Engineer (but don't hold that agaainst me!)

My name is Finn Peacock, I'm a Chartered Professional Engineer, and I've been in the Control System Engineering game for over 12 years...


After 12 years of costly trial and error, here’s what I discovered

  • I've learnt that life is just too short to spend your days (and late-nights) tweaking controllers using an infinite loop of trial and error.


  • I've learnt that Ziegler Nichols is a waste of time on anything but the most textbook of processes.


  • I've learnt that if you have $10,000 to spend - then there are some great software packages that really do work very well. (drop me a line if you want to know which one works best)


  • I've also learned that if you ain't got $10K burning a hole in your pocket - you can still get your loops tuned beautifully - but you need to follow a very specific process.

Funnily enough I have never seen this complete PID Tuning process in any textbook or on any website. Which is a shame because these tuning rules will give you a fast, robustly tuned loop with minimum overshoot.

Do you want to see the formulas that I recommend for PID tuning?

I want to be completely up front with you here. Whilst you won't find my complete, step-by-step, paint-by-numbers approach in the textbooks, if you have the patience and can decipher the highly academic style of writing, you can dig up the formulas that I use to calculate the tuning constants.

In fact I'll even point you to their location. Just, please bear in mind that applying these formulas only makes up 10% of the Blueprint. The rest contains practical and essential steps that you need to complete before you should even begin to think about calculating tuning constants.

The formulas used are from the Integral Criteria and Lambda Tuning Method and minimize the Integral of Absolute Error (Don't worry I use plain English in the Blueprint).

You can find them in the following text books (the first one is 2000 pages, but you want to read page 422!):

Instrument Engineer's Handbook

New Directions in Bioprocess Modeling and Control

The technique I'm talking about is a technique that I've assembled from lots of different sources over my 12 years as a control engineer working with some of the best Control Engineers in the world. I've used the very same technique to tune loops from nuclear power plants to chocolate factories.

Finally, I've found time to sit down and commit every last detail of this proven method into one easy-to-use reference. I've called it:

The PID Tuning Blueprint


PID Tuning ebook

I have collected 12 years' worth of practical PID tuning experience and put it into The PID Tuning Blueprint. I will guide you through all the methods, principles, and hard earned practical insights of my 12 year-long journey in plain English and in a simple step-by-step way.

As a highly skilled professional, you've got a million and one things that need your attention. Don't waste your precious time trying to piece together the whole picture about PID Tuning when I can give you all the information you need right now.

What People Are Saying

"Finn, I have just finished tuning a PID loop for an industrial refrigeration plant (ammonia) and I had to write you a quick note to say how impressed I was/am with your tuning blueprint.

I followed your steps for an integrating process and used the equations provided and WOW! what a result.

This has got to be the BEST tuning guide around. I am still yet to see a simpler way to calibrate and tune a loop. "

Paul Ellis
Electrical Team Manager
Versacold Logistics
Melbourne, Australia
www.versacold.com.au

"We had a new control system installed with 3 valves with new pid loops.

We got all 3 done with your blueprint, and they are stable over the entire operating range."

Michael Fees
California, USA

"Its power and utility is embedded in its simplicity.

Your Blueprint launched our process from "expect the worst, but hope for the best" process to one that is reliable and predictable."

Anthony Keefe
Michigan, USA

"What I liked most about the PID Tuning Blueprint was its simple approach. We have implemented it on our clients’ processes and the results are great."

Stefano Ruede
Energeering Solutions Inc
Oregon, USA

"I liked the practical approach: 1)collect info 2)perform calculation 3) implement - It worked first try.

I tuned several chilled water temperature control loops quickly and easily."

A.J. Finnni
Finnin & Associates, Inc.
Louisiana, USA

"Easy to use and to follow. This is probably is the best down-to-earth material for tuning PIDs that I have ever seen.

Really,.. it is Idiot Proof. It is like you just follow the lines painted on the floor and you will arrive safely at your destination.

Using your Blueprint, my process was tuned with just PI. PID was not necessary after it was so well tuned."

Francisco Lopez
Advanced Integrated Solutions Inc
USA

"In implementing the PID Tuning Blueprint, I was able to uncover instability in the glycol cooling loop.

The company was impressed by how the PID Tuning Blueprint was able to be used as such an effective tool in identifying deficiencies in the glycol control loop, at a fraction of the cost of software such as RSTune."

Terry King
Gay Lea Foods
Ontario, Canada

"I liked it. I felt it was well written. And yes it did help me understand loop tuning.

I used it to tune a thermal process. Everything from temperature loops to level, pressure and flow.

I liked the format. I liked how it was written and I felt it like the author was talking to me. So I did not feel like I was just reading some other text book."

Randy Ruano
California, USA

"I like the fact it is plain English with humor interjected"

David Molley
Industrial Innovations Inc
Los Angeles, USA

"Finally, the ability to show the Automation Engineers that there is more than just "Trial and Error" to tuning PID loops!!!"

Anon

"Good step by step instructions"

Jim McGrath
Montana, USA

"Straight forward no nonsense approach to loop tuning."

Dale Hoover
Philadelphia, USA

"Applicable and Real World.

Direct translation to real world problems."

Ian Cameron
WA, Australia

"The primary reason for purchase was to help tune a difficult loop that had resisted other tuning methods. It was used to tune about 8 loops in total. "

Duncan Bee
PV Developments Ltd
Cheshire, UK

"I thought that the blue print layout was excellent, each step was clear and concise.

The clear text and diagrams demonstrate the theory very well.

It is nice to deal with a company that stands by their product and passes on any upgrades improvements at no charge.

Well done on a great product."

William Rufus
SA, Australia

"It help me understand the concept of PID, and what the effect of each parameter on the output result is.

The best thing about this manual that it is short and to the point"

Ran
New Jersey, USA

"Simple, easy to understand explanations

The "Idiot's Guide to the PID Algorithm" helped me and it help me to explain loop tuning techniques and constraints to clients."

John Maunder
Instrumentation Control Solutions Ltd
Kent, England

"I liked that it was to-the-point and left out all the theory crap…"

John Campbell
Fiberplex Inc
Maryland, USA

"I like the ease of use of the Blueprint.

It worked well for tuning a difficult control loop."

Arnie Casto
West Virginia, USA

Skip the learning curve and learn from my mistakes…

The 5 Deadliest Mistakes of PID Tuning

Mistake # 1: All processes are tuned the same way

You do not want to fall into the trap of thinking that there is a “one size fits all” approach to tuning PID loops. There are 2 distinct types of processes, and you need to follow a very different set of tuning rules for each type.

I walk you through how to identify your process type - and then guide you through the specific tuning rules that will work for that particular process.

Please beware of tuning methods that don't make this distinction.

Mistake # 2: Tuning your loop in "Closed Loop"

If you have been struggling to tune your loop it is probably because you have had the thing in "closed loop" or "Auto mode". This is really bad news. Closed loop mode masks critical process characteristics that are essential for robust tuning. You must have your loop in "Open Loop" or "Manual mode" when you tune it to get the real picture. Does this sound counter intuitive? Don't worry it is all explained in plain English in Section 6 of the blueprint.

Mistake # 3: Assuming all controllers can be tuned with the same method…

Imagine that you inherit a perfectly tuned loop, but the controller is obsolete and needs replacing. You swap it with the latest model controller and copy all the settings over. You power up the loop … and it immediately goes unstable!

This happens all the time because there are no standard units for PID settings and there is no standard algorithm for implementing PID control. It is a jungle out there, but the Blueprint takes you by the hand and guides you through the undergrowth by identifying how YOUR controller works and what units it uses. You then get all the tools you need to translate your freshly calculated tuning constants into your controller's language.

Mistake # 4: Assuming PID tuning begins and ends with the tuning!

A car with a well tuned engine won't perform very well if its tyres are flat. And the best tuned PID loop in the world won't perform if certain process fundamentals are wrong.

I once completed a $35,000 dollar fixed-price contract to fix a PID loop. It took me half a day. I didn't touch the tuning. I just made a change to a position-transmitter setting. Heaps of times I've been called out to tune a controller, when something else in the process was wrong.

The Blueprint walks you through a step-by-step check of all the process fundamentals before the tuning begins (tuning starts at step 8 out of 10 steps!). This is stuff learnt from over a decade in the game, which is essential to get right before you can even think about tuning. And you won't find these steps in any text books.

Mistake # 5: Relying on the Vendor's Autotune function

Control Engineering Magazine tested 5 Vendor's Autotune functions in their Jan 2009 Issue. 80% of the controllers tested failed to get the loop to setpoint. Autotune sucks. It sucks because all autotune algorithms work in closed loop. And you can't tune a loop properly in closed loop (See Mistake #2).

Here's a sample of what the PID Tuning Blueprint
will do for YOU...

Save Yourself Hundreds of Hours by Getting an Immediate Blueprint to PID Tuning Success

Tune your loop today – the Blueprint gets straight to the point with no distractions, so you can get your process up to maximum performance ASAP

Gives you a loop that is Robust – this means that you can rest easy safe in the knowledge that it will stay tuned for the long term

Say goodbye to trial and error – this technique will give you the best settings first time, every time.

This technique will automatically identify any nasty loop characteristics like time delays and lags and provide tuning constants that will handle them.

No expensive equipment required – all you need is your process data and a spreadsheet

Identify problems with your process that have nothing to do with the tuning (these are incredibly common)

You Learn Techniques It Has Taken Me 12 Years to Acquire But You Can Start Using In 10 Minutes


Here's what The PID Tuning Blueprint won't do:

IT WON'T...

  • leave you with a process that is always teetering on the edge of instability


IT WON'T...

  • leave you with raw tuning constants and no means of converting them to the specific units and algorithm of your particular controller


IT DOESN'T...

  • expect you to have a PhD in math to understand it


IT WON'T...

  • cost you $10,000-$30,000 in PID Tuning Software



What's In The Box?

So what does the PID Tuning Blueprint package actually include?

There are four versions of this highly capable toolkit:

1) Digital Basic Everything you need to get your process tuned today - the full course in PDF plus the PID Tuning logbook and PID Tuning Cheatsheet (all as described below). PLUS you get the 3 fast action bonuses: "The Idiot's guide to the PID Algorithm", The Definitive Guide To Cascade Control and the Process Linearizer for MS Excel.

2) Pro Package The full Blueprint in PDF with all the extras above, plus my fully featured "PID Tuning Simulator and Tuning Constants Calculator" for MS Excel. This is PID Tuning software written in MS Excel that both hugely speeds up the tuning process and lets you learn the techniques in the blueprint on a simulation of your process. Make any beginner's mistakes in Excel - not on your plant, and be confident in your tuning before committing the new parameters to your controller.

3) Deluxe Everything I just told you about above, but all the books are shipped to you as hard copies and all the software is shipped on CD. Plus you get instant downloads of the Blueprint, bonuses and software.

4) Site Licence A site-wide licence (up to 20 users) for your site, so that every engineer and tech can have their own copy of the blueprint materials and software including the PID Tuning Simulator / Tuning Calculator. Plus 3 hard copies of each of the books and the software on CD.

Here's each part of the package in more detail:

 

PID Tuning Blueprint: Guidebook

You'll get this step-by-step guide explaining my unique PID Tuning technique, and how to apply it to your specific process. Don't expect a Harry Potter novel here! It's 65 pages filled with only what you need to know, so it shouldn't take you more than an hour to work your way through. You can begin implementing the steps immediately.

The PID Tuning Guide

PID Tuning Cheat Sheet

Once you've used the Blueprint to tune your first loop, you can progress to using this 2 sided cheat-sheet to quickly tune subsequent loops. The cheat sheet is a super condensed guide to the tuning process that you can easily refer to out on the plant, to ensure that your loops get tuned as efficiently as possible.



PID Tuning Cheatsheet

PID Tuning Logbook

You will be asked how you got that process working so sweetly. And if you fill in the blanks in a fresh copy of this logbook as you tune each loop, you will have a record that will show exactly what you did to improve the process -- and crucially how much you improved it by (always useful when negotiating your next rate or pay rise!)

PID Tuning Logbook

PID Tuning Simulator and Tuning Calculator
for MS Excel (Pro Package only)

PID Tuning Software

The best PID tuners in the business are those who try out their newly calculated tuning parameters on a 'fit for purpose' simulation before investing in both the effort and downtime required to implement them on their physical process.

This sophisticated spreadsheet actually simulates your process and controller right inside the familiar environment of MS Excel. Here's how it fits into your PID loop tuning process:

a)You follow steps 1-7 as per the Blueprint (despite what some software vendors may claim - these essential steps cannot be automated).

b)You go through each configurable cell on the main worksheet and dial in your process, controller and desired performance characteristics.

c)The algorithms in the spreadsheet automatically calculate your optimum tuning constants (using the exact same rules as described in the Blueprint). The spreadsheet also automates the process of converting the raw tuning constants to values that your specific controller type can use.

d)The simulator shows you how your simulated process will respond to those tuning parameters based on setpoint and/or load changes.

e)You spot any mistakes in your tuning well before you touch your plant, and gain confidence in the tuning technique that you have just learned.

This is also a great learning tool for playing with the controller setup and seeing how the different parameters affect the process performance.

I have written this in Excel so that you have complete access to all the algorithms that drive the simulation and the tuning. I hate 'black boxes' as much as the next engineer. If you want to understand exactly why something is happening in the simulation or the calculator - simply unprotect the sheet (no password required) and the workings are there for you to see.

Start Now

PID Tuning Blueprint

I'm a little different to most PID Tuning Software/Training vendors...

I don't spend my time responding to requests for proposals, making sales visits, or flying besuited salesmen around the world sweet-talking upper management into spending lots of money...

This means that I don't have to charge 5 figures for a license. In fact you can get all the tools you need to tune your PID loop today from just:

$97





What else does 97 bucks buy you in industrial automation in 2009?

A pack of 500 Ferrules?

"But Wait, That's Not All!"

Order now and I will give you the following FAST ACTION Bonus Package

FAST ACTION Bonus #1

The Complete Idiot's
Guide to the PID Algorithm

You don’t have to understand why the PID algorithm works or the calculus that underpins it to tune most loops in practice – but if you are like any engineer that I know – you don’t quite feel comfortable unless you have an intuitive understanding of what is happening and why…..

This guide to the PID algorithm and the mathematical concepts that underpin it - is written so that anyone can get an intuitive understanding of how the algorithm works and why.

This crash course uses the analogy of a car on a freeway changing lanes to represent the process under control and walks you through easy to visualize "thought experiments" to cement the concepts in your mind.

If Integrals, Differentials and the inner working of the PID algorithm are a mystery to you - this "Idiot's Guide" will give you the A-HA! moment as everything finally makes sense

PID Algorithm Tutorial

Feedback for the Idiot's Guide

"As I am rather new to this field of process control, I was very pleased to have the PID Loop explained in a VERY understandable way (if you know why, the how comes easy)

Now even I can explain it to others. Excellent Job!!!"

James Greer
Experitec Inc
Kansas, USA

"I was impressed with how the Idiot's Guide explained all of the math behind the proportional, integral and derivative terms in layman's terms, so that operators, engineers, electricians, and mechanics cold get a better understanding of PID control.

The Operators and Stationary Engineers in my plant were very grateful that I allowed them to read the Idiot's Guide, because now they could understand the processes beter.

I also liked the way that it built up each of the three components, starting with proportional, then adding integral, then finally adding derivative.

This practical explanation helped me understand PID control better in two hours than I had learned in three-month theoretical courses that I had taken in the past."

Terry King
Gay Lea Foods
Ontario, Canada

Get The Complete Idiot's Guide to the PID Algorithm today with your Order of the PID Tuning Blueprint.

FAST ACTION Bonus #2

Automated Process Linearizer
for MS Excel

A critical step of any tuning process is to ensure that your process responds linearly to your controller output (See the Blueprint Guidebook Section 8).

This Macro automates the linearizing process. You simply paste your process data in - and the macro works out a lookup table that you can use in your controller to hugely improve the performance of your loop.

process linearizer macro

Get The Automated Process Linearizer today with your Order of the PID Tuning Blueprint.

FAST ACTION Bonus #3

Cascade Control:
The Definitive Guide

You may well know that Cascade Control is one of the more popular "Advanced" PID strategies out there. You may also know that it involves inserting the output of one controller directly into the input of a second controller (ouch!).

But do you Really understand why cascade control is used, when it improves loop performance and when it kills it? Would you like a detailed step-by-step guide that shows you how to evaluate, design, tune and operate a Cascade Control System?

Did you also know that if your actuator is a valve with a positioner, you actually have a cascade loop that will never perform properly if it is not set up correctly?

This definitive guide to cascade control tells you everything you need to know about cascade control so you know when to use it and how to tune it. It is 25 pages of nothing but the facts with more diagrams and examples than you can shake a stick at.

cascade control tutorial

Get Cascade Control: The Definitive Guide today with your Order of the PID Tuning Blueprint.



My 12 Year Education Is Yours Risk-Free


My Promise to You

I have a very simple promise to make to you. If the PID Tuning Blueprint is not everything I've said it is, I want you to ask for a full and complete refund.

You've got 60 days to think about it, experiment with it, learn from it, and improve your processes with it. That should give you plenty of time to know one way or the other that the Blueprint is the critical tool that boosts your process control success.

If you don't like it, or it doesn't work at least as well as I've described, you get your money back.

Simple as that.

Guaranteed.

(My money-back guarantee has been certified by independent consumer watchdog group GuaranteeGuarantee.com which verifies that I honor my guarantee 100% of the time, no questions asked)

The investment to own the PID Tuning Blueprint starts at just $97

Finn Peacock, Author of The PID Tuning Blueprint

Finn Peacock
Author of The PID Tuning Blueprint


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Delivery

The product will be delivered to you via download once your payment has been authorized.

Format Of The PID Tuning Blueprint

NOTE: You will need Acrobat Reader to view The PID Tuning Blueprint which you will receive in PDF format. If you don't have the Acrobat Reader software you can download it for free by clicking here (a new window will open so you don't lose this page). The PID Tuning logbook is presented in MS Word, so you can fill it in electronically and also modify it to suit your company's documentation style. The PID Simulator/Calculator and Bonus Linearizer Macro need MS Excel 2003 or higher.

Finn Peacock



 

 

Finn Peacock
Author of The PID Tuning Blueprint

I'm a Chartered Professional Engineer (but don't hold that agaainst me!)

PS If you order now, read the guide and are still not happy contact me within 60 days and I will give you your money back in full. REMEMBER - you are getting immediate access to a PID Tuning technique that is guaranteed to improve your loops' performance.


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Ask Us a Question...

 

Finn Peacock
32A Edwards St.
Brighton SA
Australia
+61 434 284 495
Email: finn(at)PID-Tuning.com


DISCLAIMER : Use this, or any product, at your own risk. By using this product, you agree that your recourse for any and all claims related to your use of this product is a refund within the terms of our guarantee.


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The Practical PID Tuning Method for Flow, Level, pH, Pressure, Temperature, Servo, Speed, Position, Cascade Control plus many other PID Loops.