10/28/2015

OvercomingprocessdeadtimewithaSmithPredictor|ControlEngineering

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OvercomingprocessdeadtimewithaSmithPredictor
Acontrollerequippedwithanaccurateprocessmodelcanignoredeadtime.Deadtimegenerallyoccurswhenmaterialis
transportedfromtheactuatorsitetothesensormeasurementlocation.Untilthematerialreachesthesensor,thesensorcannot
measureanychangeseffectedbytheactuator.
VanceVanDoren,PhD,PE

02/17/2015

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Forthepurposesoffeedbackcontrol,deadtimeisthe
delaybetweentheapplicationofacontroleffortand
itsfirsteffectontheprocessvariable.Duringthat
interval,theprocessdoesnotrespondtothe
controller'sactivityatall,andanyattemptto
manipulatetheprocessvariablebeforethedeadtime
haselapsedinevitablyfails.
Deadtimegenerallyoccurswhenmaterialis
transportedfromthesiteoftheactuatortoanother
locationwherethesensortakesitsreading.Notuntil
thematerialhasreachedthesensorcanany
changeseffectedbytheactuatorbedetected.
Consider,forexample,therollingmillshowninthe
"SimplifiedDeadtimeExample"whichproducesa
continuoussheetofsomematerialatarateofV
(inchespersecond).Afeedbackcontrollerusesa
pistontomodifythegapbetweenapairofreducing
rollersthatsqueezethematerialintothedesired
thickness.ThedeadtimeinthisprocessiscausedbytheseparationSbetweentherollersandthethicknessgage.
Thecontrollerinthisexamplecancomparethecurrentthicknessofthesheet(theprocessvariable,PV)withthedesired
thickness(thesetpoint,SP)andgenerateanoutput(CO),butitmustwaitatleastD=S/Vsecondsforthethicknesstochange.
Ifitexpectsaresultanysooner,itwilldeterminethatitslastcontrolefforthadnoeffectandwillcontinuetoapplyeverlarger
correctionstotherollersuntilthesensorbeginstoseethethicknesschanginginthedesireddirection.Bythattime,however,it
willbetoolate.Thecontrollerwillhavealreadyovercompensatedfortheoriginalthicknesserror,perhapstothepointof
causinganevenlargererrorintheoppositedirection.
Howbadlythecontrollerovercompensatesdependsonhowaggressivelyitis
tunedandonthedifferencebetweentheactualandtheassumeddeadtime.That
is,ifthecontrollerassumesthatthedeadtimeismuchshorterthanisactuallythe
case,itwillspendamuchlongertimeincreasingitsoutputbeforesuccessfully
effectingachangeintheprocessvariable.Ifthecontrolleristunedtobe
particularlyaggressive,therateatwhichitincreasesitsoutputduringthat
intervalwillbeespeciallyhigh,andtheresultingovercompensationwillbe
particularlysevere.
Detuningthecontroller

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Thepreferredmethodforcuringadeadtimeproblemistophysicallymodifythe
processtoreducedeadtime.Intherollingmillexample,thiscouldbe
accomplishedbymovingthethicknessgageclosertotherollersorbyrunning
thesheetatahighervelocity.
Butifdeadtimecannotbecuredbyrelocatingthesensororspeedingupthe
process,itssymptomscanstillbeaddressedbymodifyingthecontrolalgorithm.Thesimplestmethodistodetunethe
controllertoslowitsresponserate.Adetunedcontrollerwillnothavetimetoovercompensateunlessdeadtimeisparticularly
long.
Theintegratorinaproportionalintegralderivative(PID)controllerisparticularlysensitivetodeadtime.Bydesign,itsfunctionis
tocontinuerampingupthecontroller'soutputsolongasthereisanerrorbetweenthesetpointandtheprocessvariable.Inthe
presenceofdeadtime,theintegratorworksovertime.ZieglerandNicholsdeterminedthatthebestwaytodetuneaPID
controllertohandleadeadtimeofDsecondsistoreducetheintegraltuningconstantbyafactorofD2.Theyalsofoundthat
theproportionaltuningconstantshouldbereducedbyafactorofD.Thederivativetermisunaffectedbydeadtimesinceitonly
comesintoplayaftertheprocessvariablehasbeguntomove.

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OvercomingprocessdeadtimewithaSmithPredictor|ControlEngineering

Detuningcanrestorestabilitytoacontrolloopthatsuffersfromchronicovercompensation,butitwouldnotevenbenecessary
ifthecontrollercouldfirstbemadeawareofthedeadtime,andthenendowedwiththepatiencetowaititout.Thatisessentially
whathappensinthefamousSmithPredictorcontrolstrategyproposedbyOttoSmithin1957.
Removingdeadtimefromtheloop
Smith'sstrategyisshowninthe"SmithPredictor"blockdiagram.Itconsistsofanordinaryfeedbackloopplusaninnerloop
thatintroducestwoextratermsdirectlyintothefeedbackpath.Thefirsttermisanestimateofwhattheprocessvariablewould
looklikeintheabsenceofanydisturbances.Itisgeneratedbyrunningthecontrolleroutputthroughaprocessmodelthat
intentionallyignorestheeffectsofdisturbances.Ifthemodelisotherwiseaccurateinrepresentingthebehavioroftheprocess,
itsoutputwillbeadisturbancefreeversionoftheactualprocessvariable.
Themathematicalmodelusedtogeneratethedisturbancefreeprocessvariableconsistsoftwoelementshookedupinseries.
Thefirstelementrepresentsalloftheprocessbehaviornotattributabletodeadtime.Thesecondelementrepresentsnothing
butthedeadtime.Thedeadtimefreeelementisgenerallyimplementedasanordinarydifferentialordifferenceequationthat
includesestimatesofalltheprocessgainsandtimeconstants.Thesecondelementofthemodelissimplyatimedelay.The
signalthatgoesintoitcomesoutdelayed,butotherwiseunchanged.
ThesecondtermthatSmith'sstrategyintroducesintothefeedbackpathisanestimateofwhattheprocessvariablewouldlook
likeintheabsenceofbothdisturbancesanddeadtime.Itisgeneratedbyrunningthecontrolleroutputthroughthefirstelement
oftheprocessmodel(thegainsandtimeconstants),butnotthroughthetimedelayelement.Itthuspredictswhatthe
disturbancefreeprocessvariablewilleventuallylooklikeoncethedeadtimehaselapsed,hencetheexpressionSmith
Predictor.
Subtractingthedisturbancefreeprocessvariablefromtheactualprocessvariableyieldsanestimateofthedisturbances.By
addingthisdifferencetothepredictedprocessvariable,Smithcreatedafeedbackvariablethatincludesthedisturbances,but
notthedeadtime.
Sowhat?
Thepurposeofallthesemathematicalmanipulationsisbestillustratedbythe"SmithPredictorRearranged"blockdiagram.It
showstheSmithPredictorwiththesameblocksarrangedtoyieldthesamemathematicalresults,onlycomputedinadifferent
order.ThisarrangementmakesiteasiertoseethattheSmithPredictoreffectivelyestimatestheprocessvariable(including
bothdisturbancesanddeadtime)byaddingtheestimateddisturbancesbackintothedisturbancefreeprocessvariable.The
resultisafeedbackcontrolsystemwiththedeadtimeoutsideoftheloop.

TheSmithPredictorworkstocontrolthemodifiedfeedbackvariable(thepredictedprocessvariablewithdisturbancesincluded)
ratherthantheactualprocessvariable.Ifitissuccessfulindoingso,andiftheprocessmodeldoesindeedmatchtheprocess,
thenthecontrollerwillsimultaneouslydrivetheactualprocessvariabletowardsthesetpoint,whetherthesetpointchangesora
loaddisturbstheprocess.Thedeadtimebecomesirrelevant.
Unfortunately,intherealworld,thosearebigifs.Itiscertainlyeasierforthecontrollertomeetitsobjectiveswithouthavingto
dealwiththedeadtime,butitisnotalwaysasimplemattertogeneratetheprocessmodelsrequiredtomakethisstrategywork.
Eventheslightestmismatchbetweentheprocessandthemodelcancausethecontrollertogenerateanoutputthat
successfullymanipulatesthemodifiedfeedbackvariable,butdrivesofftheactualprocessvariableintooblivion.Therehave
beenseveralfixesproposedtoimproveonthebasicSmithPredictor,butdeadtimeremainsaparticularlydifficultcontrol
problem.
VanceVanDoren,PhD,PE,isacontributingcontentspecialistforControlEngineering.
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OvercomingprocessdeadtimewithaSmithPredictor|ControlEngineering
VanceVanDoren,PhD,PE,isacontributingcontentspecialistforControlEngineering.

Keyconcepts:
Deadtimeinaprocesscancauseacontrollertooverreacttoadisturbanceorsetpointchange.
Ifitisn'tpracticaltowaitforatimeintervaltopass,therearetechniquesdesignedtomakechangesmorequickly.
ONLINE
Readmoreoncontrolstrategyandlooptuningbelow.
RelatedNews:
Fundamentalsofintegratingvs.selfregulatingprocesses02.12.201410:01
TuningPIDloopsforlevelcontrol30.10.201415:51
Fundamentalsofcascadecontrol17.08.201405:20
TuningPIDcontrolloopsforfastresponse01.07.201412:09
FixingPID,Part228.04.201414:20
Fundamentalsoflambdatuning16.04.201311:28
FixingPID30.11.201216:23
Feedbackcontrollersdotheirbest16.10.201210:27
DisturbanceRejectionvs.SetpointTrackingControllers26.09.201112:47
Gainschedulingandprocesslinearity31.01.201117:09
BacktoBasics:Closedloopstability17.08.201013:27
UnderstandingDerivativeinPIDControl01.02.201007:00
TheThreeFacesofPID01.03.200707:00

Postacomment
Loginorcreateanaccounttosubmityourcommentforthisarticle.

Ahmed,OH,Egypt,02/18/1510:47PM:
itisdeepknowledgeofcontrollerandmeaningofdeedtime.
LARRY,WA,UnitedStates,02/19/1509:53PM:
Greatjobpointingoutthepotentialbenefitswithoutminimizingthepotentialhazards.Theapplicationexamplewasagoodone,
andhasahiddenhazardtomakemattersworse:thematerialbalanceforarollingprocessmeansthatrepositioningthedrive
rollerchangesthetravelrateattheoutputside,sothatthe"timedelay"isnotexactlyconstant.Theclassic"SmithPredictor
filter,"asimplementedinthe1950s,usedanalognonminimumphasefilters,whichoftenweresubjecttosensitivityandstability
limitations. We have options today to use the same architecture model, but replacing the Smith Predictor filter part of the
processmodelwithdigitaldelaylinesanddigitalfilters.However,appropriatetuningofthesecanstillbetricky.Whyisthere
neverafreelunch?
WILLIAM,CA,UnitedStates,04/07/1512:28PM:
It seems one can also view the Smith Predictor as "feedforward control", where the controller output is simply another
measured "input disturbance" which the feedforward equation responds to in an attempt to keep the thickness (controlled
variable)fromchanging.Ifthepredictor's"plantmodel"isperfect,itseemsitwouldsimplycounterthecontrolactionuntilone
deadtimehaspassed.
Withtoday'sdigitalcontrollers,itseemsasimplerapproachisthataftereachcontrolchange,waitonedeadtimebeforeacting
onthesensorsignal(i.e.commonsense).ThismightberealizedbysimplysettingthePLCcycletime(ortasktime)tomatch
thedeadtime.
Tom,NonUS/NotApplicable,Australia,04/07/1509:06PM:
AlsorefertoF.G.Shinskey:
PIDdeadtimecontrolof
distributedprocesses.
Glenn,Canada,04/11/1512:52PM:
AgoodarticleandtimelyformeasIjustdesignedandcommissioned3MSP(ModifiedSmithPredictor)controllerslastweek.
MSP'shavebeencommoninthepaperindustrysincethe1980's.AnMSPpredictstheeffectoftheprocesstimeconstantin
addition to the dead time. The final controller is simply gain X predicted error divided by process gain. If significant model
mismatchispossible,Ioftenaddcompensationforuncertainty.Thesecontrollersareverysimpletodesignandimplementand
workwellwithbothimprovedstabilityandspeed.

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