IECON'O1: The 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
Automatic Tuning of PID Controllers
Using Model Reference Adaptive Control Techniques
K. Pirabakaran
Department of Cybernetics
The University of Reading,
Whiteknighis, PO Box 225,
Reading RG6 6AY,UK.
k.pirabakaran@reading.ac.uk
Abstract - This paper discusses the application of Model
Reference Adaptive Control concepts to the automatic tuning
of PID controllers. The effectivenessof the proposed method
is shown through simulated applications.
I. INTRODUCTION
Proportional + Integral 3. Derivative (PID) controllers
are the building blocks of industrial automation [l]. In the
process industries, more than 90% of the control loops are
of the PID type [ 2 ] . PID control is very flexible, so that it
is possible to use it in many situations. The performance of
a PID controller is mainly determined by the choice of its
parameters. It is commonly recognized that industrial
controllers of the PID type often operate with poor tuning.
Tuning a PID controller implies choosing suitable values
for its adjustable parameters in order to obtain the desired
control performance.
Significant efforts have been devoted to develop tuning
methods for PID controllers [3]. Automatic tuning (or
autotuning) is an on demand tuning procedure, as opposed
to continuous adaptation. The controller is automatically
tuned by pressing a button or sending an external signal.
The main advantage of using an automatic tuner is that it
simplifies tuning drastically and thus contributes to
improved control quality.
Automatic tuning can be done in several ways. A
method for automatic tuning of simple regulators was
introduced by Astrom and Hagglund [4]. The idea was to
determine the critical period and the critical gain from a
simple relay feedback experiment and to use a Ziegler
Nichols type of control design method to find the
parameters of PID regulators. A well designed automatic
tuner is very easy to use even for unskilled personnel.
In this paper, an autotuning method is proposed using
Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) concepts and
the MIT rule. Many adaptive control techniques can be
used to provide automatic tuning. In such applications the
adaptation loop is simply switched for a period of time
when tuning is required. Perturbation signals are normally
added to improve parameter estimation. The adaptive
controller is run until the performance is satisfactory; then
the adaptation loop is disconnected, and the system is left
running with fixed controller parameters.
The paper is organised as follows. In Section 11, an
overview of PID control algorithm is given. The MRAC
and gradient approach is presented in Section 111. Section
IV concentrates on the use of model reference adaptive
control concepts in PID control. Section V is devoted to
the automatic tuning of PID controllers using MRAC. Two
simulated examples are provided. The paper concludes
0-7803-7108-9/01/$10.00 (C)2001 IEEE
V. M. Becerra
Department of Cybernetics
The University of Reading,
Whiteknights, PO Box 225,
Reading RG6 6AY, UK.
v.m.becerra@reading.ac.uk
with hrther discussion on the results and on the autotuning
method presented.
11. PID CONTROL
The PID algorithm remains the most popular approach
for industrial process control despite continual advances in
control theory. This is not only due to the simple structure,
which is conceptually easy to understand and implemented
in practice. Also this algorithm provides adequate
performance in the vast majority of applications. The PID
algorithm is packaged in the form of the standard
regulators for process control and is also the basis of many
control systems. There are many variations of the basic
PID algorithm that substantially improve its performance
and operability. The textbook version of the algorithm [l]
is given in equation (1).
dt
where U is the control variable, e,. is the control error
(defined as ec=u, - y ) , U, is the reference value and y is the
process output. The control variable is thus a sum of three
terms: the P-term (which is proportional to the error), the I-
term (which is proportional to the integral of error), and the
D-term (which is proportional to the derivative of error).
The controller parameters are the proportional gain K,,
integral time Ti, and derivative time T,,.
Equation (1) can be re-written as follows: -
I
U ( t ) = K,e, ( t )+ K; Jec (t)dt+ K , -
deL
( t ),
0 dt
where Kiand Kd are the integral and derivative gains. In
the Laplace domain, Equation (2) can be transformed to:
(3)
A practical PID algorithmn has several modifications
when compared with the textbook version (1). It is
standard to let the derivative action operate only on the
process output. It gives an advantage to let the proportional
part act only on the fraction of the reference value. The
derivative action is replaced by an approximation that
reduces the gain at high frequencies. The integral action is
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 IECONO1: The 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

modified so that it does not keep integrating when the

control variable saturates [3].

where a and b are both assumed to be positive.

111. MRAC AND THE GRADIENT APPROACH
Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) was
originally proposed to solve a problem where the
specifications are given in terms of a reference model that
describes the desired behaviour of the closed loop system.
This technique was proposed by Whitaker in 1958 [I].
This is an important approach to adaptive control. The
basic idea is illustrated in Fig. 1.
Consider also the following PID control law, where the
Laplace transform of the control signal is given by:
K
U ( S )= K , (uc( s ) - Y ( s ) ) +-(U= (s)- Y ( s ) ) - K,SY ( s )
S
The main difference between Equation (6) and the
textbook version (1) is that the derivative action acts on the
measured output, rather than on the control error. In the
time domain, using the differential operator p=d/dt,
Equation (6) can be written as follows:

The process transfer function can be written in the time

process Process domain as follows:
s
1w d

Fig. 1. Block diagram of MRAC system [l].

It is possible to show that applying control law (7) to

In this case the reference model is in parallel with the system (8) gives the following closed loop transfer
system. The regulator can be thought of as consisting of function:
two loops: an inner loop (which is the ordinary feedback
loop) composed of the process and controller. The
bKpp bK
parameters of the controller are adjusted by the outer loop +A
in such a way that the difference between the process (1 + b K , ) (1 + bK,)
output y and the model output y , becomes small. The outer y ( t >= u‘(t) (9)
(a+bKp) bK
loop is thus the adaptation loop [I]. An important problem p 2 + - - - p + A
is to determine the adjustment mechanism so that a stable (1 + b K , ) (1 + bK,)
system that brings the error to zero, is obtained. The Consider also the following second order reference
following parameter adjustment mechanism, called the model:
MIT rule, was originally used in MRAC:
Ym(s) as+wn2
G, ( s ) = -=
(4) U , (s) s2 + 24-0,s + w”2’

In equation (4),e ( e = y - y , ) denotes the model error.
The components of d e / a8 are the sensitivity derivatives
of the error with respect to the adjustable parameter vector
B . The parameter y is known as the adaptation gain. The
MIT rule is a gradient scheme that aims to minimize the
squared model error e* [l].
IV. MODEL REFERENCE ADAPTIVE PID CONTROL
The goal of this section is to develop parameter
adaptation laws for a PID control algorithm using the MIT
rule.
Consider a process with a first order transfer function
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which has unit steady state gain, natural frequency U,,,
and damping ratio 4- . Notice the presence of a real zero at
-0; / ain the reference model. This zero is introduced to
match the structure of Equation (9).
Recall that the model error is defined as the
difference between the process output y and the reference
model output ym (e=y-y,). It is then possible to derive
adaptation rules for the controller parameters Kp, K , and
Kd of control law (7) using MIT rule d 8 l d t = - y e a e / a e
with 8 = Kp, Ki or Kd. Given that the process parameters a
and b are not known, the exact formulas that are derived
using the MIT rule (4) cannot be used. Instead, some
approximations are required. An approximation made,
which is valid when the parameters are close to their ideal
values, is as follows:
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 IECON'O1: The 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

parameter adaptation to take place. When the parameters

(a+bK,) bK,
p2+- p +- z p 2 + 2[wnp+ wn2 (1 1 ) have adapted after a period of time, then the adaptation is
(1 + bK,) (1 + bk.,) switched off and the PID controller operates again with
fixed parameters.
Then, the approximate parameter adaptation laws are as
follows: A. First order system

Y) (12) To illustrate, a simulation has been carried out with the

following parameter values: a=l, b=. 5, 6 =. 7, w, = I and
y=0.5. The external signal was chosen to be a square
wave with amplitude 0.1 and period 10 seconds.
Fig. 4 shows the reference model and process output
(13) before, during and after automatic tuning. Notice the
behaviour of the system before and after the tuning period,
and also the oscillations during the tuning period. Notice
that the system follows closely the reference model output
after the adaptation is carried out.

"rn

Where the original adaptation gain ( ) has been replaced

A diagrammatic representation of the adaptation scheme is

depicted in Fig. 3.

-0.2' " " ' " "

0 IW m 3w 1w yx) E
m 7w 800 900 m
Tm$(a)

Fig. 4. Process and model response before, during and after automatic
tuning

Figures 5 to 7 show the behaviour of the PID controller

parameters ( K , ,K, ,and Kd ).

Fig. 3. Block diagram for PID conl.rollerparameter adaptation using the

MIT rule

0.494 " " " " ' m

0 ,w m 300 4w xa 600 700 em 900
TmW

V. AUTOMATIC TUNINlG OF PID CONTROLLERS Fig. 5 . Variation of parameter K,

USING MRAC

Automatic controller tuning using MRAC can be carried

out in two steps. First, the adaptation is switched on and
the process is excited adequately in order to enable the

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 IECON'Ol: The 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
Fig. 6 . Variation of parameter K,
Fig. 7. Variation of parameter Kd
B. Level control system
Systems with flows through pipes and tanks are
common in process control. The flows are often closely
related to the production rate. Process dynamics thus
change when the production rate changes, so a controller
may need to be re-tuned after a significant change in the
production rate.
PID autotuning techniques using MRAC have been
applied to a simulated two tank process that is illustrated in
Fig. 8.
Qn A:
Fig. 8. Two tank process
A model of this system is 'given by the following set of
equations:
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where the manipulated variable V is valve opening in
percentage. el, Q,, , and Q, are volumetric flows in
cm3/s, h, = liquid level in tank 1 (cm), h, = liquid level
in tank 2 (cm), A , = base area of tank l(cm2), A,= base
area of tank 2 (cm2). The measured output is h, , the liquid
level in tank 2.
The parameters of the process are:
280cm' .
A, = 289cm2 ; A , = 144cm2 ;C = ___ ,
S.%
30cmx 30cmx
K , =- ; K , =---
S S
The system was simulated with the following parameter
values: 5=0.7, w, =.02 rads and y=l. The excitation
signal was chosen to be a square wave with amplitude 1
cm and a period of 200 s.
Fig. 9 shows the reference model and process output
before, during and after automatic tuning. Notice the
behaviour of the system before and after the tuning period,
and also the oscillations during the tuning period. Notice
once again that the system follows quite closely.' the
reference model output after the. adaptation is carried out.
Figures I O to 12 show the behaviour of the PID controller
parameters. Notice that the results are good despite of the
adaptation not having converged yet when the adaptation
mode was switched off.
Fig.9. Process and reference model outputs
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 IECON’O1: The 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

order reference model. Furthermore, the proposed

Fig. 10. Variation of parameter
technique has been applied to a simulated two tank
process, which has non-linear dynamics. The results
obtained show the effectiveness of the technique. The
resulting performance could be improved by a better
choice of the length of the adaptation period.
The MIT rule is known to have its disadvantages. First,
the speed of adaptation depends on the values of the
command signal. This problem is often dealt with by using
a normalised adaptation rule [ 13. Second, the MIT rule
does not guarantee the stability of the nominal system. The
Lyapunov approach can be used to provide guaranteed
nominal stability.
A further limitation of the approach is the assumption of
a structure for the nominal system. In this paper a first
order transfer function has been assumed, which could be
too simple in many applications. A more complex and
flexible nominal model could be used, at the expense of
more complicated adaptation laws.
K,
VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by The University of Reading

Research Endowment Trust Fund.
Oo5t i
VIII. REFERENCES

[l] K.J. Astrom, and B. Wittenmark, Adaptive Control,

2nd ed. Canada: Addison-Wesley: 1995.
[2] C.C. Yu, “Auto-tuning of PZD Controllers: Relay
Feedback Approach.” London: Springer-Verlag:
-ARM /\u,o,unng
1999.
[3] K.J. Astrom, and T. Hagglund, “PZD controllers:
llwo Iww llwo
4 0. 2wo 2 .WO1
0 6Mo
-
T,rn.bI
12cca ,.WO lSW0
Theoly, Design, and Tuning.” 2nd ed. Instrument
Society of America: Research Triangle Park 1995.
Fig. 11. Variation of parameter Ki [4]K.J. Astrom, and T. Hagglund. Automatic Tuning of
Simple Regulators with Specifications on Phase and
Amplitude margins, Autornatica, 1984, v01.20, 645.

r-w

Fig. 12. Variation ofparameter K d

VI. CONCLUSIONS

The automatic tuning of PID controllers has been

investigated using Model Reference Adaptive Control
concepts and the MIT rule. Simple adaptation laws for the
controller parameters have been presented assuming that
the process under control ciiltl be approximated by a first
order transfer function. The developed adaptation rules
have been applied to a first order system with a second

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