/**
* PID Controller
*
* The PID controller is a linear control algorithm that has three terms:
* - Proportional: A simple scaling of the error value by a gain kP
* - Integral: Integration of the error value over time, then multipled by gain
* kI
* - Derivative: Rate of change of the error value over time, multiplied by
* gain kD
*
* Terms of the controller can be removed by setting their gain to 0, creating a
* PI (kD = 0) or PD (kI = 0) controller. Depending on the control problem at
* hand, some terms may not increase the performance of the system, or may have
* a negative effect.
*
* For a more mathematical expanation of the PID Controller, see
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller
*
* Limitations of this implementation:
* - Since this implementation is just for demonstration, the pid_step function
* takes the dt as a parameter, and it can be provided by the user in main().
* This allows deterministic experimentation with the algorithm, rather than
* using time(NULL) which would make the function non-deterministic.
*
* Inputs: e(t) - Current error at time t. For example, how far a servo is off
* the desired angle Output: u(t) - Controller output at time t.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
struct pid
{
// Controller gains
float kP;
float kI;
float kD;
// State variables
float lastError;
float integral;
};
float pid_step(struct pid *controller, float dt, float error)
{
// Calculate p term
float p = error * controller->kP;
// Calculate i term
controller->integral += error * dt * controller->kI;
// Calculate d term, taking care to not divide by zero
float d =
dt == 0 ? 0 : ((error - controller->lastError) / dt) * controller->kD;
controller->lastError = error;
return p + controller->integral + d;
}
int main()
{
printf("PID Controller Example\n");
struct pid controller = {.lastError = 0, .integral = 0};
// Take the controller gains from the user
printf(
"Please enter controller gains in format kP, kI, KD. For example, "
"\"1.2 2.1 3.2\"\n> ");
scanf("%f %f %f", &controller.kP, &controller.kI, &controller.kD);
printf("Using kP: %f, kI: %f, kD: %f\n", controller.kP, controller.kI,
controller.kD);
// How often the pid_step algorithm expects to be called. In a real life
// scenario this would be provided by calling time(NULL) - last_time, or by
// calling the function reliably at X Hz (using a timer or RTOS etc) For
// demonstration of this algorithm though, it is defined below as 1 second,
// allowing easy testing of integral and derivative terms.
float time_step = 1;
float error_value;
while (1)
{
printf("Enter error value\n>");
scanf("%f", &error_value);
float output = pid_step(&controller, time_step, error_value);
printf("Output: %f\n", output);
}
}