Advanced PID Control: Theory and Applications Towards a Smarter PID Controller

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems & Control Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 2719

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Engineering, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
Interests: digital twin; self-optimizing control; edge AI; process control; mechatronics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

PID Controllers are ubiquitous in industrial applications, covering more than 95% of control needs due to their flexibility with regard to tuning, with hundreds of methods available (heuristics/robust/optimal/adaptive/model-based); their direct implementation on embedded platforms; and their straightforward integration with new and existing systems that require feedback controls to achieve robust and optimal performance in the presence of external disturbances and uncertainties.

Although the term ‘PID’ was first used in 1922, it remains relevant today. Industry 4.0 and digital transformation are changing classic control applications into smart systems owing to the increased availability of data that has resulted from the integration of enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, edge computing, or the industrial internet of things (IIoT).

This Special Issue, entitled “Advanced PID Control: Theory and Applications towards a Smarter PID Controller”, invites researchers and users of control systems in academia and industry to provide an overview of recent developments in PID controllers and their applications.

The aim of this Special Issue is to demonstrate how the classical PID controller, with all its variants and features (e.g., Antiwindup, Tracking control, Feedforward, disturbance rejection observer, smith predictors, adaptive gains, prefilters, cascade, ratio), remains a critical component of the edge technology employed in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing, battery management, energy storage, smart grids, unmanned aerial vehicles, self-driving cars, aeronautics or satellite communications.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Integration of enabling technologies (Machine Learning, Digital Twin, Big Data, Data Analytics) with PID controllers to enhance its performance and robustness;
  • Built-in environmental awareness through big data-informed PID controllers;
  • Development of new control performance assessment methods for PID controllers;
  • SISO and MIMO PID controllers applications used on critical industrial manufacturing equipment (e.g., semiconductors, autonomous navigation, food processing);
  • Development of PID controller tuning methods based on data-driven approaches (e.g., VRFT, Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD), extremum seeking);
  • Machine-learning-informed PID controllers with fault detection and remaining useful life awareness;
  • Self-optimizing PID controllers based on real-time system identification or sequential high-order optimization methods;
  • Recent methods and findings regarding integer and fractional-order PID controllers.

Dr. Jairo Viola
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • digital twin
  • self-optimizing control
  • fractional control
  • industrial robotics
  • process control

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 973 KiB  
Article
Compensator with Weighted Input Parameters for Automatic Ball-Balancing Mechatronic System
by Ján Šefčík, Štefan Chamraz and Katarína Žáková
Electronics 2025, 14(9), 1695; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14091695 - 22 Apr 2025
Viewed by 171
Abstract
This paper presents an Automatic Ball-Balancing Mechatronic System (ABMS) with a lever transmission, which provides higher positioning accuracy for the ball. The system was identified by a double integrator, and the results confirmed the suitability of the chosen mathematical model. Then, we designed [...] Read more.
This paper presents an Automatic Ball-Balancing Mechatronic System (ABMS) with a lever transmission, which provides higher positioning accuracy for the ball. The system was identified by a double integrator, and the results confirmed the suitability of the chosen mathematical model. Then, we designed and tested a new compensator with weighted input parameters, which was firstly successfully implemented in real time on a microprocessor platform. Both simulation and then also experimental results demonstrated that the proposed controller provides stable and accurate control of the system under various step changes in the input signal. Full article
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21 pages, 2041 KiB  
Article
Measuring Model Parameter Setting Errors’ Effects in the Control of an Order 4 Underactuated System
by Awudu Atinga, Krisztián Kósi and József K. Tar
Electronics 2025, 14(5), 883; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14050883 - 23 Feb 2025
Viewed by 446
Abstract
In the control-based approach of medical treatment of various illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, certain angiogenic cancers, or in anesthesia, the starting point used to be some “patient model” on the basis of which the appropriate administration of the drugs can be designed. [...] Read more.
In the control-based approach of medical treatment of various illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, certain angiogenic cancers, or in anesthesia, the starting point used to be some “patient model” on the basis of which the appropriate administration of the drugs can be designed. The identification of the “patient model’s parameters” is always a hard and sometimes unsolvable mathematical task. Furthermore, these parameters have wide variability between patients. In principle, either robust or adaptive techniques can be used to tackle the problem of modeling imprecisions. In this paper, the potential application of a variant of Fixed Point Iteration-Based Adaptive Controllers was investigated in model-based control. The main point was the introduction of a “parameter estimation error significance metric” through the use of which the individual model parameter estimation can be avoided, and even the consequences of the deficiencies of the approximate model as a whole can be estimated. The adaptive controller forces the system to track the prescribed nominal trajectory; therefore, it brings about the “actual control situation” in which the consequences of the estimation errors are of interest. One component of the adaptive control is a “rotational block” that creates a multidimensional orthogonal (rotation) matrix that rotates arrays of identical Frobenius norms into each other. Since in a recent publication under review it was proved that the angle of the necessary rotation satisfies the mathematical criteria of metrics in a metric space, even in quite complicated nonlinear and multidimensional cases, this simple value can serve as a metric for this purpose. To exemplify the method, an under-actuated nonlinear system of 2 degree of freedom and relative order 4 was controlled by a special adaptive backstepping controller that was designed on a purely kinematic basis. From this point of view, it has a strong relationship with the PID controllers. This simple model was rich enough to exemplify parameters that require precise identification because their error produces quite significant consequences, and other parameters that do not require very precise identification. It was found that the method provided the dynamic models with reliable parameter sensitivity estimation metrics. Full article
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26 pages, 14124 KiB  
Article
Design and Real-Time Control of an Electric Furnace with Three-Dimensional Heating
by Ali Guney and Oguzhan Cakir
Electronics 2025, 14(3), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14030602 - 4 Feb 2025
Viewed by 747
Abstract
Currently, heating in electric ovens is generally achieved using heaters placed on the top and bottom surfaces. In some advanced ovens, heaters are installed on the back surface, allowing 3D heating. However, in these ovens, temperature measurements are obtained from a single point, [...] Read more.
Currently, heating in electric ovens is generally achieved using heaters placed on the top and bottom surfaces. In some advanced ovens, heaters are installed on the back surface, allowing 3D heating. However, in these ovens, temperature measurements are obtained from a single point, making the temperature control unreliable. Additionally, this type of oven cannot provide homogeneous heating since it lacks heaters on the left, right, or front surfaces. In this study, a unique electric oven equipped with heaters and temperature sensors was designed and produced on all six surfaces. To model its performance, the heating behavior of the oven was derived using the Ziegler–Nichols tangent method, and the gain factors for the proportional (P), proportional-integral (PI), and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers were determined. Subsequently, real-time digital control of the oven was performed using on-off, P, PI, and PID controllers, which ensured a comprehensive evaluation of the oven’s control performance. The experimental results showed that homogeneous heating could only be achieved when all panels were energized. Additionally, the PI and PID controllers stabilized the system with a maximum steady-state error of 1.3 °C in all cases, demonstrating the accuracy of the derived system model and adequacy of the implemented control system. Full article
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16 pages, 6685 KiB  
Article
A Class of Anti-Windup Controllers for Precise Positioning of an X-Y Platform with Input Saturations
by Chung-Wei Chen, Hsiu-Ming Wu and Chau-Yih Nian
Electronics 2025, 14(3), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics14030539 - 28 Jan 2025
Viewed by 831
Abstract
The windup phenomenon occurs and results in performance degradation while the designed positioning controller output makes actuators saturated. This study presents significant and effective anti-windup controllers for performance improvement and comparison of the position tracking. To address real-world industrial scenarios, the trajectory with [...] Read more.
The windup phenomenon occurs and results in performance degradation while the designed positioning controller output makes actuators saturated. This study presents significant and effective anti-windup controllers for performance improvement and comparison of the position tracking. To address real-world industrial scenarios, the trajectory with a T-curve velocity profile is planned to regulate hardware limitations and maintain efficiency throughout the control process. At first, the dynamic model of an inertia load for a servo control system is established using Newton’s law of motion. Then, anti-windup controllers are designed and implemented based on basic PID controllers. The conducted simulations validate its effectiveness and feasibility. Finally, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms achieve smaller overshoot and faster settling time under input saturations when executing specific paths on the X-Y platform, even though the given control commands change. It is verified that the proposed approaches can, indeed, effectively mitigate the windup phenomenon, leading to improved positioning accuracy in industrial applications. Full article
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