PID Server

23/7/2006
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 Table of Contents
PID Server Help Rev: 3/8/06................................................................................................................................... 1
Auto-tune.................................................................................................................................................................... 3
How Auto-tune works ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Technical Support: Collecting Data ........................................................................................................................... 5
Overview: Assembling Data for PID Technical Support ....................................................................................... 5
Collecting Data with PID Server ............................................................................................................................ 5
Getting Started .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Setting up the PID Server file ........................................................................................................................... 5
Collecting PID Data.......................................................................................................................................... 8
Sending the Data to Unitronics ......................................................................................................................... 9
Vision Auto-tune ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Auto-tuning with PID Server (Vision) ................................................................................................................. 11
Older PID Server Applications ....................................................................................................................... 13
Controlling the Physical Output ........................................................................................................................... 14
M90/91 Auto-tune .................................................................................................................................................... 15
Auto-tuning with PID Server (M90/91).......................................................................................................... 15
Controlling the Physical Output ........................................................................................................................... 17
PID Server Features.................................................................................................................................................. 19
Saving File Parameters ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Zoom .................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Increase/Decrease Display View Size .................................................................................................................. 19
Export ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Comments............................................................................................................................................................. 19
What's this ? ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

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PID Server Help Rev: 3/8/06
The PID Server PC utility enables you to:

Perform Diagnostics
Collect PID data and use it to troubleshoot problems.
Receive Technical Support
Produce a data file to send to the Unitronics support staff. This feature is only relevant for Vision
controllers using PID with Autotune.
Auto-tune
Tune PID loops for the M90/91 controller series.
PID Server is on the Tools menu of both VisiLogic and U90 Ladder.

Although it is installed as part of the VisiLogic/U90 Setup, PID Server runs independently of other Unitronics
software.

Note PID Server will only work with Vision 3.73 and U90 3.70 and higher projects saved with the most
current version of VisiLogic. To update older projects, open them with the current VisiLogic
version and save them.

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Auto-tune
How Auto-tune works
The PID Server utility tunes a PID loop by temporarily disabling the PLC's PID function, and tuning the loop
while the PC controls the PID output.

To enable a PID loop to be auto-tuned:

The controller must be connected to the I/O module whose output feeds energy into PID system.
The PC running PID Server must have an established communication link to the controller.
The PID Server parameters must be linked to the same operands linked to the PLC's PID function.

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Technical Support: Collecting Data
This feature is only relevant for Vision controllers using PID with Autotune.

PID Server collects data during the VisiLogic Autotune process. If you need technical support, you save this
data into an .upl file and send it, together with the PID Ladder application, to Unitronics' technical support
department.

Overview: Assembling Data for PID Technical Support

Detailed instructions follow the overview given in the following diagram.

Collecting Data with PID Server

Getting Started
1. Connect the PC to the controller and start PID Server from:
- within VisiLogic via the menu bar, Tools> PID Server,
or
- within Windows via Start>Programs>Unitronics> PID Server.
2. From the Connection menu, click controller model, and then select your controller type.
3. From the Connection menu, click Communication - PC Settings, and select the appropriate settings.
4. Open the VisiLogic PID application. This enables you to get data you need for the PID Server file.
Setting up the PID Server file
1. Click File>New Loop.
2. PID Server opens the PLC OS and FB Version box. Fill in the requested information:

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PID Server

a. Enter the OS Version. To determine the OS version in the controller, in VisiLogic click
Connection>Communication and look under OPLC Information.

b. Enter the FB Version. In VisiLogic, click View>FB Information. Under FB types, click PID Autotune
and note the version number.

c. Select Input and Output types via the drop-down arrows.

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 Technical Support: Collecting Data

3. Configure the PID Server file parameters using the same operand addresses you use in your VisiLogic
PID Ladder application. Marking a PID Server parameter as Visible will cause PID Server to graph the
value during On-line Test mode.
. Enter the same operands that are in the PID Configuration.

a. Enter the same operands that are in the PID FB Control Components. Note the parameter Resolution
Factor in the Control Component FB. In most applications, you can use a value of 10 for this
parameter.

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PID Server

b. Note that the parameters in Loop Properties have a default address of 0. Unused parameters will
therefore all have the value of 0. This causes a 'duplicate operand addresses error'. Avoid this by
changing the default address.
4. Click the Edit Comments button to edit data or enter a comment.

Collecting PID Data

1. Connect the controller to the PC so that you can establish a communication link between the PC running
PID Server and the Vision running the PID application.
2. Toggle PID Server into On-line Test mode. Do not run the PID Sever Autotune!!

3. Activate PID Autotune in the Vision Ladder application.

If the PC-PLC communication link is active, PID Server is now recording Autotune data.

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 Technical Support: Collecting Data

4. Wait while Vision performs Autotune. When Autotune is complete, and the system has reached setpoint,
let the system stabilize.
5. Turn off On-Line Test Mode.
6. Click File>Save As to create a .upl file.

If you do not save the file, all of the data will be lost.

Sending the Data to Unitronics

Send the following information to support@unitronics.com:

This .upl file

The VisiLogic PID application

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PID Server

A description of your system problem

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Vision Auto-tune
Before a PID loop can be auto-tuned:

The controller must be connected to the I/O module whose output feeds energy into the PID-controlled system.

The controller must be installed with a Ladder application that contains a PID function; the function must
be activated by an MB that is used only for that purpose. When the loop is auto-tuned, the PID Server
utility uses this MB to disable the PLC's PID function.
The PC running PID Server must have an established communication link to the controller.
The PID Server parameters must be linked to the same operands linked to the controller's PID function.

Auto-tuning with PID Server (Vision)

1. Start PID Server from:
- within VisiLogic via the menu bar, Tools> PID Server,
or
- within Windows via Start>Programs>Unitronics> PID Server.
2. Click on the New File icon to create a new PID loop Auto-tune file.
3. Locate Loop Properties in the lower right-hand part of the screen.
Link all of the parameters to the same operands used in the PID function within the Ladder application.
To link a parameter, click on the Address field and select the desired address.
You can also import operand addresses.

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PID Server

Note that the Enable PID bit must be the same MB used to activate the PID function within the Ladder
application.
In addition, note that PID Server uses the 32-bit Auto-tune Parameter vector to store values. Do not allow
your application to overwrite the vector.

4. From the Connection menu, click Select OPLC Model, and then select your controller type.
5. From the Connection menu, click Communication - PC Settings, and select the appropriate settings.

6. Click the Auto-tune icon. The Stages box opens.

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 Vision Auto-tune

7. Click on the drop-down arrow to select the number of desired Stages, which is the number of samples that
Autotune will use in order to analyze the system.

8. Click OK; the PID Server utility begins to run.

Note that by checking the Visible option in Loop Properties, you cause PID Server to display a color-
coded graphical representation of the Auto-tune process.

Older PID Server Applications

AutoTune Algorithm is a feature added with PID Server V4.00.

Type A
Previous to V 4.00, PID Server used Type A to tune all PID loops.
Type B (default)
When this algorithm runs, PID server uses a vector 32 MIs long to store Auto-tune Parameters. Do not
overwrite this vector in your application.

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PID Server

Note If the system you are tuning has critical limits that are close to the setpoint, you may need to avoid
drastically overshooting the setpoint during autotune.
To accomplish this in, for example, a heating system, run an initial autotune procedure using a
setpoint temperature lower than that the desired, final temperature. You can then observe the
system temperature reaction, and repeat autotune, gradually increasing the setpoint temperature
until the system reaches the desired temperature.

Controlling the Physical Output

Before beginning auto-tune, you may want to control and initialize the actual physical output that feeds energy
into the PID-controlled system. If, for example, you are using a V120-12-UN2, you can suspend the action of a
high-speed output by using Ladder Logic to turn off the Output's Run MB, and initialize the output by storing 0
into the linked MI in the Ladder program.

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M90/91 Auto-tune
Before a PID loop can be auto-tuned:

The controller must be connected to the I/O module whose output feeds energy into the PID-controlled system.

The controller's Ladder application must contain a PID function that is activated by an MB that is used
only for that purpose. When the loop is auto-tuned, the PID Server utility uses this MB to disable the PLC's
PID function.
The PC running PID Server must have an established communication link to the controller.
The PID Server parameters must be linked to the same operands linked to the PLC's PID function.

Auto-tuning with PID Server (M90/91)

1. Start PID Server from:
- within VisiLogic via the menu bar, Tools> PID Server,
or
- within Windows via Start>Programs>Unitronics> PID Server.
2. Click on the New File icon to create a new PID loop Auto-tune file.
3. Locate Loop Properties in the lower right-hand part of the screen.
Link all of the parameters to the same operands used in the PID function within the U90Ladder
application. To link a parameter, click on the Address field and select the desired address.

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PID Server

The last parameter is the Enable PID bit, which must be the MB used to activate the PID function within
the U90Ladder application.

4. From the Connection menu, click Select OPLC Model, and then select your controller type.
5. From the Connection menu, click Communication - PC Settings, and select the appropriate settings.

6. Click the Auto-tune icon. The PID Server utility begins to run.
Note that by checking the Visible option in Loop Properties, you cause PID Server to display a color-
coded graphical representation of the Auto-tune process.

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 M90/91 Auto-tune

Note If the system you are tuning has critical limits that are close to the setpoint, you may need to avoid
drastically overshooting the setpoint during autotune.
To accomplish this in, for example, a heating system, run an initial autotune procedure using a
setpoint temperature lower than that the desired, final temperature. You can then observe the
system temperature reaction, and repeat autotune, gradually increasing the setpoint temperature
until the system reaches the desired temperature.

Controlling the Physical Output

Before beginning auto-tune, you may want to control and initialize the actual physical output that feeds energy
into the PID-controlled system. If, for example, you are using an M91-12-UN2, you can suspend the action of a
high-speed output by using Ladder Logic to turn off the Output's HSO Enable MB, and initialize the output by
storing 0 into the linked MI in the Ladder program.

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PID Server Features
Saving File Parameters
Whenever you click the Save icon, the file is saved as a .upl file. This file may be opened by any PC running PID
Server. .upl files include the Loop Properties parameter links, comments, and PID auto-tune data up to the time
that you click Save. If you wish to save only the Loop Properties without the data, by creating them, clicking
Save, and storing the file.

Zoom
Click, then drag the cursor down, then release the mouse button to Zoom in on a particular area.

Click and drag the cursor up to reverse the Zoom effect.

Increase/Decrease Display View Size

Click the + icon on the toolbar to increase the graph sample size; click the- icon to decrease it.

Export
Located on the Loop menu, Export enables you to either export the auto-tune data to Excel, or to save a .bmp file
of the auto-tune graph.

Comments
The Comment field is located in the lower left-hand corner of the PID server window. Any text you enter here is
saved together with the .upl file.

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PID Server

What's this ?
Our mission is to make automation simple and efficient. Unitronics' R&D has developed and field-tested PID
Server in order to provide you with fast, easy loop tuning.

To enable us to fine-tune PID Server to suit a broad range of PID applications, we would appreciate your using
the 'Tell Us' feature. Clicking 'Tell us' will create an email with an attached copy of your auto-tune and PID
process.

If possible, before you send the email, please take a moment to put the details of your application in the body of
the email.

Note that in Windows XP, Windows will display the following dialog box; simply click yes to send the message
to Unitronics.

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