Automatica, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp.

513—520, 1998
( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
PII: S0005–1098(97)00218–5 Printed in Great Britain
0005-1098/98 $19.00#0.00

Technical Communique

New Process Identification Method for Automatic

Design of PID Controllers*
SU WHAN SUNG,- IN-BEUM LEE- and JIETAE LEE‡

Key Words—Autotuning; PID; identification; frequency; weighting function.

Abstract—We propose a simple on-line process identification
method for the automatic design of PID controllers. It can
identify general time-invariant linear systems with time and
frequency weighting, while retaining simplicity. We then use
a model reduction method to tune PID controllers using usual
tuning rules based on the first or second order plus time delay
model. It can efficiently incorporate initial value problems of
previous identification methods for autotuning by assigning
zero weight to the initial state. The proposed method shows an
acceptable robustness to measurement noises and disturbances.
( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. INTRODUCTION
Proportional integral derivative (PID) controllers
have been used widely in industry due to robust-
ness and simplicity. They show satisfactory control
performance for usual processes. Moreover, Smith
predictors and cascade controllers have improved
control performances for large time delay processes
and disturbance rejection processes. According to
process dynamics, the tuning parameters should be
tuned appropriately. Therefore, the dynamics of the
process should be identified before tuning. Many
on-line process identification methods for continu-
ous-time systems have been developed to tune the
PID controller or to provide models for the Smith
predictor and the cascade controller.
The process reaction curve (PRC) method can
be used to obtain the first-order plus time delay
model. Then, the adjustable parameters can be ob-
tained with usual tuning rules for PID controllers
such as the integral of time-weighted absolute value
of the error (ITAE), Cohen—Coon (C—C), Ziegler—
Nichols (ZN) methods. The continuous cycling
identification method identifies the ultimate gain
*Received in final form 14 November 1997. This paper
was recommended for publication in revised form by Editor
Prof. P. Dorato. Corresponding author Prof. In-Beum Lee.
Tel. 00 82 562 279 2274; Fax 00 82 562 279 2699; E-mail iblee@
postech.ac.kr.
-Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Environ-
mental Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Techno-
logy, San 31 Hyoja Dong, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea.
‡Department of Chemical Engineering, Kyungpook National
University, Taegu 702-701, South Korea.
513
and frequency and then the Z—N tuning rule can be
used to tune the PID controller. However, the
above-mentioned identification methods cannot be
done in an on-line manner and require tedious
procedures. Moreover, the identification perfor-
mances are poor frequently due to the effects of
measurement noises or disturbances.
Many on-line process identification methods for
the automatic tuning of the PID controller have
been proposed to overcome these disadvantages.
Roughly speaking, they can be classified into two
categories or relay feedback methods and propor-
tional (P) control identification methods according
to the types of test signal generators.
As ström and Hägglund (1984) identified the ulti-
mate gain and the frequency form a relay feedback
test. The relay feedback guarantees stable oscilla-
tory closed-loop responses only if the process has
a stable intersection point with the describing
function of the relay. Usual stable processes and
integrating processes with one integrator can be
stabilized by the relay feedback test. Also, it can
be applied to unstable processes with one unstable
pole only if several moderate conditions are satis-
fied. Since the relay feedback is simple and requires
only information on the sign of the process gain, it
has been applied widely in industry and improved
by many researchers.
Li et al. (1991) obtained parametric models from
two relay feedback tests. Sung et al. (1995) pro-
posed a modified relay feedback method to obtain
more accurate ultimate data by reducing high-
order harmonic terms using a six-step signal. Sung
et al. (1996) proposed a new identification method
using the second-order plus time delay model to
identify the process more accurately and a simple
tuning rule for the second-order plus time delay
model. Even though it is very simple and composed
of algebraic equations, the performances are almost
the same as those of the optimal tuning. Shen and
Yu (1994) and Loh et al. (1993) extended the relay
feedback method to multi-input and multi-output
(MIMO) cases using the sequential loop closing
concept. Shen et al. (1996) proposed an improved
514 Technical Communiques

relay feedback method to reduce the effects of static Here, if we choose a weight function satisfying the
disturbance. following conditions, the initial and the final value
Yuwana and Seborg (1982) proposed a P control of dn~1y(t)/dtn~1 can be removed from equation (2).
identification method to obtain the first order plus
di~1w(u, 0) di~1w(u, t )
time delay model rather than the ultimate data set " f "0, i"1, 2, 2 , n.
using few transient data points where the process is dti~1 dti~1
activated by a P controller. After them, Jutan and (3)
Rodrigez (1984), Lee (1989), Chen (1989) and Sung Now, consider the following general time-invariant
et al. (1994) improved it. Another P control method linear system:
was proposed to identify the process using the
second order plus time delay model (Lee et al., y(s)
G (s)"
1990). They provide a rational transfer function 1 u(s)
rather than only ultimate data set so that better
b sm#b sm~1#2#b s#b
tuning parameters are available compared to the " m m~1 1 0 . (4)
a sn#a sn~1#2#a s#1
relay feedback method. n n~1 1
However, the identified frequency region by Here, G (s) is proper, that is, m4n. u(s), y(s) denote
previous methods is too narrow compared to the p
the Laplace transforms of the process input (con-
wide operating frequency region of the controller troller output) and the process output, respectively.
so that satisfactory control performances cannot be G (s) represents the transfer function of the process.
achieved frequently. The identified models or ulti- p
The above system (4) can approximate usual pro-
mate information by previous methods show poor cesses including time delay, nonminimum phase
robustness to measurement noises because they use zeroes as accurately as desired. It can be rewritten
several dominant data points. Also, the initial state in time domain and the following algebraic equa-
for the identification work should be a steady state tion can be obtained by applying the transform on
when these identification methods are applied. both sides with the consideration of equations
We propose a new process identification method (1)—(3):
for the automatic design of the PID controller. It
simply overcomes the initial value problems of pre- a M(!1)n½(n)(u)N#a M(!1)n~1½(n~1)(u)N
n n~1
vious identification methods for the autotuning by #2#a M!½(1)(u)N#½(0)(u)
assigning zero weight to the initial state. Since it 1
considers all measured data sets in estimating sev- "b M(!1)(m)º(m)(u)N
m
eral parameters with frequency weighting, it shows #b M(!1)(m~1) º(m~1)(u)N
a good robustness to measurement noises. Even m~1
though it is simple and does not require any com- #2#b M!º(1)(u)N#b º(0)(u). (5)
1 0
plicated numerical techniques it provides better
It should be noted that the algebraic equation (5)
model accuracy compared to previous methods de-
can be derived regardless of the initial conditions
veloped for autotuning.
because the weight satisfies equation (3). Our objec-
tive is to identify the coefficients of a and b. In
2. THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSED equation (5), if the weight w(u, t) satisfying equa-
IDENTIFICATION METHOD tion (3) is defined, we can calculate ½( j)(u), º( j)(u)
for various u values using equation (1) with a nu-
Consider the following transform for a signal y(t) merical integration method. Then, we can estimate
before we develop a new process identification the coefficients of a and b from the linear algebraic
method. equation (5) with a least-squares method.
In this paper, we choose n"4 and m"3 since
tf dnw(u, t)
¹ My(t)N"y(n)(u),
n
0
P dtn
y(t) dt. (1) these specifications are sufficient to represent usual
processes with good accuracy and the following
From a simple manipulation, the following equa- weight:
tion can be derived:
G AB
AB AB
t 1 t 2 1 t 3 1 t 4
f(q)" 1# # # #
q 2! q 3! q 4! q
G H G H
dny(t) dn~1y(t)
¹ "!¹
n~1 n dtn~1
ABH A B
dtn 1 t 5 t
# exp ! , (6)
dn~1w(u, t ) dn~1y(t ) 5! q q
# f f
dtn~t dtn~1 w(u, t)"M f (1.5q)!f (q)N exp(!jut). (7)

!
dn~1w(u, 0) dn~1y(0)
. (2) Here, q and u are related to a time weighting and
dtn~1 dtn~1 a frequency weighting, respectively. Consider
 Technical Communiques 515

Fig. 1. If we choose a small q value, the weighting
value decreases more rapidly with respect to time.
Roughly speaking, only the portion of the signal up
to the time corresponding to 30 times of q can pass
through the transform. Also, the transform am-
plifies the signal of frequency u and filters out other
frequency signals. Then, the portion of the signal
corresponding to the frequency u is mainly con-
sidered when we estimate the above coefficients.
Figure 2 shows the magnitude of the transformed
output ½(0)(u) with q"2 for the following signal:
y(t)"cos(2t)#sin(2t).
A large-magnitude peak appears at the frequency
u"2.0. From Fig. 2, we can recognize that u fre-
quency components can pass through the defined
transform. This implies that the identification
method using the transform would mainly fit the
u frequency information of the process. In other
words, if we solve the algebraic linear equation (6)
using the least-squares method for many frequen-
cies (u"u , k"1, 2, 2 ) within a desired fre-
k
quency region, the coefficients would be adjusted to
approximate the desired frequency region.
We recommend the following guidelines to
choose appropriate q and u values. For example,
assume that we use a biased-relay to activate the
process. Usually, after three or four relay on-off,
a cyclic steady state is achieved for usual processes.
The initial part of the relay feedback contains much
(8)
frequency information. But, it should be noted that
the part of the signal after the cyclic steady state
contains only one frequency information. There-
fore, it is meaningless to consider more data sets
after the steady state. Moreover, uncertainties such
as noises or disturbances included in this part can

Fig. 1. Characteristic of weight with respect to q.

Fig. 2. Characteristic of transformed signal with respect to u.

516 Technical Communiques
degrade the accuracy of the model. So, it is obvious
that only the portion of the activated signal before
the time corresponding to a cyclic steady state
should be considered. Therefore, we recommend
q as about t /30, here t denotes the time corres-
4 4
ponding to the fourth relay on—off. Also, the desired
frequency can be inferred directly by measuring the
period of the relay.
Another popular test signal generator is a P con-
troller. In this case, changing the set point of the
controller can activate the process. This type of the
generator has an advantage compared to the relay-
type generator. The magnitude of a low-frequency
signal included in the activated process output is
much larger than that of the relay feedback. There-
fore, if we want to enhance the robustness to a static
or low-frequency disturbance it would be better to
use the P controller rather than the relay. In this
case, recommend q as t /4 to consider the part of
#-
the signal from 0 to about 8 times t and the
#-
minimum and maximum desired frequency as
0 and n/t , respectively. Here, t denotes the
#- #-
closed-loop time constant corresponding to about
63% of the steady-state process output for the step
set point change.
To improve the robustness to uncertainties, we
should adjust the starting time of the relay on—off
or the set point change. The initial part of the relay
on—off or the P control contains more extensive
frequency information compared to the later part.
Therefore, we should assign higher priority to the
initial part to suppress the effects of uncertainties
such as noises or disturbances. As shown in Fig. 1,
the weighting value becomes relatively large from
t"6q. So, the time of the relay on—off or the set
point change should coincide with 6q to guarantee
a good robustness to uncertainties. Also, we can
adjust the degree of the activation to improve the
robustness. For example, if we use the P controller
as the test signal generator the magnitude of the set
point should be magnified to reduce the effects of
uncertainties. For the case of the biased-relay feed-
back, the bias or the magnitude of the relay should
be chosen as a large value. On the other hand, small
perturbation is surely preferred in the viewpoint of
the operator. So, there exists a trade-off relation
between the robustness to uncertainties and the
preferred operation condition.
For clarity, we summarize the recommended
specifications for the transform in this paper as
follows:
n"4, m"3, (9)
t "30q, (10)
f because many developed on-line PID tuning
equation (7) is the chosen weight and their
derivatives are in the appendix, (11)
q"about t /30 (relay) or about
4
t /4 (P controller), (12)
#-
desired frequency range: from 0 to about 2]2n/P
3
(relay) or about n/t (P controller), (13)
#-
starting time of the relay on—off or the set point
change: 6q. (14)
Here, P denotes the period of the relay. The objec-
3
tive function for the least-squares method is the
square of the Euclidean norm of the difference
between the left-hand side and the right-hand side
of equation (5). The optimization problem can be
solved directly. Here, we numerically calculate
the integrals of the transforms, ½(i)(u), º(i)(u) at
desired frequencies u ’s and then we can estimate
k
the coefficients of equation (4) by minimizing the
objective function.
It should be noted that the proposed identifi-
cation method provides much more frequency
information compared to previous on-line continu-
ous-time identification methods for the automatic
tuning of PID controllers and it also does not
require any complicated numerical techniques such
as a repetitive root finding or optimization. Almost
all previous on-line process identification methods
require a steady-state initial condition. Contrarily,
the proposed identification method does not care
what the initial state is.
Discrete-time process identification methods us-
ing an auto-regressive moving average model with
an exogeneous input (ARMAX) such as recursive
least square (RLS), prediction error (PE), instru-
mental variable (IV) methods (Ljung, 1987; Söder-
ström and Stoica, 1989) can be used to obtain the
continuous-time frequency response by reducing
the sampling time and then a continuous-time
transfer function can be estimated from the
obtained frequency responses. However, these
methods cannot be applied to a process including
a long time delay term since it is very difficult to
infer the time delay with acceptable accuracy by
measuring the process output.
3. ON-LINE TUNING OF PID CONTROLLERS
The identified model can be used directly as the
process model in a cascade control, a Smith pre-
dictor or other model-based PID controllers. On
the other hand, we should reduce the identified
model to the first or second order plus time delay
model to tune the PID controller automatically
methods are based on these models. Sung and Lee
(1996) proposed a simple model reduction method
to reduce a high-order model to a lower one.
 Technical Communiques 517

Other approaches can be found for the model
reduction (Moore, 1981; Glover, 1984). Their
methods can reduce high-order models effectively.
However, it should be noted that on-line tuning
rules of PID controllers are based on a low-order
rational transfer function with a time delay. Also,
the final objective of the autotuning is to determine
the parameters of the PID controller so that the
final form of the model reduction should be the first
or second order plus time delay model. But, their
reduction methods provide only a rational transfer
function or reduced state space model. Moreover,
they require some complicated numerical tech-
niques such as singular value decomposition
(SVD). Therefore, even though their methods can
provide a good reduced model within a specified
error bound, they are not appropriate for the
autotuning of PID controllers.
For the first order plus time delay model, the
internal model control (IMC), C—C, ITAE-1, ZN
tuning rules are available. Sung et al. (1996) pro-
posed an ITAE-2 tuning rule for the second-order
plus time delay model. Here, the IMC and ITAE-1
rules are the best among tuning rules based on the
first order plus time delay model for a step set point
change and a step input disturbance, respectively.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the first
order plus time delay model has much limitations
in describing high order or underdamped processes
compared with the second order plus time delay
model. Also, the ITAE-2 rule shows almost the
same performance, as that of the optimal tuning

Fig. 3. Activated process output and input by proportional (P) controller.

Fig. 4. Identification results of the proposed identification method.

518 Technical Communiques

and the order of most processes is greater than one.
So, we recommend a simple reduction method and
the ITAE-2 tuning rule based on the second order
plus time delay model to tune the PID controller
automatically with the proposed identification
method.
4. SIMULATION RESULTS
We chosen the actual process as follows:
e0.2s
G (s)" . (15)
1 (s#1)3
Here, we choose 16 desired frequencies located
equally between 0 and n/0.7. Figure 3 shows the
activated process outputs by the P controller with
the gain of 2. Here, we choose q and the starting
time of the set point change as 0.7 and 6q as dis-
cussed in the previous section. Note that the initial
process output is not a steady state i.e. the initial
process output value and its first derivative value
are 0.3 and 0.5, respectively. Figure 4 compares the
Bode plots of the real process and the model. From
Fig. 4, we can recognize that the proposed identi-
fication method provides good accuracy regardless
of initial conditions. Also, from many simulation
studies, we realize that the identification results are
almost the same for various q values. The obtained
model is reduced to the second order plus time
delay model by the model reduction method (Sung

Fig. 5. Control results of the proposed method-ITAE-2 and the relay feedback method-ZN. (a) set point
tracking, (b) disturbance rejection.

Fig. 6. Robustness with respect to the magnitude of the set point change.
 Technical Communiques 519

and Lee, 1996). Based on the reduced model, the
PID controller is tuned by Sung et al. (1996)’s
tuning rule. Figure 5 shows the control perfor-
mances of autotuned PID controllers based on the
proposed identification and the relay feedback
identification method (As ström and Hägglund,
1984). Since the proposed identification method
can provide much frequency information, the PID
controller tuned by it shows superior control per-
formances compared to the one tuned by the ZN
tuning rule based on the relay feedback identifica-
tion method.
Figure 6 shows the modeling error with respect
to the magnitude of the set point under the
same conditions of Fig. 3. Here, the static input
disturbance of 0.1 is added to the controller output.
As shown in Fig. 6, the robustness to disturbances
is much enhanced as the magnitude of the set point
increases.
Figure 7 shows the activated process by an input-
biased relay when the measured process output is
corrupted by uniformly distributed random noise
between !0.5 and 0.5. This noise is very large
when we consider the practical circumstances.
Here, hysteresis of the same magnitude with the
noise is used to prevent a severe fluctuation of the
relay output. We choose 30 desired frequencies
located equally between 0.0 and 1.5. Figure 8
compares Bode plots of the model and the process
with noises. The proposed method shows good

Fig. 7. Activated process output and input by an input-biased relay when measured data are corrupted by
$0.5 measurement noises.

Fig. 8. Identification results when measured data are corrupted by measurement noises.
520 Technical Communiques

robustness for the chosen desired frequency range. Shen, S. and C. Yu (1994). Use of relay-feedback test for auto-
We tried other simulations to verify the robustness matic tuning of multivariable systems. A.I.Ch.E. J., 40, 627.
Shen, S., J. Wu and C. Yu (1996). Autotune identification under
to sinusoidal disturbances. The proposed identi- load disturbance. Automatica, 35, 1642.
fication method provided almost perfect model Söderström, T. and P. Stoica, (1989). System Identification.
when the frequency of the disturbances is outside of Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Sung, S. W. and I. Lee (1996). Limitations and countermeasures
the desired frequency range. From these results and of PID controllers. Ind. Engng Chem. Res., 35, 2596.
the additional many simulations, we can recognize Sung, S. W., J. H. Park and I. Lee (1995). Modified relay
that the proposed method shows an acceptable feedback method. Ind. Engng Chem. Res. 34, 4133.
Sung, S. W., O. J., Lee J., S. Yi and I. Lee (1996). Automatic
robustness to measurement noises and distur- tuning of PID controller using second order plus time delay
bances. model. J. Chem. Engng Japan, 29, 990.
Sung, S. W., H. I. Park, I. Lee and D. R. Yang (1994). On-line
process identification and autotuning using P-controller. First
5. CONCLUSIONS Asian Control Conference, vol. 1, 411.
Yuwana, M. and D. E. Seborg (1982). A new method for on-line
We proposed a new on-line identification controller tuning. A.I.Ch.E. J., 28, 434.
method for the automatic design of the PID con-
troller to overcome the disadvantages of the pre- APPENDIX—DERIVATIVES OF THE WEIGHT IN THIS
vious identification methods. It shows good model RESEARCH
accuracy and robustness to uncertainties such as
noises and disturbances. Also, it does not care no For simplicity, we define the followings for n"0, 1, 2, 3, 4:
matter what the initial state is. To guarantee an dnF dnf (1.5q) dnf (q)
acceptable accuracy to disturbances, we can adjust , ! , (A1)
dtn dtn dtn
the starting time of the relay on—off and the degree
of the activation. From simulation results and anal- dw(u, t) dF
" exp(!jut)#F(!ju) exp(!jut), (A2)
ysis, we can conclude that the proposed method dt dt
provides an acceptable robustness to measurement d2w(u, t) d2F dF
" exp(!jut)#2 (!ju) exp(!jut)
noises and disturbances. dt2 dt2 dt
#F(!ju)2 exp(!jut), (A3)
Acknowledgements—This work was supported in part by the
Korean Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) through d3w(u, t) d3F d2F
the Automation Research Center at Pohang University of " exp(!jut)#3 (!ju) exp(!jut)
dt3 dt3 dt2
Science and Technology.
dF
#3 (!ju)2 exp(!jut)
dt
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