Arduino MATLAB Process Control Lab

Benchtop process control experiment with PID controller to maintain temperature of a thermistor.

This lab is an application of feedback control for temperature control. In particular, this lab teaches:
The difference between manual and automatic control
Step tests to generate dynamic data
Fitting dynamic data to build a simple First Order Plus Deadtime (FOPDT) model
Obtaining parameters for a PID control from standard tuning rules
Tuning the PID controller to improve performance
Stability analysis
Dynamic modeling with first principles
Dynamic data reconciliation
Model Predictive Control

Additional information is available at the following link:

http://apmonitor.com/che436/index.php/Main/PhysicalLab

This lab is featured in the Dec 2014 issue of CACHE (Compter Aids in Chemical Engineering) News. Below is a link to the article with information on modifications to improve student experience.

http://apmonitor.com/che436/uploads/Main/Hands_on_Process_Control_CACHE.pdf

We're interested in continuing to improve the lab experience. Please contact me at [e-mail] for suggestions or comments.