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Re:Tune Your PID Controller by theamk on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:07PM (#27292299)
It is neither efficient nor optimal and could even be unsafe, but the most fun way to optimize your PID controller is on the actual plant with iterative parameter search.

Watch your device whirr and attempt to jump off your table as your algorithm is trying to optimize the P factor! Quickly estimate how good the fit is just by looking at the actuator!

(Disclaimer: think hard about safety before doing this, and make sure your device is strong enough or your motor is weak enough to ensure that no parts will be flying into people)

Re:Tune Your PID Controller by jay3ss on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @08:22PM (#27297858)
We actually did this with a quadcopter for my undergrad capstone project. It had a tendency to wildly flail about so we had to go to the indoor basketball court/gym when no one else was there. It took a couple of weeks, but we got it working pretty well and developed and entire system for the quadcopter to take off, track/follow, and land on a moving RC car. Fun times!
Re:Tune Your PID Controller by pidtuner on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:44PM (#27292807)
True to that, but this tool hopes to provide an educated initial guess.
Re:Tune Your PID Controller by jbay808 on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:39PM (#27292730)
In fact, just listening to the system in a quiet room can be a great way to determine whether your gains are too high, much better than simulations are likely to do.