CONTROLLER TUNING 101 COMPANION SOFTWARE FOR THE BOOKLET CONTROLLER TUNING AND CONTROL LOOP PERFORMANCE, A PRIMER, SECOND EDITION By David W. St. Clair (Retired DuPont Engineer) $17, Includes Shipping and Handling (if ordered with booklet)

The controller and process are shown as a signal flow diagram, not as graphical representations of a controller and process. The results are plotted as fast as the computer can calculate them (the blink of an eye with a fast computer). They are presented in a plot which does not move with time, and plots for up to four sets of test conditions may be shown simultaneously and printed. A Help menu describes exercises to illustrate the key points about control which are described in the booklet. The simulation will be for linear control except for valve nonlinearities, with the following parameters settable:

Controller      Setpoint      Gain or Proportional Band      Integral (Reset) Time or Integral (Reset) Rate      Derivative Time      Filter Time Process      Process Gain      Dead Time      Two First Order Lags, or an Underdamped Quadratic      Integration

Upsets      Setpoint, in automatic      Load Change, in automatic      Controller Output, in manual Controller Algorithms      Interacting, or Noninteracting      Derivative on Process or Derivative on Error      Cascade Control Valve Nonlinearities      Dead Band      Velocity Limiting

UPGRADE INFORMATION

Version 1.0 (the first release) had some graphical inconsistencies. These have been fixed. For Version 1.1 the options to change the time scale and the number of calculation steps were added. Version 1.2 has the ability to add valve nonlinearities of Dead Band and Velocity Limiting. Version 2.0 added the option for cascade control and Version 2.1 (Jan., 2000) cleaned up some issues with it. Version 3.0 was issued 1 July, 2000 and is simply a 32-bit issue of Version 2.1. About four customers out of about 800 had had trouble installing the 16-bit version on 32-bit computers. Version 3.1 was introduced in November, 2005. It allows toggling of the yellow background color to white, prints the response curves in dashes to facilitate separation on monochrome printers, and does not require the default printer to be set before the program is started. Previous customers may e-mail me at dwstclair@aol.com for a free update. The zip file is about 90 KB long.

DEMONSTRATION SOFTWARE

The demonstration software (1.7 MB) fits on Windows^TM 95 and higher. It shows everything, including the Help file, and allows you to print results. It does not allow you to change much. Only the following parameters are enabled: Setpoint, Controller Gain, Load Change and Manual Output. There is a README.TXT file available after you unzip it but before you install it. This process will allow you to decide which folder | directory to put it in. Do not put it where the unzipped files are. If you subsequently order the full-featured version there are two ways to get it:

1.  I can e-mail you the upgrade file, Tune_101.ex_ which is about 90 KB. Simply replace the file of the same name in the demo version.
2. I can postal-mail you a CD.