Energy-Aware Validation of the PIDA Control in the Hardware-in-the-Loop Environment

The goal of this work is to compare the effectiveness of the classical PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) controller and its extended PIDA (Proportional Integral Derivative Acceleration) version in the energy-aware context. A control system is applied to the high-order integrating system of three cascaded interconnected tanks. A complete process model of a real plant is developed in the MATLAB/Simulink environment, and system identification is carried out using PRBS signals. Hardware-in-the-Loop validation experiments use a real industrial PLC controller. The analysis addresses process variable filtering, the Smith predictor, and compensation for valve nonlinearities. The research focuses not only on control performance but also on the usage of actuators, aiming at energy-aware control. The paper proves that a properly tuned PIDA controller, particularly with a correctly configured acceleration term with appropriate filtering, provides a significant improvement in control quality and disturbance rejection. Such a system allows for the introduction and highlighting of the energy-aware context in industrial control engineering. Energy-aware control allows one not only to use less energy in control but also to lower the actuator’s operating hours, reducing its maintenance costs.