Time Delay Estimation and PID Controller Design using Smith Predictor for Lever Arm Platform

This paper addresses the design and experimental evaluation of a proportional-derivative-integral (PID) controller, employing a Smith predictor, for a lever arm platform with time-delay. The primary focus is on identifying the system transfer function with time-delay, which is then utilized to predict the actual delay-free output of the system using the Smith estimator. Consequently, the PID controller parameters can be established based on the delay-free portion of the model. The performance of different versions of the proposed controller is assessed through various experiments on the lever arm platform. The results obtained demonstrate good tracking performance for the arm position when operating under the designed controller, even in the presence of a delay caused by the DC motor acting as the system actuator.