Real time self-tuning of industrial controllers using a continuous parameter optimization technique

A continuous time, parametrically optimized adaptive self-tuning regulator (POSTR) is proposed for auto-tuning industrial controllers. The proposed POSTR consists of an identification scheme which identifies the process with a predictive model and a control technique based on parameter optimization to derive the control law. The control design consists of choosing a suitable regulator structure then tuning the associated controller parameters. The proposed controller design technique has flexibility in specifying the order and the structure of the regulator which offers advantages in selecting and autotuning many well known effective controller structures. Example results are presented which show that the proposed technique outperforms the fixed parameters conventional controllers both in dynamic performance and reliability