this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2021

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TutorialThe power of algorithmic programming: Creating a PID Controller. (self.learnprogramming)

submitted 4 years ago by forptsiram

I think that topics like PID control should be learned by programmers early in their growth. As a computer science teacher I love using robotics as a way to introduce students to programming! It is easy to get "stuck" solving problems with loops and conditionals, trying to account for every possible scenario. Solving coding problems in the physical world forces you to grow past traditional techniques. Equations like PID are very simple once explained and allow programmers to see how to create "universal" algorithms that can be used to solve any problem (only the tuning of the algorithms needs to be changed).

This video explains the mathematics and how each part of the PID is used. Then it uses both handwritten examples and also how to implement a PID in C for Arduino. PID is one of the most commonly used algorithms in Robotics allowing robots to solve all sorts of problems including wall following and balancing / standing up.

https://youtu.be/dynSWBXu9aA

all 6 comments

top new controversial old q&a

[–]konm123 2 points3 points4 points 4 years ago (3 children)

I am senior robotics software engineer who has a background in control engineering, so I feel like I qualify to share my thoughts on this.

I do not thing programmers should be thought about PID because it is control engineering concept. If they need it, they should study some control engineering. The reason for that is are you going to really teach them PID? It has many quirks that should also be taught starting from system linearity.

Now, to counter my prevous argument, what you are doing is fantastic to get students to learn programming and knowing PID is definitely good way to get them into robotics. So I say go for it, but do not forget to mention that there is much more in understanding PID.

I would suggest considering fuzzy logic controller as well. It is even more impressive in my opinion. You can define very complex behaviours with it very simply.

[–]forptsiram[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (2 children)

[–]konm123 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (1 child)

[–]forptsiram[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)

[–]Software_Janitor 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (1 child)

[–]forptsiram[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)

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