ME 3600 Control Systems

Implementation of PID Controllers in Electronic Circuits

Reference: Phillips, C. L. and Harbor, R. D., Feedback Control Systems, 3rd Ed., Prentice-Hall, 1996.

Transfer functions of controllers having proportional, integral, and derivative (PID)

terms can be realized using electronic circuits. Circuits that can be used to form P, PI, PD,
and PID controllers using operational amplifiers (op-amps), resistors, and capacitors are
presented in the following paragraphs.

Basic Operational Amplifier (Op-Amp) Circuit Transfer Function

The figure at the right shows a

simple op-amp circuit with input
voltage Vi s  , output voltage Vo s ,
input impedance Z i s  , and feedback
impedance Z f s  . It can be shown
that the transfer function of the circuit
can be written as

V Z f s 
Gs   o s    . (Recall that, V (s)  Z (s) I (s) )
Vi Zi s 

Simple RC circuits can be used to generate the input and feedback impedances required to
generate transfer functions for P, PI, PD, and PID controllers.
To understand the implementation of the controllers described below, recall: 1) The total
impedance of two components in series is the sum of the individual impedances; and 2) The
inverse of the total impedance of two components in parallel is the sum of the inverses of
the individual impedances. Note that the impedance of a resistor with resistance R is
Z s   R , and the impedance of a capacitor of capacitance C is Z s   1 Cs . The
total impedance of a resistor and a capacitor in series is

1 RCs  1
Z s   R  
Cs Cs

1 1
The inverse of the total impedance of a resistor and capacitor in parallel is   Cs ,
Z ( s) R
so the total impedance of the two in parallel is

R
Z s  
RCs  1
Kamman – ME 3600 – page: 1/3
Proportional (P) Controller

To form a P controller, let the input impedance be generated by a resistor of resistance

Ri , and let the feedback impedance be generated by a resistor of resistance R f . In this case,
the impedances are Zi s   Ri and Z f s   R f , and the transfer function of the circuit is
Rf
Gs     K p  constant .
Ri

Proportional/Integral (PI) Controller

To form a PI controller, let the input impedance be generated by a resistor of resistance

Ri and a capacitor of capacitance Ci in parallel, and let the feedback impedance be
Ri
generated by a capacitor of capacitance C f . In this case, the impedances are Z i 
Ri Ci s  1
1
and Z f  , and the transfer function of the circuit is
Cf s

1 Ri Ci s  1 C 1   K 
Gs       i     K p  i  .
Cf s Ri  C f Ri C f s   s 

Proportional/Derivative (PD) Controller

To form a PD controller, let the input impedance be generated by a resistor of

resistance Ri and a capacitor of capacitance Ci in parallel, and let the feedback impedance
Ri
be generated by a resistor of resistance R f . In this case, the impedances are Z i 
Ri Ci s  1
and Z f  R f , and the transfer function of the circuit is

R C s 1
Gs    R f  i i
Rf
 

 
 R f Ci s    K p  K d s .
Ri  Ri 

Kamman – ME 3600 – page: 2/3

Proportional/Derivative (PD) Controller with High Frequency Gain Limit
(Phase-Lead Controller)

To form a PD controller with high frequency gain limit, let the input impedance be
generated by a resistor of resistance Ri and a capacitor of capacitance Ci in parallel, and let
the feedback impedance be generated by a resistor of resistance R f and a capacitor of
Ri
capacitance C f in parallel. In this case, the impedances are Z i  and
Ri Ci s  1
Rf
Zf  , and the transfer function of the circuit is
R f C f s 1

Gs   
Rf
R f C f s 1
R C s 1
 i i
Rf
  
 R f Ci s  s1 1  K p  Kd s s1 1
Ri  i
R 

1
where   R f C f . Note here that the controller is of the PD type with a multiplier of
s  1
. The parameter  is chosen to limit the high frequency gain.

Proportional/Integral/Derivative (PID) Controller with High Frequency Gain Limit

To form a PID controller with high frequency gain limit, let the input impedance be
generated by a resistor (resistance, R2 ) in series with a resistor (resistance, R1 ) and a
capacitor (capacitance C1 ) that are in parallel, and let the feedback impedance be generated
by a resistor (resistance, R f ) and a capacitor (capacitance C f ) in series. In this case, the
R1 R f C f s 1
impedances are Z i   R2 and Z f  . Then, it can be shown that the
R1C1s  1 Cf s
transfer function of the circuit is

 R1C1  R f C f  R1C1R f   1  K  1
Gs    
1
    s     K p  i  K d s 
 ( R1  R2 )C f ( R1  R2 )C f s  ( R1  R2 )   s  1  s  s  1

RR C 1
where   1 2 1 . Note that the controller is of the PID type, with a multiplier of
R1  R2 s  1
which can be used to limit the high frequency gain.

Kamman – ME 3600 – page: 3/3