Low Cost PID Controller for Student Digital Control Laboratory Based on Arduino or STM32 Modules

Abstract

In the teaching process, it is important that students do not carry out exercises only by computer simulations, but also that they carry out research in real time. In times of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be necessary to find a solution so that the students can perform such exercises individually at home. Therefore, it has become necessary to develop cheap and simple modules of digital controllers along with analog objects with adjustable order and time constants. This paper describes a low-cost proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller for teaching students control techniques and analog control objects in real time. The PID controller is based on the cheap and widely available microcontroller modules Arduino or STM32. The advantage of this solution is that the algorithm of the digital PID controller is calculated every constant period of time. Both the solutions presented in the paper have been successfully tested by students in practice during remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.