Introduction to LabVIEW for Control Design & Simulation

Ricardo Dunia (NI), Eric Dean (NI), and Dr. Thomas Edgar (UT)

Reference Text : Process Dynamics and Control 2nd edition, by Seborg, Edgar, Mellichamp, Wiley 2004

LabVIEW, which stands for Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench, is a graphical
computing environment for instrumentation, system design, and signal processing.

The Control Design and Simulation (CDSim ) module for LabVIEW can be used to simulate dynamic
systems. To facilitate model definition, CDSim adds functions to the LabVIEW environment that
resemble those found in SIMULINK. There is also the ability to use m-file syntax directly in
LabVIEW through the new MathScript node.

The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you to LabVIEW and give you experience simulating
dynamic systems. .    In the first section, you will build a model of the open-loop system for the second
2e  s
order plus time delay process G( s)   and determine the unit set-point and unit
(10s  1)(5s  1)
disturbance responses. In the second section, you will build a closed-loop model of the same process.
After the closed-loop model is constructed, you should simulate the unit disturbance response and the
unit set-point response for two different PID controller tuning methods, ITAE (set-point) and ITAE
(disturbance), in Table 12.3 (SEM).

Log onto a PC computer. Click Start->National Instruments->LabVIEW . Open LabVIEW.

(Note : as of LabVIEW 8.6, the Control Design & Simulation module is also supported for Mac )

Start a new
program (VI)

Browse
example VIs

Figure1. Initial LabVIEW Screen

To start a new program ( called VI for Virtual Instrument ), click “Blank VI”

Block Diagram
(programming
window)

Front Panel
(user interface)

Figure 2. LabVIEW new VI

Click in the block diagram to view the area where graphical programs are written. Right-click inside
the block diagram to view the palette of functions used in creating programs. Select the Control Design
& Simulation->Simulation palette to view the library of simulation functions.

Figure 3. Simulation functions sub-pallette

In Control Design & Simulation pallette
In the next section, you will build a model of the open-loop system for the process mentioned earlier and
determine the unit set-point and unit disturbance responses. The following steps will guide you
through the discussed tasks.

Construction of an Open-Loop Block Diagram (Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7)

1. Open a new VI by selecting File->NewVI. The new window will be titled untitled. You will
build your closed-loop model in the block diagram. Save the empty model by choosing File-
>Save . Name the model, examplesim. From this point on, the model will be referred to as
examplesim.

2. Click on the block diagram, then right-click to bring up the functions palette. From the
Simulation sub-pallette, click-and-drag a simulation loop on the block diagram.

Click-and-drag to
create Simulation loop

3. Place the Transfer Function and Transport Delay blocks from the “Continuous”
pallette, respectively, to Examplesim. Connect the output of the Transfer Function block
to the input of the Transport Delay block. Click on the “Transfer Function” label and
rename to “Process TF”. This block represents the process. Note that in this problem,
the process is G(s) = GvGpGm, not Gp.
 Open the dialog
box of Process TF by double
clicking on it. Specify
Numerator as [2] and
Denominator as [1 15 50].
This indicates the transfer
function 2/(50s2 + 15s + 1).
The Transfer Function block
allows specification of vectors
for the numerator and
denominator from either a
configuration dialog box,
or a terminal from the
block diagram. The vector
elements are treated as the
coefficients of ascending
powers of s in the polynomials representing the numerator and denominator of the
transfer function. To see the denominator polynomial of s completely displayed
in the block’s icon, you may have to resize the block’s icon.
Double-click on the Transport Delay and set Time delay to 1. Note that the Transport
Delay block can be used to represent other types, such as measurement delay.

4. Copy the Process TF and Transport Delay blocks and place the copies slightly
above the originals. The copies will automatically change names to “Process TF1” and
“Transfer Delay1”. To quickly copy the original blocks, select both of them, hold the
CTRL key and drag using the left mouse button. Rename the Process TF1 block
“Disturbance TF”. In this example Gp and Gd are the same, so the Numerator and
Denominator parameters in the dialog box of Disturbance TF are not changed (See Figure
4).

5. Place a copy of the Summation block, located in the “Signal Arithmetic” pallette, to the
right of the Transport Delay block. Right-click on the summation block and select
Visible Items->Label to see the label “Summation”. Connect the output from each
Transport Delay block to the input of the Summation block. The number of inputs and
their polarity can be modified from the dialog box. Later in the tutorial you will be
required to do this.

6. Place a SimTime Waveform graph, from the “Graph Utilities” palette, to the right of the
Summation block. Connect the output of the Summation block to the input of the
SimTime Waveform block.
 7. Place a Step Signal block,
from the “Signal Generation”
palette, to the left of
Disturbance TF and connect
it to the input of Disturbance
TF. The Step Signal block
generates a step function.
The initial value, final value
and step time (time at which
the step occurs) of the
function can be specified.
For now, double-click to
open its dialog box and set
the initial value, and final
value, and step time to zero,
i.e., disabling the block. Rename the block “D”.

8. Place a copy of D to the far left of Process TF and rename the new block “U”. Connect
U to the input of Process TF. Double-click on U and set Step time to 0, Initial value to 0
and Final value 1. U will generate a unit step function in the manipulated variable at time
zero. The model developed to this point is a model of the open-loop system. It should
look similar to the model below.

9. Now we are ready to simulate the open-loop response of the system. To

select the integration technique and parameters to be used during simulations, double-
click on the left terminal of the Simulation loop.

Double-
click to
configure
simulation
loop

Figure 4. Open-Loop Block Diagram

 A dialog box is opened showing all the
simulation parameters that can be modified.
Set the Final Time to 50 and the Max Step Size
to 1. Note that the LabVIEW Simulation loop
includes an ODE solver. The maximum step
size determines the largest step LabVIEW uses
in numerically integrating the ODE . Since
this system is easy to numerically integrate, a
max step size of 1 will result in a smooth curve.
Larger step sizes will produce more jagged
curves.

Run the simulation by clicking the Run arrow on either the front panel or the block
diagram. Hint : Ctrl-E switches between the front panel and block diagram.

10. The response will be automatically plotted. Double-click on the title to change the name
of the plot. You can also right-click on the plot to view axis settings, autoscaling, and
other plot parameters.

Figure 5. Unit step response of open-loop system

11. Now simulate the open-loop unit disturbance response. Double-click on U and set final
value to 0. This eliminates the unit step in the manipulated variable. Double-click on D
and set step time to 0 and final value to 1. This creates a unit disturbance step. Again, hit
the Run arrow to begin the simulation. The front panel will show the response. Double-
click on the graph title to replace Step Response (Open-Loop) with
Disturbance Response (Open-Loop). Figure 6 shows the resulting plot.
Notice that the open-loop set-point response and disturbance response are the same. Why
is this expected?

Figure 6. Unit disturbance response of open-loop system

12. If you are not continuing to the next section, save the file examplesim so that you can use
it in constructing a closed-loop block diagram.
 Construction of Closed-Loop Block Diagram (Chapters 11 and 12)

1. Open the file examplesim if it is not already open.

2. Click on the connection between the U block and Process TF block and delete it.
Rename the U block to “Ysp”. This block will be used to produce a step change in the
set-point.

3. Place a copy of the Sum block to the right of Ysp. It

will automatically be given the label “Summation2”.
Open its dialog box and change the the lower input
from + to -. The top input will have a + located to the
right of it while the bottom input will have a – located
above it. Therefore, the output of Summation2 will
be the top input minus the bottom input.

Connect the output of Ysp to the top input of Sum1.

Also, connect the output from Sum to the bottom
input of Sum1. This can be done by clicking on the
bottom input of Sum1 and dragging the arrow to the
output of Sum. The output of Sum1 is the error
between the set-point, Ysp, and the controlled
variable, Y. Your model should look like Figure 7:

Figure 7. Partially Completed Closed Loop Diagram

4. We are now ready to add the PID feedback controller
to the loop. There are several versions of the PID
controller block available in LabView, however, for
our purposes we have a special version of available
for free at the University of Texas Process Controls
class website:

http://www.che.utexas.edu/course/che360/links.html

Look for the link “PID Controller Block .vi for

LabView Tutorial” and download and save the file to
your preferred location.

5. Now, return to LabView and right-click in the block

diagram to bring up the functions palette, and click Select a VI. This allows you to bring
in any user-defined LabVIEW VI into your current program. Click on the path where
PID Controller.vi was saved. Then select the “PID Controller” and drag it to the right of
the newest sum block. Connect the output of the Summation2 to the input of PID
controller and the output of PID controller to the input of Process TF. Double-click on
the PID controller and enter the ITAE (disturbance) controller settings given in Table
12.3 of your textbook, as well as at the end of this document. Please note that PID
controller settings are Kc, τI, and τD where P = Kc, I = Kc/ τI, and D = Kc* τD, so
numerical values of P, I, and D should reflect these definitions. The model you have
developed represents the closed-loop system. Your model should now look similar to
Figure 8:

Figure 8. Closed-Loop Diagram

Note that some text has been added to the block diagram shown on the previous page.
Simply by double-clicking on a point in examplesim and typing, text is added to the
diagram at the point where you clicked. The E, P, X1, X2 text in the block diagram
have no effect on its operation.
6. An important feature of LabVIEW is
interactivity. We can use this
capability to make the PID controller
gains interactive from the front
panel, rather than having to edit them
on the block diagram. Double-click
on the PID Controller.vi and change
Parameter source from Configuration
Dialog Box to Terminal.

7. Select Ctrl-H to bring up Help on the PID

Controller.vi and see where the gain terminals are
located. (they come in from the top )
Right-click on each terminal and select
Create->Control to automatically wire a control to
the terminal.
The inputs to the PID Controller.vi should look like
this :

By default, LabVIEW creates a standard Numeric control, but this can easily be changed.
Go to the front panel , right-click on the control, select Replace->Horizontal Pointer
Slide. Then right-click on the new control and Visible Items->Digital Display. This
way, gains may be entered either from the slide or typed in to the numeric control. Do
this for each PID gain.
The front panel should look like this :
8. Now we are ready to simulate the closed-loop response of the system. We will start with
the set-point response. Click on block D and set the Final value to 0 so that no step in the
disturbance will occur. Create a step in the set-point by clicking on Ysp and setting the
final value to 1. Run the simulation. The resulting graph will be for the unit set-point
response, because D (disturbance) has been disabled.

Figure 9. Unit set-point response for ITAE (disturbance) settings.

9. Now simulate the unit disturbance response. Double-click on Ysp and set final value to
0. Double-click on D and set final value to 1. Again, Run the simulation. Label this
plot the same way as the previous one except replace the title Set-point Response
with Disturbance Response. Figure 10 shows the resulting plot.

Figure 10. Unit disturbance response for ITAE (disturbance)

10. To save data for plotting, examine the changes that were made to the VI, saved as
examplesim with file.vi

11. Different settings may compared to each other, using Read and Plot Data.vi

Figure 11. Comparison of PID controllers with ITAE settings from Table 12.3.
Additional Examples in LabVIEW :

There are many helpful

examples in LabVIEW
that illustrate process
control concepts. To find
them, open Help->Find
Examples and go to the
following path :
Toolkits and Modules->
Simulation->Use Cases->
Industrial Process Control.

Double click on the VI

shown.

Description:
This example demonstrates a proportional-integral (PI) controller that adjusts the input flow to a
tank based on a setpoint you specify. As you adjust the setpoint, the controller manipulates the
input flow to maintain the specified level of liquid in the tank. You also can switch to manual
control and specify the input flow manually.
 Controls Tutorials for LabVIEW :

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/6368 based on Prof. Dawn Tilbury’s

tutorials from University of Michigan

http://cnx.org/content/col10401/latest/ NI LabVIEW training course on Rice’s

Connexions site

http://techteach.no/labview/ by Finn Haugen

Gains for Closed Loop exercise :

Kc τI τD
ITAE(disturbance) 1.65 7.12 1.80
ITAE (set point) 1.07 16.25 1.55