Robust IMC–PID tuning for cascade control systems with gain and phase margin specifications

In this article, an internal model control plus proportional-integral-derivative (IMC–PID) tuning procedure for cascade control systems is proposed based on the gain and phase margin specifications of the inner and outer loop. The internal model control parameters are adjusted according to the desired frequency response of each loop with a minimum interaction between the inner and outer PID controllers, obtaining a fine tuning and the desired gain and phase margins specifications due to an appropriate selection of the PID controller gains and constants. Given the design specifications for the inner and outer loop, this tuning procedure adjusts the IMC parameter of each controller independently, with no interference between the inner and outer loop obtaining a robust method for cascade controllers with better performance than sequential tuning or other frequency domain-based methods. This technique is accurate and simple, providing a convenient technique for the PID tuning of cascade control systems in different applications such as mechanical, electrical or chemical systems. The proposed tuning method explained in this article provides a flexible tuning procedure in comparison with other tuning procedures because each loop is tuned simultaneously without modifying the robustness characteristics of the inner and outer loop. Several experiments are shown to compare and validate the effectiveness of the proposed tuning procedure over other sequential or cascade tuning methods; some experiments under different conditions are done to test the performance of the proposed tuning technique. For these reasons, a robustness analysis based on sensitivity is shown in this article to analyze the disturbance rejection properties and the relations of the IMC parameters.