Top 5 Control Engineering articles, April 6-12: Feed forwards augmenting PID control, overcoming process deadtime, hacking oil and gas control systems, more

Articles about feed forwards augmenting PID control, overcoming process deadtime with a Smith Predictor, hacking oil and gas control systems, artificial intelligence for control engineering, and Microsoft Windows 10 benefits for manufacturers were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, April 6-12. Miss something? You can catch up here.

By Chris Vavra April 13, 2015

Control Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for Apr. 6-12, covered feed forwards augmenting PID control, overcoming process deadtime with a Smith Predictor, hacking oil and gas control systems, artificial intelligence for control engineering, and Microsoft Windows 10 benefits for manufacturers. Link to each article below.

1. Feed forwards augment PID control

Feed forward augmentation is a prediction technique that estimates the output from a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm without waiting for the PID algorithm to respond. 

2. Overcoming process deadtime with a Smith Predictor

A controller equipped with an accurate process model can ignore deadtime. Deadtime generally occurs when material is transported from the actuator site to the sensor measurement location. Until the material reaches the sensor, the sensor cannot measure any changes effected by the actuator. 

3. Hacking oil and gas control systems: Understanding the cyber risk

Cyber attacks are growing in number and intensity over the past decade. Companies in the oil and gas industry are high-profile targets and must take measures to protect themselves from hackers. 

4. Artificial intelligence for control engineering

Robotics, cars, and wheelchairs are among artificial intelligence beneficiaries, making control loops smarter, adaptive, and able to change behavior, hopefully for the better. 

5. Microsoft Windows 10 features may help manufacturers more than recent releases

Engineering and IT Insight: Nothing lasts forever. Microsoft Windows 10 is coming with features that may suit manufacturing, software developers, system integrators, and end users more than recent releases. 

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on controleng.com, April 6-12, for articles published within the last two months.

– Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.


Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.