HI-TEC: Process Control Workshop for Operations Technicians

At the annual HI-TEC (High Impact Technology Exchange Conference) last month in Minneapolis, MN, FLATE’s NSF ET Pathways Grant presented a half-day, hands-on workshop focused on the fundamentals of process control. Process Control is typically a feedback control loop that consistently calculates the "offset" value and applies a correction to bring the system being controlled closer to its setpoint (temperature, flow rate, voltage, etc.). The workshop instructors were Dr. Andres Cardenas-Valencia, Sam Ajlani and Dr. Richard Gilbert.

These models are extremely important for Industry 4.0 implementations, including implementations that look like straightforward updates to Industry 3.0 systems.

Eight engineering technology faculty from around the country dug into the details of Proportional, Integral, Differential, and various combinations of these control models and were given ideas on how to explain differentiation and integration to their 2-year AS Engineering Technology students. Typically, calculus is not a required course for A.S. Engineering Technology; however, students in 2-year technician preparation programs can acquire the needed knowledge of how PID models work without a calculus explanation. However, more to their technical skills, they learn how to troubleshoot a system that has a PID (proportional-integral-differential) controller.

In addition to receiving a classroom-appropriate hands-on platform that they used to explore the tuning process for an antenna's position with a PID controller, the workshop attendees were introduced to a TinkerCad (a microcontroller-based simulator) that illustrated the same controls as the workshop platform. Attendees agreed that the workshop was extremely beneficial and that they would be using the materials, the simulations, and the hands-on platform in their classrooms in the coming year.

We are considering offering a 1-day version of this Process Control workshop in Florida this fall. The workshop would be free to faculty and teachers. Please contact Marilyn.Barger@flate.org if you are interested.