Autotune Tool

In the Workspace panel, it is possible to select the Autotune Tool. It is necessary to configure this window in order to be able to find automatically the gains of the PID controllers.

Autotune Tool - Autotune tool in the Workspace

Autotune tool in the Workspace

When the window is opened, it is possible to select the loop for the autotuning.

Autotune Tool - Autotune loop selecting

Autotune loop selecting

This window shows the actual flight phase in the left bar and the control names. For each control, the available loops are showed and they are enumerated from 0 to 2 (from the intern one to the extern one). If some control loop does not have a PID controller configured, it appears with transparency and it can not be autotuned (red).

Autotune Tool - Autotune parameters

Autotune parameters

When the loop is selected, the window changes and some parameters (blue) are showed and they can be edited:

  • Time: It is the period of time in which the Autotune is performed [s].

  • Stages: The number of stages of the Fast Fourier Transform (a value between 5 and 10 is allowed).

  • Relay: This is the amplitude of the Relay function (R). The value has to be chosen in accordance with the proportional gain in the PID of the autotuned variable.

  • Respect: A mean value of the variable has to be selected. If the respect is select, the autotune will start from the last value of the variable. If not, the value can be edited by the user and the Autotune Relay function will start from this value and it will go from -R to R.

When all parameters are set, it is possible to click on Start and the autotuning process will begin and the blue bar will move until the end of the process. The left bar of the window allows checking the flight Phase and the selected loop.

In the section Examples - Autotune of this manual, an autotune example is explained in detail.