snip
Thanks for info, but would like a dedicated PID controller IC like
those dedicated motion controller IC's. This would be for a
medium-volume embedded SBC-type product.
I am familiar with the motion controller IC's from some time ago,
but haven't sufficiently kept up with the IC data book barrage lately to know
if there are similar offerings for a generic PID controller IC.
tia!
I don't know of any off the shelf pid controller solutions. If there
were I doubt I'd get as much consulting business as I do.
Doing a pid controller in a micro is pretty simple. I've done several
variations on pid temperature controllers. Typically the cycle time is
pretty slow, so doing a controller in C, using floating point math is
usually fast enough.
I've a bit of experience with Microchip PICs in these sorts of
applications, and development has been pretty easy (though about any
decent microcontroller would do). Microchip even has some high end 18F
series parts with 16 analog inputs (18F8720. etc.). You could add an
analog mux to other smaller microcontrollers.
If the thought of writing code from scratch for a microcontroller
fills you with dread, consider hiring somebody to do that part for
you. If you need more than 10 of these things, you should be able to
hire someone to do the initial PID control loop design for you, and
still come in under what it would cost you to buy a commercial
product.
mark