OptoForum member tohox recently posted a question about using PID control loops on a SNAP-PAC-R1 rack-mounted controller.

The issue? A really long dead loop time. 

"The time delta between the moment the strategy opens a given loop's valve [and] starts the pump+furnace and the moment a temperature increase is measured can sometimes be on the order of an hour," tohox notes.

So how can overshoot and oscillations be minimized, or more fundamentally, is a PID loop the best control option in a case like this?

Tohox also asks whether inputs must come from analog I/O in the system, or whether they can come from another source, like floating point variables within a table. 

Take a look at the answers and expand your knowledge about PID loops with this real-world example from the OptoForum.