On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 at 06:56, Salvo Tomaselli <ltw...@debian.org> wrote: > > I honestly can't understand what this package is for or does. > > Is a pid a process ID? Is it something else that I don't know? What is it?
Hi, "PID" here does not refer to Unix process ID. A PID controller is a particular concept of applied mathematics used by control-system engineers to design a feedback system that monitors and controls some kind of process, usually physical. "PID" here is an acronym for "proportional, integral, derivative", because the output control signal is a combination of P,I and D component signals derived from the error signal. Various implementations are possible, including as an analog electronic circuit, or as a software algorithm. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional%E2%80%93integral%E2%80%93derivative_controller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional%E2%80%93integral%E2%80%93derivative_controller#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional%E2%80%93integral%E2%80%93derivative_controller#Control_loop_example https://www.ni.com/en/shop/labview/pid-theory-explained.html For robustness, because real-world processes not being properly controlled can cause catastrophic damage, typical PID controllers implemented as software usually run on dedicated realtime microcontroller hardware with no operating system, so are usually written in C. Any real-world controller will require physical interfaces which allow the actual physical process to be both monitored and controlled. I suppose that running this packaged Python code on a Linux system might be useful for non-challenging or non-critical applications, or educational purposes, or simulation.
