
Integrals
One way to solve the problem of settling a small distance from the setpoint is to
add an integral term. Mathematically, the integral is the area under a curve. In
practical terms, the integral is the sum (or accumulation) of the error term over a
period of time. Figure 5.10 shows what the integral term looks like in graphic
mode. Notice that, in this example, the integral never goes negative even though
the error term does go negative. If the error stayed negative for a long enough
period of time, the integral would eventually become negative.
Figure 5.11 shows the effect of the integral on the constant error in the
proportional/derivative ...