PID Control Loop Simulator

This is a toy project to simulate a PID control loop in a terminal-based user interface by using Ratatui.

The simulator provides an interactive TUI where you can:

• Experiment with reference signals (step, sine, square, etc.).
• Choose between different plant models (e.g., first-order, second-order systems).
• Tune PID controller parameters (proportional, integral, derivative gains).
• Observe real-time plots of the reference, plant, and controller output.

The goal is not accuracy or production-grade control, but to visualize how PID controllers behave in different scenarios — directly from your terminal.

Usage

Install Rust if you haven't already and run the following commands from the terminal:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Ikrk/tui-pid-simulator.git
cd tui-pid-simulator
# Run the simulator
cargo run --release

How to Extend

To add new input, plant, or controller models, add new file to the corresponding directory and implement one of the Reference, Plant, or Controller traits. Register your new model using the register_reference, register_plant, or register_controller macros and finally publish your module in the corresponding mod.rs file.

ToDos (that may never be completed)

• Allow setting all input signal and plant parameters
• Allow setting sample time
• Show the contribution of each PID term
• Add better support for soft-switching when enabling/disabling the controller
• Allow modifying charts axis settings
• Add support for dynamic axis settings
• Add basic stability analysis tools
• Add additional controllers
• Add controller output capping, antiwindup and other advanced features