Process Control - Definition

Process control is an engineering discipline that deals with architectures, mechanisms, and algorithms for controlling the output of a specific process. See also control theory.

For example, heating up the temperature in a room is a process that has the specific, desired outcome to reach and maintain a defined temperature (e.g. 20°C), kept constant over time. Here, the temperature is the controlled variable. At the same time, it is the input variable since it is measured by a thermometer and used to decide whether to heat or not to heat. The desired temperature (20°C) is the set point. The state of the heater (e.g. the setting of the valve allowing hot water to through it) is called the manipulated variable since it is subject to control actions.

Examples

A thermostat is a simple example for a closed control loop: It constantly measures the current temperature and controls the heater's valve setting to increase or decrease the room temperature according the user-defined setting. An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a more complex example.