Derivative & PID

Damping a hovering drone

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Derivative action opposes motion, damping overshoot.
• Critical damping (K_d = 2√K_p here): fastest without overshoot.
• PID = present (P) + past (I) + future (D).

Steps

1. A bouncing drone
2. Critical damping
3. A stiffer controller
4. PID
5. A noisy sensor
6. How much bounce?