Journal of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Control and Computer Science –

JEEECCS, Volume 4, Issue 11, pages 5-12, 2018

Design and Implementation of a Temperature

Control System

Mihai Tudor, Sanda Florentina Mihalache

Automatic Control, Computers and Electronics Department
Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești Romania
tudor.mihai10@yahoo.com

Abstract – This paper, which features an automatic The second chapter is called "Definition,
temperature control system, demonstrates the utility of characterization of the automatic control system and
the controller where no high precision is required, the control algorithm used in the process" and it
allowing variations between two fixed limits. The describes the elements used in the process, the type
temperature control is made in an enclosure made of and functioning of the controller and its actuator, as
plexiglas plates thermally insulated with polystyrene to well as the classification of the measuring devices.
keep the temperature constant over a longer period of
time using the Peltier element for the cooling process In the third chapter, "Virtual Instrumentation and
and thermal resistance for heating. Elements have been Data Acquisition Systems", there are presented both
purchased based on their price, their efficiency in the LabVIEW development platform and its use in
relation to enclosure dimensions, thermal power, power order to build the application and the Arduino IDE
and supply voltage. The control system also has a user programming environment.
interface where all process parameters can be observed
and modified. This is done using the serial connection The last chapter, "The proposed application for
via USB cable within the LabVIEW development simulating the automatic temperature control system
platform. using the LabVIEW and Arduino programming
languages" aims to characterize each element used for
Keywords-component; automatic control system, system design, process data, and experimental results
bidirectional controller, on off actuator, labview, arduino with screenshots during system testing.

I. INTRODUCTION II. DEFINITION, CHARACTERIZATION OF THE

Before the mechanical freezing systems were used, AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEM AND THE CONTROL
people cooled the food with snow or ice that either ALGORITHM USED IN THE PROCESS
were in the area or were brought from the mountains.
A. Definition and characterization of the system
The purpose of this paper is to simulate and
implement a computer aided automatic temperature The system is a collection of elements in
control system. interaction that are specific to an organization and
purpose [1].
The program used to graphically simulate the
control system is LabVIEW, a program developed by The Automatic Control System (ACS) is a
National Instruments. "Control, Design & Simulation" technical system that enables the control and
is the package of this program required for graphical supervision of technological processes without direct
implementation of the process. The developed human human intervention [1].
machine interface is represented in LabVIEW, which An ACS consists of two main parts:
displays the system parameter values. This
communication is possible through a serial port, using • controlled process (P)
a USB cable and a connection code. • control devices (CD) [2].
Through the application, the user has the ability to
observe the system's response over time, the way in
which the adjustment is made, moreover, can
intervene at any time to alter system boundaries and
manually control the main actuators, but also the
secondary ones (buzzer, cooler).
The program associated to the temperature
controller is physically implemented in the Arduino
IDE. The evolution of the whole process is followed Figure 1. Detailed block diagram of a feedback control system [2]
with respect to the error corresponding to the inputs
changes (both setpoint and disturbances).
6 Mihai Tudor, Sanda Florentina Mihalache

signal is 1, and the error decreases to -h/2, then the

command switches to 0. Hysteresis of the controller is
equal to h [3].

Figure 2. Detailed block diagram of a feedforward control system

[2].

T-transducer, R-controller, EE- actuator, P-

process, r-setpoint, c-command, u-manipulated
variable, y-controlled variable, m-measurement, v1, v2
- disturbances. Figure 3. Static characteristic of the bipolar controller: r -
reference, e - error (deviation), m - measure, c - command, h -
Each element in the control device structure has a hysteresis [3].
well-defined purpose so the transducer takes over and
provides as much concrete information as possible The function of an on-off controller is easy to
about the state of the process at any point in time, the implement on a computer using a data acquisition tag.
controller develops commands regarding the This ensures both the temperature read through one of
achievement of the control objective and the actuator the inputs and the transmission of the command [4].
implement the controller command to the process.
We consider the TREF variable as the setpoint
value for the controlled temperature and denoting the
B. The system elements hysteresis width with DELTA, the maximum
The control devices (CD) within the project temperature values TMAX and minimum TMIN are
includes: derived from the relations:
-transducer (T) - provides information about the TMAX = TREF + Δ
current state of the system (DHT11 temperature
sensor) TMIN = TREF – Δ

-controller (R) - generates commands to achieve The width of the hysteresis can be easily changed
the control objective (Arduino UNO) from the front panel of LabVIEW as shown in the next
chapter.
-actuators (EE) - apply the command received
from the controller (Peltier element with fan pallet III. VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTATION (VI) AND
parallel-linked and thermal resistance)
DATA ACQUISTION SYSTEMS
Both actuators are controlled via 2 relays.
A. LabView environment
The transducer used in this project is suitable to
work with Arduino UNO. LabVIEW is a graphical programming language
that allows application development using icons.
The automatic controller is usually an electronic Different from the textual program languages, where
device, having the role of processing the signal using a the instructions are the ones that determine the
control algorithm. This algorithm is chosen according execution of the program, LabVIEW uses in their
to the technological characteristics or the required place the data stream aided by a suitable graphical
performance. The control objective is maintaining the presentation [8].
current state of the controlled system as close to the
desired state. On the other hand, like the other programming
languages, LabVIEW contains extensive libraries of
The controller used to make the automatic functions and subroutines that can be used in many
temperature control system is an on off controller. applications, such as data acquisition, processing,
They are often used in control systems where high analysis, presentation and storage. With the help of
precision for the controlled variable is not required, acquisition equipment for measuring various physical
allowing variations between two fixed limits. quantities, as well as control of certain processes [8].
The accuracy of the SRA with on off controller is In LabVIEW, a VI is constituted by the following
higher if the width of the hysteresis band is smaller, three components:
but an excessive reduction of this leads to a high
frequency of switching with negative influences on the - the front panel, which acts as a user interface;
reliability of the controller [2]. - the block diagram, which graphically contains
The on off controller generates a command signal the source codes that perform the VI
that can have only two distinct values, conventionally operation;
denoted by 0 and 1. These controllers are nonlinear - the icon and the connector panel, through
control elements, which have the hysteresis relay static which the VI is identified and the
characteristic [3]. interconnection within the other VI is ensured,
If the control signal is 0, and the error rises to h/2, constitutes a subVI [8].
then the command becomes 1, and if the command
 Design and Implementation of a Temperature Control System 7

LabView has many tools that ensure easy Through these, the interactive user interface is
configuration of a certain type of VI. It includes provided, the controls simulate the inputs to the VI and
hundreds of examples of VIs corresponding to variants inputs data into the block diagram, and the indicators
of application domains, which the user can use and simulate the VI outputs and display the data provided
incorporate into VIs of greater complexity for the by the block diagram resulting from the execution of
intended purpose, or modify them to adapt them to the the program [8].
particularities of the application. [8]

B. Description of LabVIEW application

Accessing LabVIEW, the introductory dialog box
appears, after that, accessing the Blank VI button, the
main two Front Panel, Block Diagram windows will
open, which will allow the development of a new
application.

Figure 6. Secondary front panel of the adjustment process.

2) Block diagram
The window showing the block diagram
corresponding to the controlled process, the front
panel of which was previously displayed, is shown in
figure 7.

Figure 4. LabVIEW introductory box.

1) Front panel
It is considered the example of the system
presented with LabVIEW environment. Figure 5
shows the window displaying the front panel of the
controlled process, which consists of three analogue
temperature indicators, room temperature LEDs
(indicating the status of all the ON / OFF elements), Figure 7. Block diagram of the controlled process.
the system response in graphical form and manual
start/stop buttons of the main actuators. These buttons The block diagram comprises, in the workspace,
have been designed to interfere with the system or to the graphical representation of the functions
change the temperature in case of an emergency state corresponding to the objects on the front panel, and
without taking into account algorithms. illustrates how the data stream and its processing
operations circulate. Within the block diagram, the
front panel objects appear as terminals, which
constitute input and output ports for exchanging
information with the front panel [8].
The objects in the block diagram, which highlight
the operations performed by the VI program, are
called nodes. Data transfer between objects in the
block diagram is provided by connection links
between them having different colors, styles, and
thicknesses, depending on the types of data they are
driving. Any connection starts from a single data
Figure 5. The front panel of the adjustment process.
source, but can be connected to one or more receivers.
Also in the block diagram are so-called structures,
The use of the system's response in time in the which are graphic representations of loops and control
form of graphically highlights the system behaviour in instructions from textual programming languages.
a more suggestive way. Viewing the real-time output In the figure above, the stop button in the front
response is accomplished by connecting the controller panel corresponds to a "or" logic gate, which has
to the PC via serial communication. This allows both inputs, the TF input terminal having the Stop label and
parameter values to be viewed and modified. On the the system error. The two figures, the front panel and
graphic one can see the different parameters of the the block diagram were presented separately to
system, such as: the upper and lower limit of the highlight the objects in the two workspaces.
system (set by the operator), the adjusted size, and the
command of each actuator (figure 6).
8 Mihai Tudor, Sanda Florentina Mihalache

The response of on-off controller can be observed IV. THE PROPOSED APPLICATION FOR SIMULATING
by following the temperature evolution according to THE AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEM
the set limits and control of the actuators. USING THE LABVIEW AND ARDUINO PROGRAMMING
Through the interface components placed in the LANGUAGES
front panel, it is possible to view graphic
representations. The indicators are given numerical A. Physical components
values necessary for the graphical representation, In the example shown, in order to keep the room
following the processing in the block diagram. temperature as stable as possible, with small variations
in the presence of various disturbances (e.g. ambient
The controls are used in place of the indicators if temperature) - the following elements are used: Peltier
the values required to achieve the graphical element, electrical resistance, fan pallet engine,
representation are received as input parameters for temperature sensor, Arduino UNO development
current VI, used as a subroutine (under VI). platform, relay module,
The interface components, dedicated to graphic 1) • Peltier element
representations, are divided into two general The Peltier effect consists in the heat release or
categories: absorption at the junction between two different
• diagram (chart); conductors, whereby an electric current flows through
it. It has the role of cooling the enclosure by the effect
• graph. outlined above, functioning as a small heat pump.
Charts are graphical representations of a size that Applying a low voltage to the terminals of such a
changes over a period of time. Charts represent the device, we can extract the heat from a junction and
variation of two sizes: y depending on x. In the system transfer it to the other junction based on the Peltier
presented for the user interface were used 3 graphs for effect. Referring to the thermoelectric module (figure
temperatures and humidity. 9), one of the faces of the module is cooled while the
In the front panel there (first page) is only one opposite face is warming up. The heat flow through
graph showing the temperature evolution over time. In the module can be easily changed by simply reversing
page 2, there are two other graphs, which illustrate the sense of the supply current [7].
relative humidity depending on time and current
temperature depending on time.

C. Arduino platform
Arduino(figure 8) is one of the simplest to use
platforms with microcontroller. We can think of it as a
minicalculator (it has the power of computing a
regular computer 15 years ago), being able to collect
and react to environmental information.
It has 14 digital inputs / outputs and 6 analog
inputs. Of the 14 digital pins on the board, 6 can also
be used as PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) outputs
and the 6 analog inputs can also be used as digital pins Figure 9. The deployed diagram of a Peltier cooling module [6].
[5].
The module (figure 10) is powered by a voltage of
12V, consuming a current of 3.8A. The maximum
temperature difference between the cold and the hot
part is 60 °C, the refrigeration power is 60 W and the
module dimensions are: 40 x 40 x 3.8 mm. The use of
this module it is justified by its main benefits: no
moving parts, no noise, no maintenance and its
uninterrupted operation can reach up to 30 years

Figure 8. Arduino UNO Development Plate [7].

D. Monitoring and controlling the system through

serial connection
To achieve connectivity between the two
programs, it is necessary to upload a file called
LabVIEWInterface.ino on the Arduino platform, a file
that must contain the DHT11 sensor code.
The LabVIEWInterface.ino file must be located in
the same location as LabVIEW so that after uploading Figure 10. Peltier cooling thermoelectric mode [7].
it to the microcontroller, they can be interconnected.
 Design and Implementation of a Temperature Control System 9

2) Electrical resistance
The heating system is made of a 220V heat-
resistant heat exchanger with a power of 75W, which
provides heating when the room temperature is below
the set limit
3) Fan Pallet Engine
In order to save electricity, an engine is used which
simultaneously engages two fan pallets through a
single shaft.
The one on the outside (hot side) is designed to
keep the temperature as low as possible so that the
temperature on the inner side (cold side) is as small as Figure 12. Arduino UNO Development Platform.
possible to achieve the quickest cooling, and more
efficient. The one on the inside has the function of 6) Relay module
venting cold air inside the enclosure to speed up the The relay module (figure 13) is an automatic
cooling process. device that allows switching of an electrical circuit
4) Temperature Sensor with a command signal.
The DHT11 temperature sensor (figure 11) is a
component used in the process, which senses the
temperature level in the environment. This element is
pre-calibrated and the output is provided as a digital
signal. It connects to the programmed Arduino
microcontroller. It measures the temperature between
0°C and 60°C. The DHT11 temperature and humidity
sensor is suitable to our application, providing good
precision, simplicity in use, and small size at a low
price. It operates at a voltage between 3.3V - 5V, a Figure 13. Relay module [8].
maximum current of 2.5mA and does not work below
0°C. 7) Connection wires, power supply, radiators,
breadboard, enclosure
The components that make up the automatic
temperature control system were connected by means
of male-father and father-to-male wires, as well as by
a breadboard. The other sources are supplied at 12V
with the 12V / 5A stabilizer and the relay.
The Peltier element is located between the two
radiators in the enclosure. The panel is made of
Figure 11. DHT11 sensor [7].
Plexiglas and has a length of 30cm, a width of 20cm
and a height of 15cm.
5) Arduino UNO Development Platform
The development platform (figure 12) used to B. Technical data
build the system is accessible, open-source, easy to use The closing of the contacts corresponding to the
both in hardware and relatively small software. All buzzer and the secondary fan is manually reset by
devices used in the project are linked to this placing the button corresponding to the actuator in the
microcontroller: READY state (figure 14 and 15).
• the digital sensor 2 is connected to the Starting the main actuators of the process is done
temperature sensor; manually by pressing the button corresponding to the
element to be started.
• the digital pointer 3 is connected to the buzzer;
• the cooler for outdoor cooler is connected to
the digital pin 4;
• the digital pin 6 is connected to the Peltier
element and a blue LED;
• the thermal resistance and red LED are
connected to the digital terminal 7;
• a green LED is connected to the digital pin 8.

Figure 14. Operating diagram.

10 Mihai Tudor, Sanda Florentina Mihalache

Average outdoor heat exchanger temperature

(Table II) is 42.4 °C.
With an active secondary fan the average time
required to lower a grade is 59 s and the average
temperature on the radiator is 35.04 °C. Deactivating
the secondary fan the average time required to lower a
grade becomes 79 s. The average temperature on the
radiator is 42.4 °C.
From experimental data, one can conclude that the
average time required to lower a grade is 20 seconds
lower when using the secondary fan, thus in the same
Figure 15. System connection scheme. period, using the fan reduced 4 degrees instead of 3
degrees.
C. System operation 2) Manual mode heating
In the project, the following blocks have been Due to thermal resistance inertia, the temperature
used: while loops, logical gates, blocks, indicators, tends to increase by 4-5 °C, after disconnecting its
controllers, and a number of conditions that control the command. In the example presented in Table III,
other peripherals used. resistance was decoupled after temperature rise by one
degree (from steady state 25°C to 26°), however, it
If the temperature exceeds a predefined value may be seen that the temperature rise by 3 degrees to
(maximum setpoint), then the LabVIEW development the Setpoint temperature after approximately 60
environment sends the appropriate signal to Arduino seconds after uncoupling.
and then it sends the signal to the relay module
connected to pin 6 that will start the Peltier element
and the fan pallet engine (connected in parallel), and at TABLE III. TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED BY
THERMAL RESISTANCE
the same time the blue light turns on to show that the
cooling process is carried out in the enclosure. Set 26 27 28 29
temperature
If the temperature drops below the set value (°C)
(minimum setpoint), then the control algorithm Time(s) 00:37 01:01 01:23 01:49
compute the command and an appropriate signal is This thermal inertia depends on several factors,
sent to Arduino that will connect the resistor via the such as: the distance between the sensor and the
relay module to increase the temperature. At the same thermal resistance, the volume of the enclosure, the
time, the red LED will turn on to indicate that the operating time of the resistance, its thermal power.
heating process is being carried out in the
enclosure.After bringing the temperature between the A secondary fan is used and in the following two
two previously set limits, both the actuators and the examples that are presented starting from different
LEDs listed above will turn off and the green LED steady states.
will light up, indicating a moderate temperature. a) Example 1 (Figure 16):
Starting temperature: 27 °C;
D. Experimental results. Cooling and heating on
manual mode Exterior radiator temperature before start: 28 °C;
1) Manual mode cooling: Ambient temperature: 27.3 °C;
The following experiment presented in Table I and
Table II has 30 °C as start temperature. The average Setpoint temperature: 25 °C;
outside temperature of the radiator is 34.04 °C. Heat exchanger temperature: 35 °C;
Cooling time: 01:59 minutes.
TABLE I. TEMPERATURE ADJUSTED BY USING SECONDARY
FAN

Set temperature Time Temperature on the

(°C) (s) outside heatsink(°C)
30 00:00 34.2
29 01:22 35.4
28 02:14 35.6
27 03.06 35.2
26 03:57 34.8

TABLE II. TEMPERATURE ADJUSTED WITHOUT USING

SECONDARY FAN
Figure 16. Temperature set from 27 °C to 25 °C with the
Set temperature Time Temperature on the outside secondary fan turned on.
(°C) (s) heatsink(°C)
30 00:00 34.3 The system reached 25 °C with one minute
29 02:10 42.4
28 03:00 45.2
transient time.
27 03.58 47.7
 Design and Implementation of a Temperature Control System 11

b) Example 2 (Figure 17): that temperature after 2 minutes and 48 seconds after
Starting temperature: 31 °C; the Peltier element has started manually.

Exterior radiator temperature before start: 32.4 °C; The outside radiator temperature after reaching the
temperature of 27 °C is 36.2 °C, at 26 °C the
Ambient temperature: 28.2 °C; temperature on the radiator reaches 40.4 °C and when
the room temperature stabilizes at 25 °C, value of 43.6
Setpoint temperature: 26 °C;
°C on the outside heat sink.
Heat exchanger temperature at 26 °C: 35.1 °C;
d) Example 4 (Figure 19):
Cooling time: 03:02 minutes. Starting temperature: 30 °C;
Exterior radiator temperature before start: 31.8 °C;
Ambient temperature: 28 °C;
Setpoint temperature: 25 °C;
External radiator temperature: 47.1 °C;
Cooling time: 04:00 minutes.

Figure 17. Temperature set from 31 °C to 26 °C with the secondary

fan turned on.

The system reached a temperature of 29 °C after 1

minute and 10 seconds, the outdoor heat sink showing
a value 1 degree greater than 70 seconds ago when the
element was started manually. After 40 seconds the
temperature dropped to 28 °C and the outside radiator
has a value just 0.4 degrees more than 40 seconds ago.
Figure 19. Temperature set from 30 °C to 25 °C with the secondary
The system reaches the setpoint temperature of 26 fan off.
°C within 3 minutes. The total temperature reduction
time of 31 °C to 26 °C is 3 minutes after the Peltier In the above example the temperature is controlled
element starts up manually. with thermal resistance.
The following two experiments were done with e) Example 5 (Figure 20):
secondary fan off: Starting temperature: 25 °C;
c) Example 3 (Figure 18): Ambient temperature: 28 °C;
Starting temperature: 28 °C; Setpoint temperature: minimum 26 °C;
Exterior radiator temperature at start: 29 °C; The resistance was manually disconnected after the
Ambient temperature: 27 °C; temperature rose from 25 °C to 26 °C, but due to
thermal inertia the temperature increased further in
Setpoint temperature: 25 °C; about 4 minutes by another 4 degrees.
Heat exchanger temperature: 43.4°C;
Cooling time: 2:48 minutes.

Figure 20. Temperature set from 25 °C to 26 °C by thermal

resistance.

The system reaches 26 °C after 24 seconds, the

Figure 18. Adjustable temperature from 28 °C to 25 °C with the
secondary fan off.
resistance is stopped but the temperature continues to
rise and reaches 27 °C in 44 seconds after the heating
The system reached a temperature of 27 °C after 1 element has stopped. Below, it can be seen that the
minute and 6 seconds. After 2 minutes it reached 26 temperature reached a maximum value of 30 °C in
°C. The system reaches the setpoint temperature of 25 about 3 minutes and 30 seconds after disconnecting
°C within 2 minutes and 45 seconds and it stabilizes at the heating element.
12 Mihai Tudor, Sanda Florentina Mihalache

spite of on off actuator. Moreover, the components

V. CONCLUSIONS can be replaced by some more performing ones, and
The implementation of this application implied a the transducer with a much higher measuring
careful study for the proper selection of the precision. So, the purpose of this project has been
thermoelectric module (hot source temperature, cold successfully accomplished and can be easily
source temperature, cooling power at the hot-water implemented and used in practice.
source, voltage and supply current).
The above system uses commercially available REFERENCES
Peltier mode. The selection of the modules took into [1] Cîrtoaje, V., Systems Theory – Elementary analysis in time
account the typical features, the reliability and the cost domain (in Romanian), Ed. Univ. Petrol-Gaze din Ploiești,
2015.
price of the modules. Thanks to this Peltier cooling
[2] Paraschiv, N., Rădulescu, G. Introduction in systems and
technology, operating costs are reduced by up to 90% computers science (in Romanian), Ed. MATRIX ROM,
compared to compressor technology together with Bucureşti, 310 pg., 2007.
saving space and quietly operating due to lack of [3] Băieșu A., Automatic control technique (in Romanian),
compressor and vibration. Editura MATRIX ROM, Bucuresti, 2012.
[4] Doicin B., Popescu M., Pătrăşcioiu C., PID Controller
Considering the purpose of the project mentioned Optimal Tuning, Proceedings of the International Conference
in the introduction of the documentation, we can state on ELECTRONICS, COMPUTERS and ARTIFICIAL
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has been physically achieved and can be used both for 49 – P-52.
educational purposes to simulate the behavior of an [5] www.robofun.ro Arduino for beginners (in Romanian).
control system and the study of its structure, as well as [6] Mihon L., Thermo electrical cooling systems (in Romanian),
in more complex processes, such as controlling and Termotehnica, 1-2, pp 68-73, Universitatea Politehnica,
Timisoara 2004.
measuring the temperature in a room or any another
industrial application that requires temperature control [7] www.optimusdigital.ro
without human intervention. [8] www.ni.com Introduction to LABVIEW

This project can be improved by using a PWM

control signal that allows PID control algorithm in