Bridging Theory and Practice: A Model-Free Control Educational Experience on the EPC Trainer

This paper presents the implementation and experimental evaluation of a Model-Free PID controller applied to the EPC Educational Plant. The proposed approach does not require an explicit process model and relies solely on input-output data, simplifying tuning and improving robustness against disturbances and model uncertainties. The performance of the Model-Free PID is compared with that of a conventional PID controller under the same operating conditions. Results highlight the advantages of the Model-Free strategy in terms of ease of implementation, reduced sensitivity to process changes, and suitability for educational and cost-sensitive industrial environments.