What effect does increasing the PID proportional gain have on motor control?

Increasing the PID proportional gain primarily affects the responsiveness of the control system. As the proportional gain is increased, the system becomes more sensitive to the error between the desired setpoint and the actual position. This heightened sensitivity causes the system to react more forcefully, which can lead to a quicker correction of the error.

However, this can also result in more significant overshoot and oscillation. When the proportional gain is too high, the system may overshoot the target due to the aggressive approach to correcting the error. Once it overshoots, it may correct this with another aggressive response in the opposite direction, leading to repeated cycles of overshooting and undershooting. This behavior manifests as oscillations around the target value, making the system less stable.

Therefore, the relationship between increased proportional gain and the tendency to cause overshoot and oscillation is a fundamental characteristic of PID controllers, highlighting the balance that needs to be struck in tuning these parameters for optimal performance.