Patent ID: 8814132

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for reducing one of an application of power and force to an actuator having an actual variable and a setpoint variable, the method comprising: first ascertaining, with a controller having a processor, an intermediary variable from the setpoint variable and the actual variable; determining, with a measuring device and the controller, a status of the actual variable of the actuator and a status of the setpoint variable; generating, with the controller, a correcting quantity if the actual variable of the actuator and the setpoint variable are determined substantially constant; in a steady-state condition of regulation, applying, with the controller, to the intermediary variable, the correcting quantity to form a manipulated variable, wherein only values of the correcting quantity, which change the intermediary variable to produce a manipulated variable that is less than a predetermined amount, are allowed, wherein the predetermined amount is selected such that the formed manipulated variable stays within a range within which no change of the actual variable of the actuator occurs, and wherein the correcting quantity is determined based on one of (i) a characteristic map of the intermediary variable and the actual variable, (ii) a function of the intermediary variable and the actual variable, and (iii) a constant value for the correcting quantity; and supplying the manipulated variable to an input of the actuator, wherein a change in the actual variable occurs upon the manipulated variable being above the predetermined amount; wherein the controller is connected to a valve via the measuring device to receive the actual variable, and is connected to an output stage, which is connected to the actuator, which is connected to the valve to actuate the valve, the controller also having an input to receive the setpoint variable.