Optimal PID control of Magnetic Levitation System using Genetic Algorithm

Due to its inherent nonlinearities and highly unstable nature with many practical applications i.e. high speed train, frictionless bearings, levitated wind tunnel etc., the Magnetic Levitation System (MLS) is considered as a good test-bench for design and analysis of control systems. This paper presents the design of PID controller for MLS based on an efficient method of tuning controller parameters using Genetic Algorithm (GA). PID controller was designed for MLS. In order to achieve the optimal performance indices, controller parameters were tuned using GA. Performance of the proposed controller was analysed and results are presented in comparison to the conventional PID tuning method i.e., Ziegler Nichols (Z-N). Simulation results showed that performance of PID controller tuned using GA were better than the conventionally tuned PID controller.