Optimal tuning of fractional order PID controller for AVR system using simulated annealing optimization algorithm

Designing of an effective and an efficient Fractional Order Proportional-Integral-Derivative (FOPID) controller, as a generalization of a conventional PID controller based on fractional order calculus, for an industrial control plant to obtain high-quality performances is of great theoretical and practical significance. This paper presents a new method for optimum tuning of practical FOPID controllers for Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) system. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem in which a cost function is proposed as a sum of weighted time domain performance parameters. A Simulated Annealing (SA) meta-heuristic algorithm is used to minimize the proposed cost function. Comparing this technique with previous recent published works demonstrates that the proposed FOPID controller can provide good control performance with respect to reference input and improve the system robustness with respect to model uncertainties.