Fractional order controller development and investigation

Abstract

The concept of fractional calculus is developing to a state where it can be applied into the field of engineering. One of such application would be the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. This report aims to find out if fractional-order (FO) PID controller provides better performance over the standard industrial PID controller. A series of test will be performed on different type of plant, and they are conducted in MATLAB/Simulink where numerical computation can be done with ease. Through the test, FO-PID and integer-order (IO) PID will be optimally tuned, and their performance will be analysed using step-response. It was concluded that FO-PID controller outperformed IO-PID controller as it gave the best transient response, produced the most accurate steady-state output and had better robustness against imperfection in the plant. As such, implementation of FO-PID controller in the field of control industry was recommended.