Optimum design of fractional order PIλDμ controller for AVR system using chaotic ant swarm

Fractional-order PID (FOPID) controller is a generalization of standard PID controller using fractional calculus. Compared to PID controller, the tuning of FOPID is more complex and remains a challenge problem. This paper focuses on the design of FOPID controller using chaotic ant swarm (CAS) optimization method. The tuning of FOPID controller is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem, in which the objective function is composed of overshoot, steady-state error, raising time and settling time. CAS algorithm, a newly developed evolutionary algorithm inspired by the chaotic behavior of individual ant and the self-organization of ant swarm, is used as the optimizer to search the best parameters of FOPID controller. The designed CAS-FOPID controller is applied to an automatic regulator voltage (AVR) system. Numerous numerical simulations and comparisons with other FOPID/PID controllers show that the CAS-FOPID controller can not only ensure good control performance with respect to reference input but also improve the system robustness with respect to model uncertainties. Crown Copyright 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.