Embedded Interval Type-2 Neuro-Fuzzy Speed Controller for Marine Diesel Engines

Marine diesel engines operate in highly dynamic and uncertain environments, hence they require robust and accurate speed controllers that can handle the uncertainties encountered in these environments. The current speed controllers for marine diesel engines are based on PID and type-1 Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLCs) which cannot fully handle the uncertainties encountered in such environments. Type-2 FLCs can handle such uncertainties to produce a better control performance. However, manually designing a type-2 FLC is a difficult task. In this paper, we will introduce an embedded type-2 NeuroFuzzy Controller (T2NFC) which learns the parameters of interval type-2 FLC to control marine diesel engines. We have performed numerous experiments on a real diesel engine testing platform in which the T2NFC operated on an industrial embedded controller and handled the uncertainties to produce an accurate and robust speed controller that outperformed the currently used commercial engine controller, even though we have trained the T2NFC with data collected from the commercial controller.