Auto-tuning of FOPI Controllers for TITO Processes with Experimental Validation

In this paper, the auto-tuning of a fractional order proportional and integral(FOPI) controller is proposed and experimentally validated for two-input two-output(TITO) processes. The proposed method first identifies an unknown TITO plant into fractional order TITO model with time delay. Furthermore, decoupling the TITO process into two fractional order single-input single-output(SISO) transfer function models makes it easier for designing the decentralized FOPI controllers. The proposed control method is a generalization of both integer order and fractional order TITO systems depending on the value of the order of the model. One advantage of this method is the non-requirement of a-priori information of gain and phase crossover frequencies of the system while tuning the controllers. The proposed algorithm is validated both by simulation of a class of TITO process models as well as by experimental analysis of a coupled tank system(CTS).

Design of FOPI Controller for Time Delay Systems and Its Experimental Validation

In this paper,we report on the identification and modeling of unknown and higher order processes into first order plus dead time(FOPDT)plants based on the limit cycle information obtained from a single relay feedback test with an online fractional order proportional integral(FOPI)controller.The parameters of the test processes are accurately determined by the state space method while the FOPI controller settings are re-tuned to achieve enhanced performance based on the identified model parameters based on the balancedtuning method.A new performance index,integral time fractional order absolute error(ITFIAE)is introduced in this paper for balanced tuning of fractional order(FO)controllers.It requires minimum design specifications without a-priori knowledge of gain and phase crossover frequencies and is done non-iteratively without disrupting the closed loop.Four test processes and experimental analysis on a coupled tank system(CTS)validate the theory proposed.