Impact of fractional filter in PI control loop applied to induction motor speed drive

Abstract

Introduction. One of the main problems of electrical machine control systems is to obtain a satisfactory performance in the rejection of load disturbances, as well as in the set-point tracking tasks. Generally, the development of control algorithms does not take into account the presence of noise. Appropriate filtering is, therefore, essential to reduce the impact of noise on the output of the controller, in addition to the machine output. Recently, there has been a great tendency toward using fractional calculus to solve engineering problems. The filtering is one of the fields in which fractional calculus has received great attention. The importance of filters in signal processing and other engineering areas is unquestionable Novelty. The proposed work is intended to be a contribution in the recent works conducted on the influence of the fractional filtering on the control robustness of induction machines control. Purpose. The main contribution of this research is the application of fractional filtering to the standard PI control loop for an induction motor speed drive. Methods. In order to assess its impact and benefit, different structures for introducing the filters are investigated, A first order filter is considered in different positions, whether before or after the controller or even in both positions at the same time, with a noise source. A review of the index performance evolution (the Integral Square Error, Integral Absolute Error and Integral Time Absolute Error) has allowed a configuration design of the filter. Results. Intensive simulations were performed with a control setup using integer and fractional order filters, which permitted to conclude that the fractional filters give better performance indices compared to the integer one and thus improve the dynamic characteristics of the system.