Switched Fractional Order Model Reference Adaptive Control for an Automatic Voltage Regulator

Abstract

This paper presents the design and implementation of a Switched Fractional Order Model Reference Adaptive Controller (SFOMRAC) for an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). The fractional orders, adaptive gains and switching times of the controller adaptive laws are tuned offline, using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The functional to be optimized contains not only parameters of the AVR response but also the control energy. The obtained controllers are compared to non switched Integer Order Model Reference Adaptive Controller (IOMRAC) and non switched Fractional Order Model Reference Adaptive Controller (FOMRAC) proposed previously for this process, showing that the SFOMRAC can improve both, the system response and the control energy used.