Incorporating adaptive local search and experience-based perturbed learning into artificial rabbits optimizer for improved DC motor speed regulation

The widespread utilization of direct current (DC) motors in real-life engineering applications has led to the need for precise speed control, making controllers a crucial aspect of DC motor systems. Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers have been widely adopted due to their simplicity and effectiveness. However, recent advancements have introduced fractional order PID (FOPID) controllers that offer improved control performance for complex systems with nonlinear dynamics. To fully leverage FOPID controller’s benefits, an efficient tuning method is essential. In this study, we propose artificial rabbits optimization (ARO) algorithm with enhanced strategies, called IARO, to optimize the FOPID controller for DC motor speed regulation. The IARO algorithm incorporates an adaptive local search (ALS) mechanism and an experience-based perturbed learning (EPL) strategy, addressing the shortcomings of ARO and providing better exploration–exploitation balance. We validate the superiority of IARO over competitive algorithms on the CEC2020 benchmark functions, showcasing improved solution stability and consistency. The IARO algorithm is then applied to tune the FOPID controller for DC motor speed regulation. The problem is formulated as a constraint minimization task, optimizing the integral of time-weighted absolute error cost function while adhering to critical design requirements. Comparative simulations demonstrate the IARO algorithm’s ability to achieve superior cost function values and faster convergence compared to other algorithms' based FOPID controllers. The IARO-based FOPID controller exhibits enhanced stability, smoother speed response, larger gain margin, and wider bandwidth compared to other reported algorithms. Additionally, a hardware implementation is also conducted to further validate the practical applicability of IARO based design method. The IARO-based FOPID controller showed remarkable accuracy in tracking multi-step reference inputs and robustly rejected external disturbances, outperforming other recent optimization-based controllers. Additionally, the IARO-based PID controller achieved better performance in key time-domain metrics, including lower overshoot, faster rise time, shorter settling time, and minimized peak time.