Optimal design of robust resilient automatic voltage regulators

Abstract

Uncertainties in the plant model parameters and perturbations in the controller gains imposed by implementation errors represent a challenge to ensure robust stability and controller non-fragility simultaneously. Optimal design of robust non-fragile proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller is presented for an automatic voltage regulator (AVR). The PID design relies basically on Kharitonov theorem and optimization by future search algorithm (FSA). The proposed algorithm has low computational complexity and fast convergence rate because it utilizes both local and global search methods. Further, FSA can improve the exploration characteristic and prevent trapping in local optima by updating its random initial. The PID controller is optimized by FSA to cope with expected parametric uncertainties of the plant model and tolerate its gain perturbations such that robust stability and controller non-fragility are simultaneously met. An interval plant model is suggested to account for model uncertainties where only eight extreme plants derived by Kharitonov theorem are considered in design. FSA-based PID optimization is constrained by the stability conditions of Kharitonov’s plants derived using Routh–Hurwitz. A new figure-of-demerit (FoD) based performance index is suggested to enforce simultaneous minimization of the time domain specifications. The suggested objective function is represented by a weighted sum of FoD of nominal response and the sum of reciprocals of the perturbation radii of PID gains. The output results of the recommended design are compared to that of artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm and teaching–learning based optimization (TLBO) algorithm, multi-objective extremal optimization (MOEO), and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA II). The results can confirm better response of the suggested technique measured up to other techniques where robustness and non-fragility are simultaneously ensured.