Auto Tuning of PID Controller Using Swarm Intelligence

A control system is a device or set of devices used to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices to provide desired system response. PID controllers are the most popular controllers because of their effectiveness, simplicity of implementation and broad applicability. However, PID controller tuning is considered as an obstacle towards having an efficient and stable control system, where most of the PID controllers in practice are tuned by traditional techniques or by manual tuning which are difficult and time consuming. This paper presents a study for the methodology and application of Swarm intelligence for the tuning of the PID controllers compared to two other methods, first one is the traditional tuning method presented by Ziegler Nichols method, and second one is the random search method. Four case studies are included to emphasize the effectiveness of tuning using swarm. Simulation results showed that the PID controller, tuned by PSO method, provides accurately the desired closed loop dynamics (overshoot, rise time, settling time, and steady state error). So, PSO method could be considered as an effective and reliable auto tuning method for the PID controllers. Copyright © 2011 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. All rights reserved.