PSO and GA tuned conventional and fractional order PID controllers for quadrotor control

Purpose - This study aims to compare the performance of the conventional and fractional order proportional-integral-derivative (PID and FOPID) controllers tuned with a particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) for quadrotor control. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, the gains of the controllers were tuned using PSO and GA, which are included in the heuristic optimization methods. The tuning processes of the controller's gains were formulated as optimization problems. While generating the objective functions (cost functions), four different decision criteria were considered separately: integrated summation error (ISE), integrated absolute error, integrated time absolute error and integrated time summation error (ITSE). Findings - According to the simulation results and comparison tables that were created, FOPID controllers tuned with PSO performed better performances than PID controllers. In addition, the ITSE criterion returned better results in control of all axes except for altitude control when compared to the other cost functions. In the control of altitude with the PID controller, the ISE criterion showed better performance. Originality/value - While a conventional PID controller has three parameters (Kp, Ki, Kd) that need to be tuned, FOPID controllers have two additional parameters (mu). The inclusion of these two extra parameters means more flexibility in the controller design but much more complexity for parameter tuning. This study reveals the potential and effectiveness of PSO and GA in tuning the controller despite the increased number of parameters and complexity.

Automated summary

The study compares the performance of conventional and fractional order PID and FOPID controllers tuned with PSO and GA for quadrotor control. Results show that FOPID controllers tuned with PSO outperformed PID controllers, with the ITSE criterion showing better results for controlling all axes except altitude, where the ISE criterion was more effective with the PID controller.