A novel fractional order PID plus derivative (PIλDμDμ2) controller for AVR system using equilibrium optimizer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve transient response and dynamic performance of automatic voltage regulator (AVR). Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a novel fractional order proportional-integral-derivative plus derivative ((PIDD mu 2)-D-lambda-D-mu) controller called FOPIDD for AVR system. The FOPIDD controller has seven optimization parameters and the equilibrium optimizer algorithm is used for tuning of controller parameters. The utilized objective function is widely preferred in AVR systems and consists of transient response characteristics. Findings In this study, results of AVR system controlled by FOPIDD is compared with results of proportional-integral-derivative (PID), proportional-integral-derivative acceleration, PID plus second order derivative and fractional order PID controllers. FOPIDD outperforms compared controllers in terms of transient response criteria such as settling time, rise time and overshoot. Then, the frequency domain analysis is performed for the AVR system with FOPIDD controller, and the results are found satisfactory. In addition, robustness test is realized for evaluating performance of FOPIDD controller in perturbed system parameters. In robustness test, FOPIDD controller shows superior control performance. Originality/value The FOPIDD controller is introduced for the first time to improve the control performance of the AVR system. The proposed FOPIDD controller has shown superior performance on AVR systems because of having seven optimization parameters and being fractional order based.