LabVIEW based Real Time Implementation of Fractional Order PID Controller for a Magnetic Levitation System

Fractional Order (FO) PID controller is a general- isation of traditional Integer Order (IO) PID controller using fractional calculus. Compared to IOPID controller, the tuning of FOPID controller is more complex and poses several challenges particularly during real time implementation. In this paper the tuning and design of FOPID controller based on design specifications (phase margin, gain cross over frequency and robustness to variation in the gain) is proposed. The controllers designed in this paper are applied in real time to a Maglev system which is a benchmark system with fast dynamics. The overall control performance, disturbance rejection property and trajectory tracking ability of the system using the proposed controller is validated through experimentation in LabVIEW. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of FOPID controller over the Traditional IO PID controller.