PID controller based on flower pollination algorithm of flexible beam system

Abstract

Flexible beam is commonly used in a wide variety of engineering applications such as mechanical, aircraft and architecture. One of the advantages of these flexible structures is its lighter as compared to rigid structures. However, flexible structures are more sensitive to vibration compared to rigid structures. Excessive long term vibration can damage parts and reduce the performance of such structures. Therefore, a suitable system should be identified to overcome the problem. In the new era of technology, there are many methods developed to suppress unwanted vibration. One well-known system to suppress unwanted vibration is active vibration control (AVC). This system is suitable for structures experiencing low frequency of vibration. A proper modelling must be developed using system identification techniques in order to achieve high vibration cancellation in the system. For system identification, evolutionary swarm algorithm is the latest technique used compared to other methods. In this study, flower pollination algorithms (FPA) was used to develop a mathematical model of a system. The main objective of this study was to develop a model for flexible beam system using FPA in order to achieve an approximate model that represents the real characteristic of the flexible beam system. The developed model will then be used as a platform for PID controller development. The model was validated using three robustness methods, which are the mean squared error (MSE), correlation test, and pole zero diagram stability. Based on the validation, it was observed that the FPA was able to exhibit the lowest MSE value, very good correlation test and high stability. The model achieved in this study was used in controller development for vibration cancellation of a flexible beam system. It was noticed that the PID controller achieved 17.7 dB of attenuation level at the first mode of vibration. The attenuation of vibration was reduced from 56.72 to 39.03 dB, which is equivalent to 31.2% of reduction when the vibration control is active.