Improved adaptive fuzzy backstepping control of a magnetic levitation system based on Symbiotic Organism Search

Magnetic levitation systems have become very important in many applications. Due to their instability and high nonlinearity, such systems pose a challenge to many researchers attempting to design high-performance and robust tracking control. This paper proposes an improved adaptive fuzzy backstepping control for systems with uncertain input nonlinear function (uncertain parameters and structure), and applies it to a magnetic levitation system, which is a typical representative of such systems. An adaptive fuzzy system is used to approximate unknown, partially known or uncertain input nonlinear functions of a magnetic levitation system. An adaptation law is obtained based on Ljapunov analysis in order to guarantee closed-loop stability and good tracking performance. Initial adaptive and control parameters have been initialized with Symbiotic Organism Search optimization algorithm, due to strong non-linearity and instability of the magnetic levitation system. The theoretical background of the proposed control method is verified with a simulation study and implementation on a laboratory experimental application. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.