Enhanced dynamic performance in DC-DC converter-PMDC motor combination through an intelligent non-linear adaptive control scheme

A novel neuro-adaptive control scheme is proposed in the context of angular velocity tracking in DC-DC buck converter driven permanent magnet DC motor system. The controller builds upon the idea of backstepping and consists of a fast single hidden layer Hermite neural network (HNN) module equipped with on-board (adaptive) learning to counteract the unknown non-linear time-varying load torque and to ensure nominal tracking performance. The HNN has a simple structure and exhibits promising speed and accuracy in estimating dynamic variations in the unknown load torque apart from being computationally efficient. The proposed method guarantees a rapid recovery of nominal angular velocity tracking under parametric and non-parametric uncertainties. In order to verify the performance of the proposed neuro-adaptive speed controller, extensive experimentation has been conducted in the laboratory under various real-time scenarios. Results are obtained for start-up, time-varying angular velocity tracking and under the influence of highly non-linear unknown load torque. The performance metrics such as peak undershoot/overshoot and settling time are computed to quantify the transient response behaviour. The results clearly substantiate theoretical propositions and demonstrate an enhanced dynamic speed tracking under a wide operating regime, thus confirming the suitability of proposed method for fast industrial applications.