On-line genetic design of anti-windup unstructured controllers for electric drives with variable load

In this paper, we describe an evolutionary design procedure for discrete-time anti-windup controller for electrical drives. Using a genetic algorithm devised to test and compare controllers of different orders, we search for the discrete anti-windup controller achieving the optimal compromise of weighted cost and performance indices. The search is performed on-line, on the physical hardware, by continuously downloading and testing new solutions on a microprocessor running the control algorithms in real time. The controller obtained through genetic search significantly outperforms alternative schemes obtained with conventional design techniques.