A comparison between fuzzy, fractional-, and integer-order controllers for small satellites attitude control

The design of an optimal and robust controller is critical for any application subjected to time delays between the start of an event at one point in a system and its resulting action at another point. This paper discusses and compares three different controllers, namely fuzzy, fractional-order and integer-order proportional integral derivative (FPID, IPID) controllers for the purpose of small satellites attitude control. This paper introduces the background knowledge related to the three different controllers. The second one evaluates their performance based on their ability to provide an optimal attitude control scheme for small satellites. The controllers are evaluated in the time-domain based on different performance measures (e.g., overshoot, transient response, and steady-state error). Simulation results illustrate the superiority of FPID over IPID and fuzzy controllers for this specific application and reinforces the power of fractional calculus in dealing with nonlinear systems.