Fuzzy reference gain scheduling control systems

This article presents an innovative combination of fuzzy control with gain-scheduling control, in which the shape of the membership functions change according to different operational conditions. In this kind of adaptive controller, the membership function parameters are a function of the reference, yielding an effective and flexible controller. This method can be implemented in processes which are nonlinear over a large range of values and whose parameters can vary in time. This approach has been applied in a highly non-linear thermal-vacuum process that presents time-delay, for which conventional controllers are not appropriate