A big bang-big crunch optimization based approach for interval type-2 fuzzy PID controller design

In this paper, we will present a big bang-big crunch optimization (BB-BC) based approach for the design of an interval type-2 fuzzy PID controller. The implemented global optimization algorithm has a low computational cost and a high convergence speed. As a consequence, the BB-BC method is a very efficient search algorithm when the number of the optimization parameters is relatively big. The optimized type-2 fuzzy controller is compared with PID and type-1 fuzzy PID controllers which were optimized with either the BB-BC optimization method or conventional design strategies. The paper will also show the effect the extra degrees of freedom provided by the antecedent interval type-2 fuzzy sets on the closed loop system performance. We will present a comparative study performed on the highly nonlinear cascaded tank process to show the superiority of the optimized interval type-2 fuzzy PID controller compared to its optimized PID, type-1 counterparts.