Soft-Computing Control of Ball and Beam System

This article derives a mathematical model and compares different soft-computing techniques for control of a highly dynamic ball and beam system. The techniques which were incorporated for control of proposed system were fuzzy logic, proportional-integral-derivative (PID), adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and neural networks. Initially, a fuzzy controller has been developed using seven gaussian shape membership functions. The article illustrates briefly both learning ability and parameter estimation properties of ANFIS and neural controllers. The results of PID controller were collected and used for training of ANFIS and Neural controllers. A Matlab simulink model of a ball and beam system has been derived for simulating and comparing different controllers. The performances of controllers were measured and compared in terms of settling time and steady state error. Simulation results proved the superiority of ANFIS over other control techniques.