A novel fractional-order enhanced model reference adaptive controller (FOEMRAC) approach for magnetic end effectors.

In this work, the practical implementation of magnetic end effector is presented using magnetic levitation (Maglev) system as a working prototype, due to their similar functionality. Maglev refers to a method by which an object can be suspended with the aid of a magnetic field. The motive of this research is to propose a novel fractional-order enhanced model reference adaptive controller (FOEMRAC)-based approach for controlling the stability of the levitating magnetic objects. FOEMRAC uses modified MIT rule as the adaptation mechanism in this system. The stability analysis of Maglev system has been conducted using Matignon theorem. The simulation is carried out using Quanser Maglev system, and a comparative study is conducted with other existing state-of-the-art approaches. The integral error criterion including integral absolute error, integral square error, and integral time absolute error, and other performance metrics such as rise time, settling time, overshoot, and undershoot have been used to compare the robustness of the controllers under nominal, load disturbance, and parametric uncertain environments. Further, the results are verified on the hardware in real time which reveal that FOEMRAC shows efficient results than other controllers and thus can be used to enhance the performance of the magnetic end effector in real-time environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]