This paper presents an application of a novel optimization method called Artificial Ecosystem-Based Optimization (AEO) to determine the optimal design parameters of the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for an automatic voltage regulator (AVR) system. Unlike the previous studies presented in the literature, the proposed method takes into account the excitation voltage limit and therefore formulates a new objective function for optimal PID parameters design. The practical aspect of the proposed constraint is significant since the generator field winding can be seriously damaged in case of the large excitation voltage. The performance of the proposed controller using the solution methodology proposed in this study and its contribution to the robustness of the control system are investigated. Further, the obtained PID parameters are used to simulate the AVR dynamics for a large step change in the generator’s voltage set-point. Besides, the obtained step responses have been compared with the corresponding responses of the AVR system whose PID parameters are determined by using well-known methods presented in the literature. Also, the proposed AEO-PID controller shows superior performances in the case of uncertainties in the AVR system’s parameters, as well as in the presence of the different disturbances in the system. The results obtained show that the obtained parameters provided a more secure and stable machine operation even with changes of the reference, generator, or excitation voltage signals compared with the performance of the controllers obtained by the previous works presented in the literature. Furthermore, AEO has proven its ability to get optimal solutions in a fast and efficient manner in terms of accuracy and time spent per iteration.

本文介绍了一种称为基于人工生态系统的优化（AEO）的新型优化方法的应用，该方法可用于确定自动电压调节器（AVR）系统的比例积分微分（PID）控制器的最佳设计参数。与文献中先前的研究不同，所提出的方法考虑了激励电压极限，因此制定了用于优化PID参数设计的新目标函数。所提出的约束的实际方面是重要的，因为在励磁电压大的情况下发电机励磁绕组会受到严重损坏。研究了使用本研究中提出的解决方法的控制器的性能及其对控制系统鲁棒性的贡献。进一步，所获得的PID参数用于模拟发电机电压设定点较大阶跃变化时的AVR动态。此外，将获得的阶跃响应与AVR系统的相应响应进行了比较，该系统的PID参数是通过文献中介绍的众所周知的方法确定的。同样，在AVR系统参数不确定以及系统中存在不同干扰的情况下，建议的AEO-PID控制器也具有出色的性能。获得的结果表明，与参考文献中以前的工作所获得的控制器的性能相比，即使参考电压，发电机电压或励磁电压信号发生了变化，所获得的参数也可以提供更安全，稳定的机器操作。此外，