Robust control of systems with fuzzy representation of uncertainties

In this paper, an approach is proposed to design robust controllers for uncertain systems with the linguistic uncertainties represented by fuzzy sets. With a provided technique, the fuzzy sets are best approximated by intervals (crisp sets). Then the Kharitonov’s theorem is applied to construct a robust PID controller for the uncertain plant with time-invariant uncertainties represented by interval models. Also, for the uncertain system with linguistic values of the time-varying uncertainties best approximated by intervals (which are bounded), a robust sliding mode controller is developed to stabilize the uncertain system if the sliding coefficient conditions are satisfied. Moreover, the best approximation intervals are shown to be more related to the possibility distribution of the elements in the universes of discourse of fuzzy sets than the type of membership functions used for fuzzy sets. Examples and simulation results are included to indicate the design approach and the effectiveness of the proposed robust controller.