Performance of Neural Network Based Controllers and ΔΣ-Based PID Controllers for Networked Control Systems: A Comparative Investigation

During the past decade, networked control systems (NCS) has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional control systems due to various advantages it offers which include a reduction in system wiring, increase of system agility etc. However, the performance of various existing controllers such as PID degrades in the networked environment due to the existence of random time-varying delay, packet-dropouts which may cause instability. The present study designs a neural network (NN) based controller for NCS and investigates its performance under random time-varying delay, packet-dropouts. The performance of this controller is compared with both the classical PID and ΔΣ-based PID controllers. The robustness of the NN based controllers in the networked environment is studied under different degree of parametric uncertainties considering an example of a DC servo mechanism. The results of the comparative investigation demonstrate that the performance of the NN based controller is superior compared to other controllers.