Experimental study of neural linearizing control scheme using a radial basis function network

Experiment on a lab-scale pH process is carried out to evaluate the control performance of the neural linearizing control scheme(NLCS) using a radial basis function(RBF) network which was previously proposed by Kim and Park. NLCS was developed to overcome the difficulties of the conventional neural controllers which occur when they are applied to chemical processes. Since NLCS is applicable for the processes which are already controlled by a linear controller and of which the past operating data are enough, we first control the pH process with PI controller. Using the operating data with PI controller, the linear reference model is determined by optimization. Then, a IMC controller replaces the PI controller as a feedback controller. NLCS consists of the IMC controller and a RBF network. After the learning of the neural network is fully achieved, the dynamics of the process combined with the neural network becomes linear and close to that of the linear reference model and the control performance of the linear control improves. During the training, NLCS maintains the stability and the control performance of the closed loop system. Experimental results show that the NLCS performs better than PI controller and IMC for both the servo and the regulator problems.