Design of a Fuzzy Adaptive Sliding Mode Control System for MEMS Tunable Capacitors in Voltage Reference Applications

Abstract

MEMS Tunable Capacitors (TC) are major elements in AC Voltage Reference Sources (VRS). Physical parametric uncertainties, external electrostatic disturbance, and measurement noise malfunction their operation and ruin the preciseness of the VRS output voltage. Our objective problem is the design of a controller to cope with the mentioned parametric uncertainties, noise, and disturbance. Our applied method is the design and employment of a Proportional Integral (PI) Fuzzy Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller (FASMC). Both terms of matched and unmatched uncertainties as well as external disturbance and measurement noise are all addressed in this paper to generate a stable VRS output for the first time. Not only does the paper contribute to the employment of a FASMC to enhance robustness in the drive of the capacitor, but also it benefits the reduction of the chattering effect due to fuzzy regulation in the switching term of the control law. Moreover, the automatic fuzzy adjustment in the controller, which is used for estimation of the coefficients in the sliding surface error dynamical equation, facilitates the specification of those coefficients which can be time-consuming in simulation affairs. Clarifying the importance of the proposed fuzzy adaptive sliding mode controller, this paper reviews some previous controllers for MEMS TC in comparison with the proposed fuzzy controller, demonstrating its enhancement in comparison with previous schemes.