HOA-based PID controller design and performance analysis for doubly-fed induction generator wind turbines

In recent years, the demand for renewable energy sources in the energy market has increased. Among these sources, wind energy has a significant share. Due to its superior features, Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIG) are widely used in the wind turbine industry. This study focuses on the optimization of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller parameters in DFIG systems. Considering that maintaining stability, efficiency, and dynamic adaptability are critical in DFIG systems, appropriate tuning of PID control parameters is of great importance. In this context, a new optimization method based on the walking optimization algorithm (HOA) inspired by Tobler's walking function is proposed. With this method, the strengths of HOA are utilized to perform the optimization of PID control parameters and an approach that will increase system performance is developed. The proposed method is designed by integrating a modified Zwe-Lee Gaing (ZLG) objective function including penalty terms in order to address the basic control challenges. It is aimed to provide more balanced, efficient and stable operation of the system by considering critical control problems such as overshoot, settling time, control effort and sudden control signal changes. The proposed methodology provides a more reliable control mechanism under dynamic operating conditions by providing a solid balance between the transient and steady-state performance of the system. The PID controller optimized with HOA is compared with five different modern optimization methods such as starfish optimization algorithm, gray wolf optimization, dragonfly algorithm, flow direction algorithm and sine-cosine algorithm. In addition, statistical performance analysis, convergence curves, time response measurements and frequency response evaluations are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The ability of the controller to follow the input signals and its resistance to external disturbances are investigated in detail under dynamic operating conditions. Extensive comparative analyses with existing literature highlight the effectiveness of HOA and make it a promising optimization tool for advanced PID control in DFIG systems and other complex industrial applications. The advantages it provides in critical parameters such as zero overshoot, fast settling time, low error rate, improved stability and robustness prove that the algorithm offers a reliable and efficient solution in a wide range of engineering and industrial applications.