The interest in fractional-order (FO) control can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. The growing tendency towards using fractional-order proportional-integral-derivative (FOPID) control has been fueled mainly by the fact that these controllers have additional “tuning knobs” that allow coherent adjustment of the dynamics of control systems. For instance, in certain cases, the capacity for additional frequency response shaping gives rise to the generation of control laws that lead to superior performance of control loops. These fractional-order control laws may allow fulfilling intricate control performance requirements that are otherwise not in the span of conventional integer-order control systems. However, there are underpinning points that are rarely addressed in the literature: (1) What are the particular advantages (in concrete figures) of FOPID controllers versus conventional, integer-order (IO) PID controllers in light of the complexities arising in the implementation of the former? (2) For real-time implementation of FOPID controllers, approximations are used that are indeed equivalent to high-order linear controllers. What, then, is the benefit of using FOPID controllers? Finally, (3) What advantages are to be had from having a near-ideal fractional-order behavior in control practice? In the present paper, we attempt to address these issues by reviewing a large portion of relevant publications in the fast-growing FO control literature, outline the milestones and drawbacks, and present future perspectives for industrialization of fractional-order control. Furthermore, we comment on FOPID controller tuning methods from the perspective of seeking globally optimal tuning parameter sets and how this approach can benefit designers of industrial FOPID control. We also review some CACSD (computer-aided control system design) software toolboxes used for the design and implementation of FOPID controllers. Finally, we draw conclusions and formulate suggestions for future research.

This study deals with the design of fractional-order proportional–integral–differential (PID) controllers. Two design techniques are presented for tuning the parameters of the controller. The first method uses the idea of the Ziegler–Nichols and the Åström–Hägglund methods. In order to achieve required performances, two non-linear equations are derived and solved to obtain the fractional orders of the integral term and the derivative term of the fractional-order PID controller. Then, an optimisation strategy is applied to obtain new values of the controller parameters, which give improved step response. The second method is related with the robust fractional-order PID controllers. A design procedure is given using the Bode envelopes of the control systems with parametric uncertainty. Five non-linear equations are derived using the worst-case values obtained from the Bode envelopes. Robust fractional-order PID controller is designed from the solution of these equations. Simulation examples are provided to show the benefits of the methods presented.