Application of Differential Evolution in system identification of a servo-hydraulic system with a flexible load

Electro Hydraulic Servo Systems (EHSS) are commonly used in industry. The systems are non-linear in nature and their dynamic equations have several unknown parameters. System identification is a prerequisite to analysis of a dynamic system. One of the most promising novel evolutionary algorithms for solving global optimization problems is the Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm. The DE algorithm is proposed for handling non-linear constraint functions with boundary limits of variables to find the best values for the unknown parameters of a servo-hydraulic system with a flexible load. The DE algorithm guarantees fast speed convergence and accurate solutions regardless of the initial conditions of parameters. Several tests are carried out to validate the accuracy of selected unknown parameters. The results indicate good agreements between the related simulated and measured states.