Today, there is a great tendency toward using fractional calculus to solve engineering problems. The control is one of the fields in which fractional calculus has attracted a lot of attention. On the one hand, fractional order dynamic models simulate characteristics of real dynamic systems better than integer order models. On the other hand, Fractional Order (FO) controllers outperform Integer Order (IO) controllers in many cases. FO-controllers have been studied in both time an frequency domain. The latter one is the fundamental tool for industry to design FO-controllers. The scope of this paper is to review research which has been carried out on FO-controllers in the frequency domain. In this review paper, the concept of fractional calculus and their applications in the control problems are introduced. In addition, basic definitions of the fractional order differentiation and integration are presented. Then, four common types of FO-controllers are briefly presented and after that their representative tuning methods are introduced. Furthermore, some useful continuous and discrete approximation methods of FO-controllers and their digital and analogue implementation methods are elaborated. Then, some Matlab toolboxes which facilitate utilizing FO calculus in the control field are presented. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of using FO calculus in the control area are discussed. To wrap up, this paper helps beginners to get started rapidly and learn how to select, tune, approximate, discretize, and implement FO-controllers in the frequency domain.@en

The control of robots that interact with the environment is an open area of research. Two applications that benefit from this study are: the control of the force exerted by a robot on an object, which allows the robot to perform complex tasks like assembly operations, and the control of collisions, which allows the robot safely collaborate with humans. Robot control is difficult in these cases because: (1) bouncing between free and constrained motion appears that may cause instability, (2) switching between free motion (position) controller and constrained motion (force) controller is required being the switching instants difficult to know and (3) robot control must be robust since the mechanical impedance of the environment is unknown. Robots with flexible links may alleviate these drawbacks. Previous research on flexible robots proved stability of a PD controller that fed back the motor position when contacting an unknown environment, but force control was not achieved. This paper proposes a control system that combines a fractional-order D tip position controller with a feedforward force control. It attains higher stability robustness and higher phase margin than a PD controller, which is the integer-order controller of similar complexity. This controller outperforms previous controllers: (1) it achieves force control with nearly zero steady state error, (2) this control is robust to uncertainties in the environment and motor friction, (3) it guarantees stability (like others) but it also guarantees a higher value of the phase margin, i.e., a higher damping, and a more efficient vibration cancellation, and (4) it effectively removes bouncing. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of this new controller.@en