DC–DC buck converters are inherently nonlinear systems that often operate under dynamically changing conditions, parameter uncertainties, and external disturbances, posing significant challenges for conventional control strategies. This paper introduces a novel cascaded proportional–integral and proportional–derivative (PI–PD) controller architecture, in which all controller parameters are optimally tuned using the recently developed Electric Eel Foraging Optimizer (EEFO), a bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm modeled on the electrolocation and hunting behaviors of electric eels. The proposed control structure uniquely integrates a dual-loop configuration: the inner PI loop eliminates steady-state error, while the outer PD loop enhances dynamic response and mitigates rapid transient fluctuations. This cascaded arrangement enables decoupled tuning of steady-state and transient characteristics, offering superior control flexibility compared to conventional single-loop PID designs. To calibrate the controller, EEFO is employed to minimize a composite performance objective function that simultaneously considers settling time and overshoot, ensuring well-damped and rapid system behavior. A comprehensive set of simulation experiments was conducted in a MATLAB/Simulink environment to evaluate the proposed method against multiple benchmark algorithms—including the flood algorithm, gazelle optimization algorithm, and artificial hummingbird algorithm—as well as classical PID, PID acceleration (PIDA), and fractional-order PID (FOPID) controllers optimized by state-of-the-art metaheuristics. Across all key performance metrics—including rise time, settling time, percentage overshoot, peak time, and steady-state error—the EEFO-tuned cascaded PI–PD controller demonstrated consistently superior results, achieving near-zero overshoot, ultra-fast convergence, and minimal output deviation. Beyond nominal conditions, extensive robustness analyses were conducted to validate the controller’s effectiveness under realistic disturbances, such as abrupt load changes, high-frequency measurement noise, time-delay effects in feedback channels, and ±10%–15% parametric variations in inductance and capacitance. In all scenarios, the controller retained stable output regulation, confirming its resilience and practical viability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to deploy a cascaded PI–PD control structure specifically designed for DC–DC buck converters and optimized using the EEFO algorithm. The integration of a biologically inspired optimization framework with a decoupled dual-loop control scheme offers both architectural and algorithmic novelty. The proposed strategy addresses critical demands in nonlinear converter regulation and provides a robust, high-performance solution suitable for dynamic and uncertain power electronic environments.
İzci et al. (Thu,) studied this question.