  This paper proposes the application of fractional-order PID (FOPID)
controller for output voltage control of boost converters. For this purpose,
parameters of the FOPID controller are calculated such that the Integral
Absolute Error (IAE) of the variations of the output voltage is minimized.
Since the search space is very large in dealing with such an optimization
problem, the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm is used for optimal tuning
the parameters of the FOPID controller. Simulations, which are performed by
using the complete non-minimum phase model of the boost converter, confirm the
fact that the proposed optimal FOPID controller can improve the transient
response of the feedback system by using a considerably smaller control effort
(i.e., less on-off switches) compared to the optimal PID controller. Moreover,
it is shown that the proposed FOPID controller enhances the robustness of the
boost converter to variations in the input voltage.
