Neuro-Fuzzy Control of a Bidirectional DC-DC Converter Applied in the Powertrain of Electric Vehicles

Power converters are fundamental components in vehicle electrification systems. However, their inherently nonlinear and time-varying condition requires complex design procedures when conventional control strategies based on linear small-signal models are employed. This work proposes a simplified and hardware-oriented DC-DC converter control methodology that combines fuzzy logic and Neural Networks in a sequential manner. A fuzzy logic fuzzy controller is first used to generate a dataset of control actions under closed-loop operation. A lightweight neural network is then trained using the obtained data to approximate this mapping and subsequently replace the fuzzy controller in real-time operation. To validate the approach, a bidirectional buck–boost DC-DC converter is designed for applications in the powertrain of electric vehicles with 500 kHz switching frequency and 13 kW power rating. The control algorithm is embedded in an FPGA to demonstrate its suitability for hardware deployment. The experimental results show a reduction in RMSE of 33.7% and a decrease in the settling time of at least 51.7% when compared with a benchmark PID control.