An approach to the reduction of contact bounce using fuzzy control

When contacts close, any contactor bounce is undesirable since this causes arcing which shortens the life of the contacts. A method of reducing contactor bounce using fuzzy control is proposed. A model of a widely used contactor has been created for experimental purposes. This model is described. The proposed fuzzy controller takes as input the relative position and relative velocity of the contacts and provides as output a voltage which controls the rate of closing of the contacts. Experimental results are presented for the simulation of contact bounce with and without fuzzy control. It is demonstrated that, even with a relatively simple fuzzy rule base, bounce duration and number of bounces can be effectively reduced