Principles of 2-sliding mode design

Second-order sliding modes are used to keep exactly a constraint of the second relative degree or just to avoid chattering, i.e. in the cases when the standard (first order) sliding mode implementation might be involved or impossible. Design of a number of new 2-sliding controllers is demonstrated by means of the proposed homogeneity-based approach. A recently developed robust exact differentiator being applied, robust output-feedback controllers with finite-time convergence are produced, capable to control any general uncertain single-input-single-output process with relative degree 2. An effective simple procedure is developed to attenuate the 1-sliding mode chattering. Simulation of new controllers is presented.     

Sliding mode control design based on Ackermann's formula

The sliding mode control methods are developed to design systems which have the desired dynamic behavior and are robust with respect to perturbations. It is shown that the discontinuity plane for sliding mode control may be found in an explicit form using Ackermann's formula. Two design procedures are derived. First, static controllers are designed to enforce sliding modes with the desired dynamic properties after a finite-time interval. Then, dynamic controllers are designed that exhibit the desired dynamic properties during the entire control process     

Robust finite-time containment control for high-order multi-agent systems with matched uncertainties under directed communication graphs

In this paper, we study the robust finite-time containment control problem for a class of high-order uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems modelled as high-order integrator systems with bounded matched uncertainties. When relative state information between neighbouring agents is available, an observer-based distributed controller is proposed for each follower using the sliding mode control technique which solves the finite-time containment control problem under general directed communication graphs. When only relative output information is available, robust exact differentiators and high-order sliding-mode controllers are employed together with the distributed finite-time observers. It is shown that robust finite-time containment control can still be achieved in this situation. An application in the coordination of multiple non-holonomic mobile robots is used as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategies.     

A survey of applications of second-order sliding mode control to mechanical systems

The effective application of sliding mode control to mechanical systems is not straightforward because of the sensitivity of these systems to chattering. Higher-order sliding modes can counteract this phenomenon by confining the switching control to the higher derivatives of the mechanical control variable, so that the latter results are continuous. Generally, this approach requires the availability of a number of time derivatives of the sliding variable, and, in the presence of noise, this requirement could be a practical limitation. A class of second-order sliding mode controllers, guaranteeing finite-time convergence for systems with relative degree two between the sliding variable and the switching control, could be helpful both in reducing the number of differentiator stages in the controller and in dealing with unmodelled actuator dynamics. In this paper different second-order sliding mode controllers, previously presented in the literature, are shown to belong to the above cited class, and some challenging control problems involving mechanical systems are addressed and solved. Simulations and experimental results are provided throughout the paper.     

UNIVERSAL OUTPUT‐FEEDBACK SISO CONTROLLERS

It is proved in the paper that practically all known higher‐order sliding controllers can be combined with recently developed 2‐sliding‐mode‐based differentiators yielding universal output‐feedback Single‐Input‐Single‐Output (SISO) controllers. These controllers can be applied at least locally, whenever the system relative degree is known. The convergence is global, provided the system relative degree is permanent and few boundedness restrictions hold. No detailed mathematical model of the system is needed. The proposed output‐feedback controller provides for the exact finite‐time‐convergent output tracking of real‐time‐given smooth signals if the output measurements are exact. Otherwise the tracking accuracy is proportional to the magnitude of the sampling noise. The control may be made arbitrarily smooth, thereby removing the chattering effect. The theoretical results are illustrated by computer simulation.     

Higher Order Sliding Mode Controllers With Optimal Reaching

Higher order sliding mode (HOSM) control design is considered for systems with a known permanent relative degree. In this paper, we introduce the robust Fuller's problem that is a robust generalization of the Fuller's problem, a standard optimal control problem for a chain of integrators with bounded control. By solving the robust Fuller's problem it is possible to obtain feedback laws that are HOSM algorithms of generic order and, in addition, provide optimal finite-time reaching of the sliding manifold. A common difficulty in the use of existing HOSM algorithms is the tuning of design parameters: our methodology proves useful for the tuning of HOSM controller parameters in order to assure desired performances and prevent instabilities. The convergence and stability properties of the proposed family of controllers are theoretically analyzed. Simulation evidence demonstrates their effectiveness.     

Second Order Sliding Mode Control for Robot Arms with Time Base Generators for Finite-Time Tracking

A novel chattering-free dynamic sliding mode controller for a class of uncertain mechanical systems is proposed in order to account globally for a time-varying sliding regime for all time and for any initial condition. The new sliding surface, parametrized by a time base generator, plays the role of moving, and rotating continuously the nominal sliding surface, while shifting is done through a known, state-independent, vanishing vector to eliminate the reaching phase for any initial condition, a weaker assumption in comparison to some moving sliding surface designs. In this way, the closed-loop system yields finite-time convergence of tracking errors, whose convergence time can be fixed independently of initial conditions, in contrast to terminal sliding mode wherein convergence time depends on initial conditions. To implement the controller, the upper bound of the derivative of the sliding surface is required, a weaker assumption in contrast to some dynamic sliding mode controllers. The performance of the closed-loop system is visualized through simulation.     

Homogeneity approach to high-order sliding mode design

It is shown that a general uncertain single-input-single-output regulation problem is solvable only by means of discontinuous control laws, giving rise to the so-called high-order sliding modes. The homogeneity properties of the corresponding controllers yield a number of practically important features. In particular, finite-time convergence is proved, and asymptotic accuracy is calculated in a very general way in the presence of input noises, discrete measurements and switching delays. A robust homogeneous differentiator is included in the control structure thus yielding robust output-feedback controllers with finite-time convergence. It is demonstrated that homogeneity features significantly simplify the design and investigation of a new family of high-order sliding-mode controllers. Finally, simulation results are presented.     

Finite-time control of underactuated spacecraft hovering

Finite-time controllers are proposed in this paper for underactuated spacecraft hovering in the absence of the radial or in-track thrust. The indirect method, which is generally adopted to solve the singularity problem in the conventional terminal sliding mode, is modified to ensure the continuity of the high-order time derivative of the sliding surface at the switch points. Rigorous proofs via the Lyapunov-based approaches verify the finite-time stability of the closed-loop system. By comparisons with the asymptotic controllers, the advantages of the finite-time ones in faster convergence rate and enhanced control precision have also been substantiated.     

Reduced‐order design of high‐order sliding mode control system

To design an rth (r>2) order sliding mode control system, a sliding variable and its derivatives of up to (r ? 1) are in general required for the control implementation. This paper proposes a reduced‐order design algorithm using only the sliding variable and its derivatives of up to (r ? 2) as the extension of the second‐order asymptotic sliding mode control. For a linear time‐invariant continuous‐time system with disturbances, it is found that a high‐order sliding mode can be reached locally and asymptotically by a reduced‐order sliding mode control law if the sum of the system poles is less than the sum of the system zeros. The robust stability of the reduced‐order high‐order sliding mode control system, including the convergence to the high‐order sliding mode and the convergence to the origin is proved by two Lyapunov functions. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.