Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Tracking Control of Uncertain Underactuated Nonlinear Systems: A Comparative Study

The trajectory tracking of underactuated nonlinear system with two degrees of freedom is tackled by an adaptive fuzzy hierarchical sliding mode controller. The proposed control law solves the problem of coupling using a hierarchical structure of the sliding surfaces and chattering by adopting different reaching laws. The unknown system functions are approximated by fuzzy logic systems and free parameters can be updated online by adaptive laws based on Lyapunov theory. Two comparative studies are made in this paper. The first comparison is between three different expressions of reaching laws to compare their abilities to reduce the chattering phenomenon. The second comparison is made between the proposed adaptive fuzzy hierarchical sliding mode controller and two other control laws which keep the coupling in the underactuated system. The tracking performances of each control law are evaluated. Simulation examples including different amplitudes of external disturbances are made.