Adaptive Sliding Mode Control of a Coupled Tank System

In this study, an adaptive sliding mode controller is designed to control liquid level on a single input single output coupled tank system. The dynamic model of the coupled tank system is explained and the conventional sliding mode control method is presented. One of the top challenging parts of the conventional sliding mode control design is defining the upper bound of the uncertainties on the system. An adaptive scheme can be used to overcome this problem. An adaptive sliding mode controller is proposed in this study to define the upper bound of the uncertainties on the coupled tank system. Both the conventional sliding mode control and the adaptive sliding mode control techniques are employed on a simulation comparatively. The simulation results prove that the proposed method provides a more effective performance to control liquid level compared to the conventional sliding mode control method.