Sliding mode observers. Tutorial

Discusses the problem of designing observers for state estimation using sliding modes. The theory and design principles are presented for linear and nonlinear systems. For linear systems the observers are developed using a block-observable form which is similar to a lower triangular matrix form. Compared with known approaches such observers have better robustness properties. In the case of nonlinear systems an equivalent control concept makes it possible to develop finite-time observers for a wide class of systems.