Global Finite-Time Output-Feedback Stabilization of Nonlinear Systems Under Relaxed Conditions

This article presents a first constructive solution to the global finite-time output feedback stabilization of a large class of lower triangular nonlinear systems under relaxed conditions. The key idea is to introduce a switching strategy in the control design scheme. Unlike the previous literature, the nonlinearities of the systems are assumed to satisfy a general Hölder continuous condition, which include Lipschitz continuous nonlinearities as a special case. Global finite-time stability of the closed-loop observer-controller systems is proved by means of innovative Lyapunov-based analytical techniques. A benchmark practical example of controlling the single-link robotic manipulator coupled to a dc motor is adopted to illustrate the proposed method.