Decentralised Sliding Mode Tracking Control for a Class of Nonlinear Interconnected Systems

This paper proposes a decentralised tracking control scheme for a class of nonlinear interconnected systems using sliding mode techniques. The desired output signals are time-varying. Both matched uncertainty and mismatched unknown interconnections are considered. Using geometric transformation, the considered system is transferred to a system with a unique structure to facilitate both the design of the sliding surface and the decentralised controllers. The sliding surface is designed based on the tracking error. A set of conditions are proposed to guarantee that when sliding motion occurs, the tracking errors converge to zero asymptotically while the system states are bounded. Decentralised controllers are then designed so that the interconnected systems' states can be driven to the designed sliding surface. Finally, simulation of a coupled inverted pendulum system demonstrates the results.