Practical prescribed‐time tracking control of unknown nonlinear systems: A low‐complexity approach

Abstract This article is concerned with the trajectory tracking control problem for the nonlinear systems in the sense of the predefined settling time and accuracy. In contrast with the existing works, we focus on the cases where the system dynamics, its bounding functions, the unmatched disturbances, and the time‐varying parameters are totally unknown; the derivatives of the desired trajectory are not required to be available. They significantly challenge the identification and/or approximation‐based control solutions. To overcome this obstacle, a novel robust prescribed performance control approach via state feedback is put forward in this article. It not only ensures the natural satisfaction of the specific initial condition but also realizes a full‐time performance specification for trajectory tracking. Furthermore, for the case of unmeasured state variables, an output‐feedback control approach is further derived by adopting an input‐driven filter and conducting trivial changes on the design procedure. Moreover, both approaches exhibit significant simplicity, without the needs for parameter identification, function approximation, disturbance estimation, derivative calculation, or command filtering. Three simulation studies are conducted to clarify and verify the above theoretical findings.