Sensor fault detection and isolation for nonlinear systems based on a sliding mode observer

In this paper, a sensor fault detection and isolation scheme for nonlinear systems is considered. A nonlinear diffeomorphism is introduced to explore the system structure and a simple filter is presented to ‘transform’ the sensor fault into a pseudo‐actuator fault scenario. A sliding mode observer is designed to reconstruct the sensor fault precisely if the system does not experience any uncertainty, and to estimate the sensor fault when uncertainty exists. The reconstruction and estimation signals are based only on available information and thus can be implemented online. Finally, a mass–spring system is used to illustrate the approach.