Variable structure control of nonlinear systems: a new approach

A new approach for the design of variable structure control (VSC) of nonlinear systems is presented. It is based on a new method called the reaching law method, and is complemented by a sliding-mode equivalence technique. They facilitate the design of the system dynamics in all three modes of a VSC system including the sliding, reaching, and steady-state modes. Invariance and robustness properties are discussed. The approach is applied to a robot manipulator to demonstrate its effectiveness.>