Perfect Tracking Control of Linear Sliders Using Sliding Mode Control with Uncertainty Estimation Mechanism

This paper aims to achieve precise position control of a stage used in semiconductor exposure apparatus. The demand for smart devices, such as smartphones, is rapidly expanding, and their performance is expected to continue to improve. To manufacture these devices, it is necessary to miniaturize semiconductor devices and improve productivity. The precise control of semiconductor exposure apparatus is important for the manufacture of ultra-small semiconductor devices. The stage of semiconductor exposure apparatus uses a linear motor, and this paper performs high-precision perfect tracking control of this stage. Perfect tracking control is a control method that always follows the command value while the command value changes moment by moment, and requires high accuracy. In high-precision positioning, uncertainty in the stage model has a significant impact. Therefore, this paper proposes a method to reduce tracking errors due to the influence of uncertainty by performing uncertainty compensation using sliding mode control with the estimated value of uncertainty. The estimation of uncertainty uses a method that combines Kernel LMS with an observer. Instead of the widely used Gaussian kernel, this paper uses a generalized Gaussian kernel that allows for finer parameter settings. Furthermore, this paper proposes a method to adaptively optimize the shape parameter of the generalized Gaussian kernel. Our simulations and experiments confirm that the proposed method improves tracking performance compared to conventional sliding mode control.