Second-order terminal sliding mode control of uncertain multivariable systems

A second-order terminal sliding mode controller for uncertain multivariable systems is proposed in this paper. The controller adopts the hierarchical control structure. The paper derives the state transform matrices which are used to transform a multivariable linear system to the block controllable form consisting of two subsystems, an input–output subsystem and a stable internal dynamic subsystem. The proposed controller utilizes a non-singular terminal sliding mode manifold for the input–output subsystem to realize fast convergence and better tracking precision. Meanwhile, a chattering-free second-order terminal sliding mode control law is presented. The stability of uncertain multivariable systems can be realized using the proposed controller. A derivative estimator is utilized in the paper to estimate the derivatives of the sliding mode functions for the controller. The simulation results are presented to validate the design method.