Switched finite time control of a class of underactuated systems. (Q2492020)

This is a monograph focusing on the control of a class of underactuated mechanical systems (i.e. systems with less control inputs than degrees of freedom), which are not linearly controllable. The considered class of systems includes robotic manipulators, mobile robots, underwater vehicles, surface vessels, satellites. It is shown that such systems can be stabilized by switched finite-time control algorithms. The proposed strategy relies on the theory of finite-time differential equations. Regardless of the initial state, the controlled system reaches (in finite-time and without chattering) a set of surfaces whose intersection is a connected set containing the equilibrium. The text is organized in six chapters (Introduction, Mathematical preliminaries, A switched finite-time controller design methodology, Alternative control strategies for the nonholonomic integrator, Switched stabilization of a hovercraft, Output feedback stabilization of a mobile robot) and an appendix (Examples and proofs). The book is recommended to researchers, doctoral students and application engineers interested in the automatic control of underactuated mechanical systems.