Adaptive robust nonlinear control of a magnetic levitation system (Q5939340)

The authors propose an adaptive robust nonlinear controller for position tracking of a gravity-biased, one-degree-of-freedom magnetic levitation system. This system is governed by a single-input, single-output second-order nonlinear differential equation. The authors use a backstepping design approach based on a nonlinear system model with parametric uncertainties. A PI controller is designed to stabilize the position error of the levitated object. Then an adaptive robust nonlinear controller (with an adaptive feedback linearization control term and a robust nonlinear damping term) is designed to attenuate the effects of parameter uncertainty. Combining adaptive and robust approaches helps overcome practical problems such as high gain feedback of the robust controller and poor transient performance of the adaptive controller. Experimental results show very good position tracking performance.