NUMERICAL AND ALGEBRAICAL ISSUES IN AN APPLICATION OF SLIDING MODE CONTROL

A NDRÉ L UÍS DA S ILVA∗, P EDRO PAGLIONE†, TAKASHI YONEYAMA∗

∗ ITA-Divisãode Engenharia Eletrônica
12.228-900, São José dos Campos, SP, Brasil
† ITA-Divisãode Engenharia Aeronáutica
12.228-900, São José dos Campos, SP, Brasil

Emails: alsilva@ita.br, paglione@ita.br, takashi@ita.br

Abstract— This paper presents a concise discussion about numerical and algebraical problems in the design of a control law for
a nonlinear dynamic model via Sliding Mode Control. The control law in question is written using the concepts of Lie derivative
and relative degree, and is suitable for tracking problems in the presence of parametric uncertainties. The numerical and algebraical
problems, generally, are: evaluation of Lie derivatives and relative degree, solution of inequalities that determine robust control
laws, and computation of numerical solutions of differential equations that represent sliding mode control systems.

Keywords— Sliding Mode Control, Robust Control, Non Linear Control

1 Introduction parametric uncertainties; obtained via the concepts of

The Sliding Mode Control (SMC) was first proposed
in the old USSR by Emelyanov and co-researchers
(Hung et al., 1993). The technique is based in a phe-
nomenon that, under well defined conditions, manifes-
tates in solutions of differential equations with discon-
tinuous right hand sides (Utkin, 1977; Utkim, 1978).
This phenomenon is a movement constrained to the
manifold at which the discontinuity in question ex-
ists, and is called sliding motion, or sliding mode
(SM). In a closed loop control system, such discon-
tinuities can be generated using a control that per-
forms instantaneous commutations, e.g. relay con-
trol; which can be called Variable Structure Control
(VSC) (Hung et al., 1993). The discontinuity mani-
fold of a VSC is composed by hypersurfaces called
switching surfaces, which can be designed in order to
give for the respective sliding modes desired proper-
ties. Sliding modes are strong dependent on the pa-
rameters that define these surfaces and, under well
defined conditions, they are invariant with respect to
model parametric uncertainties and external disturban-
cies (Gao and Hung, 1993). So, sliding mode control
systems (SMCS) can possess strong robustness prop-
erties. However, the sharp control commutations can
generate a phenomenon called chattering, character-
ized by high frequency oscilations around the switch-
ing surfaces, generally undesirable (Hung et al., 1993).
According to Hung et al. (1993), currently, SMC
is applied to a variety of control objectives, such as
regulation, tracking, state observation and model fol-
lowing; and a diversity of dynamic models, such as
MIMO linear and nonlinear models, stochastic and
large scale models.
This paper discusses a problem of tracking for
nonlinear MIMO models in the presence of parametric
uncertainties, via a particular SMC law, with chatter-
ing suppression. The discussion is restricted to mod-
els nonlinear in the state and affine in the control. The
particular SMC law is a dynamic nonlinear full state
feedback, with control gains determined to deal with
relative degree and Lie derivative.
The paper focus is the discussion of algebraical
and numerical problems in the application of the con-
trol law in question to nonlinear models with “ad-
equately” high relative degrees with respect to their
output variables. These problems are: the determina-
tion of the model relative degree, the evaluation of Lie
derivatives and the determination of control gains that
satisfy a robustness criteria. The paper also examine
the problem of determine numerical solutions for dif-
ferential equations that represent SMCS, which have
the peculiarity of sharp control transitions.
The remainder of the paper is divided as follows.
Section 2 presents the control problem, the model and
the control law; also, this section clarifies the alge-
braical and numerical problems in question. Section
3 discusses algebraical and numerical approaches to
evaluate Lie derivatives and relative degree. Section
4 presents an approach to determine robust control
gains via global maximization. Section 5 contains a
discussion about computation of numerical solution of
differential equations that represent SMCS. Section 6
presents a design example. Finally, section 7 contains
concluding remarks.
2 Problem Presentation
2.1 Control Problem
Consider a square plant whose dynamic behavior of
interest can be represented by a time invariant differ-
ential equation, nonlinear in a set of state variables and
affine in the control vector, as in Eq. 1.
ẋ = f(x) + G(x)u, y = h(x) (1)
where x ∈ Rn is a state vector, u ∈ Rm is the con-
trol vector, y ∈ Rm is the output vector, f : Rn → Rn ,
G : Rn → Rn×m , h : Rn → Rm are sufficiently smooth
functions called state function, control gain matrix and
output function, respectively.
 Suppose that, in the dynamic model of Eq. 2.2.2 Reaching Conditions
1, there is a set of Nu uncertain parameters
For each switching surface Si determined by
{p1 , p2 , . . . pNu }. Also, suppose that each uncertain
the scalar switching functions presented in 2.2.1
parameter has a nominal value p̂i , i=1, . . . Nu , and
(Si = {(x,t) ∈ Ω × R; si (x,t) = 0} , i=1, 2, . . . m),
the actual values are limited, respectively, according
one reaching condition is defined according Eq. 5:
to Eq. 2:
si (t)ṡi (t) ≤ −ηi |si (t)|, ∀t ∈ [t0 , T ), i=1, 2, . . . m (5)
pi = p̂i (1 + ∆pi ), |∆pi | ≤ ∆i , i=1, 2, . . . Nu (2)
where ηi is a positive real design parameter.
where ∆pi is a fractional increment in the nom- If the reaching conditions in Eq. 5 are satisfied, it
inal value of the i-th uncertain parameter, and can be shown that, for any initial condition x(t0 ) ∈ Ω,
∆i , i=1, 2, . . . Nu , are positive. the switching surfaces Si , i=1, 2, . . . m, are reached in
Given a plant described by an uncertain model respective finite times tri , which are limited according
like the one in Eq. 1, with nominal parameters, it is de- Eq. 6:
sired to design a SMC law such that: given a step ref- |si (t0 )|
tri ≤ (6)
erence yd,i for the output variable yi , the response of yi ηi
has a small tracking error, for i=1, 2, . . . m; there is no It shall be noted that the reaching conditions in
chattering manifestation, the requirements above are Eq. 5 are defined only for x ∈ Ω. Also, the property
satisfied for any combination of true values of the un- above is not guaranteed for a trajectory that leaves the
certain parameters satisfying limitations like the ones region Ω.
in Eq. 2. It can be shown that, if the reaching conditions
in question are satisfied, the conditions for existence
of sliding modes in the switching surfaces Si are also
2.2 Control Law satisfied. So, if the condition in Eq. 5 is true, we have
The structure of the control law applied to the prob- that:
si (t) = 0, ∀t ∈ [tri , T ), i=1, 2, . . . m (7)
lem presented in 2.1 was proposed in Slotine and
Li (1991). It is determined in 2.2.3 from the scalar
switching functions and reaching conditions presented 2.2.3 Control Law
in 2.2.1 and 2.2.2, respectively. Also, the control law As the reaching conditions presented in 2.2.2 deter-
is rewritten in a convenient form in 2.2.4 in order to mine finite reaching time for all the switching surfaces
suppress chattering. and also guarantee the existence of sliding modes on it,
the control law is determined in order to these reaching
2.2.1 Scalar Switching Functions conditions be satisfied.
The reaching conditions on Eq. 5 can be rewritten
If ri is the relative degree of the output variable yi of
as:
a model given by Eq 1, in some region Ωi of the state
≤ −ηi , for si > 0 (8a)

space, one can define a scalar switching function si ṡi
according Eq. 3: ≥ ηi , for si < 0 (8b)
d ri t for i=1, 2, . . . m.
  Z
si (x,t) = λi + ei (τ)dτ, i=1, 2, . . . m (3) Using the definition of relative degree and Lie
dt t0
derivative, from Eq. 3, it can be shown that ṡi can
where ei = yi − yd,i is the tracking error and λi is a be written as:
positive constant. (r )

(r −1)

ṡi = Lfri yi − ydi i + ri λi Lfri −1 yi − ydi i +
It shall be noted that the set of scalar functions
s = [s1 s2 . . . sm ]T , called switching function, is well ri (ri − 1) 2 ri −2

(r −2)

λi Lf yi − ydi i +...+
defined only in the region Ω = Ω1 ∩ Ω2 ∩ . . . Ωm of the 2!
m
state space.
λiri (yi − ydi ) + ∑ (Lg j Lfri −1 yi )u j (9)
Using mathematical induction, it can be shown j=1
that, during sliding mode (si (t) = 0, i=1, 2, . . . m, t ∈
[t0 , T )), the response of the tracking error ei is given for i=1, 2, . . . m. Where g j is the j-th column of the
by Eq. 4. control gain matrix.
  In Eq. 9, the model is considered ideal and with
ei (t) = ki,1 + ki,2 t + . . . + ki,ri t ri −1 e−λi (t−t0 ) , i=1, 2, . . . m the form in Eq. 1, i.e., without unmodeled dynamics,
(4) unknown external disturbancies, uncertain parameters
where ki, j , j=1, 2, . . . ri , depends on initial conditions. or any other model unaccuracy.
Equation (4) shows that, during sliding mode, the Define v : Rn+1 → Rm , with i-th element given
response of the tracking error ei has the same shape of by:
a critically damped response of a LTI system of ri −th (r )

(r −1)

order. As λi > 0, during sliding mode, the closed loop vi (x,t)=Lfri yi − ydi i + ri λi Lfri −1 yi − ydi i +
dynamics is BIBO stable with steady state tracking er- ri (ri − 1) 2 ri −2

(r −2)

λi Lf yi − ydi i +...+
ror equal to zero. Also, the overshoot depends on the 2!
initial conditions. λiri (yi − ydi ) (10)
 for i=1, 2, . . . m, and also let B : Rn+1 → Rm×m , with
(i, j) element (line i and column j) given by:
Bi, j = Lg j Lfri −1 yi , f or i, j=1, 2, . . . m
by inspection, the vector ṡ = [ṡ1 . . . ṡm ]T is given by:
ṡ = v(x,t) + B(x,t)u
If one has the ideal model considered in Eq. 9,
which determines the functions v and B in Eqs 10 and
11, respectively; the following VSC control law can
be proposed:
 
u = −B−1 (x,t) v(x,t) + [k1 sgn(s1 ) . . . km sgn(sm )]T
(13)
where ki , i=1, 2 . . . m, are control gains and sgn(·) is
the signal function1 .
Appling, in Eq. 12, the control law in Eq. 13, one
obtains:
ṡ = v + B B−1 (−v − [k1 sgn(s1 ) . . . km sgn(sm )]T )


ṡ = −[k1 sgn(s1 ) . . . km sgn(sm )]T
so:
ṡi = −ki sgn(si ), i=1, 2, . . . m
Comparing Eqs. 15 and (8a-8b), it can be seen
that the reaching conditions are satisfied via the con-
trol law in Eq. 13 if and only if:
ki ≥ ηi , i=1, 2, . . . m
It is crucial to note that the control law in Eq. 13,
with gains given by Eq. 16, guarantees the reaching
conditions when the functions v and B, in the respec-
tive definition, are determined from an ideal model.
When one has only an approximated model, these
functions may differ from the respective ideal func-
tions and the cancellation of terms in Eq. 14 may not
be garanteed. In this case, the conditions in Eq. 16
may not suffice. This problem is treated in the sec-
tion 4, for the case that the approximated model differs
from the ideal model only by parametric uncertainties.
2.2.4 Chattering Suppression
The control law in Eq. 13 has discontinuous terms.
In most control applications, instantaneous switchings
are not possible, leading to delays that can cause chat-
tering (Hung et al., 1993). One way to reduce or sup-
press the chattering is the continuation approach (CA),
that consists of the substitution of the discontinuous
control by a continuous one that approximates it in
some sense (Hung et al., 1993).
In this paper, we consider the CA presented in
Slotine and Li (1991), characterized by the replace-
ment of signal functions by saturation functions:
 nonlinearities of the model and the value of the relative
sgn(si ), i f |si | > φi
sat(si ) =
si /φi , otherwise
1 By definition, sgn(s) = 1, i f s > 0; sgn(s) = −1, i f s < 0.
for i=1, 2, . . . m. Where φi are positive constants.
When this CA is used, the sliding modes do not
exist. However, if the reaching conditions are satis-
(11) fied by the discontinuous control, a region in the state
space, called boundary layer (BL) can be reached in
finite time. It consists of layers of width φi above and
below each respective switching surface.
(12) Once the BL is reached and the reaching condi-
tions are satisfied by the discontinuous control, the
trajectories remain constrained to it. Also, these tra-
jectories approach the sliding modes as the widths φi
tend to zero. In fact, as presented in Slotine and Li
(1991), in the interior of the BL, for ei (0) = ėi (0) =
(r )
. . . = ei i (0) = 0, ei is limited according Eq. 18.
φi
|ei (t)| ≤ , f or t ≥ 0, i=1, 2, . . . m (18)
λiri −1
2.3 Control Law Application Problems
We have found critical issues in the application of the
control law in 2.2 to the control problem in 2.1. These
(14) problems are presented below and discussed with de-
tails in the sections 3, 4 and 5.
The determination of the relative degrees ri with
(15) respect to each output variable, and the respective re-
gions Ωi where they are valid.
The evaluation of Lie derivatives, which is neces-
sary to determine relative degrees and also to compute
the control law.
The determination of control gains to satisfy the
(16)
reaching conditions in the presence of parametric un-
certainties.
The determination of numerical responses for dif-
ferential equations that represent the closed loop slid-
ing mode control systems in question. In the case of
discontinuous control, these differential equations do
not satisfy the theorem of existence and unicity of so-
lutions of differential equations. On the other hand, in
the case of saturation control, the numerical solutions
may be unstable due to high scalar switching functions
time derivatives.
3 Lie Derivatives and Relative Degree Evaluation
From Eqs 13, 10 and 11, it can be seen that, to evalu-
ate the control law, it is necessary to compute the Lie
derivatives up to order ri , with respect to the state func-
tion and columns of the control gain matrix, of each
output variable yi . Also, from the definition of relative
degree, the determination of these Lie derivatives is a
way to compute the relative degrees r1 , r2 , . . . rm and
the regions Ω1 , Ω2 , . . . Ωm where they are valid.
As Lie derivatives are determined from partial
derivatives, they can be computed algebraically or
numerically. Algebraic determination of derivatives
gives exact results, but may lead to, depending on the
(17) degrees, cumbersome algebraical expressions. Exten-
sive expressions may be difficult to analyse (for exam-
ple, in the determination of the regions Ωi ), may not be
convenient to document and require a large amount of
memory in an implementation. Numerical computa-
tion of derivatives, however, can be implemented via
simple algorithms, but leads to approximate results.
The numerical computation may be not a convenient
way to determine relative degrees, since a particular
computation gives a numerical value only in a par-
ticular state, while the determination of the regions
Ω1 , Ω2 , . . . Ωm requires the inspection of such deriva-
tives along all the state space.
3.1 Identities for the Determination of Lie Deriva-
tives
In order to write long Lie derivatives in a more com-
pact form, we have determined identities for the Lie
derivatives of order 1, 2, 3 and 4 of a scalar func-
tion h(x) with respect to a vector field f(x), which are
presented in Eqs 19-21. These identities are derived
using the notation and algebra of systems, which are
discussed, for example, in Arfken (1985) and Hein-
bockel (1996). These mathematical objects are gen-
eralizations of matrices and vectors and, under some
conditions, are called tensors.
Lf h = ∇hi fi , Lf2 h = ∇2 hi j f j fi + ∇h j ∇f ji fi (19)
Lf3 h = ∇3 hi jk fk f j fi + ∇2 h jk ∇fki f j fi + ∇2 h jk fk ∇f ji fi +
∇2 hik ∇fk j f j fi + ∇hk ∇2 fik j f j fi + ∇hk ∇fk j ∇f ji fi (20)
Lf4 h =∇4 hi jkl fl fk f j fi + ∇3 h jkl ∇fli fk f j fi + ∇3 h jkl fl ∇fki f j fi +
∇3 h jkl fl fk ∇f ji fi + ∇3 hikl ∇fl j fk f j fi + ∇2 hkl ∇2 fil j fk f j fi +
∇2 hkl ∇fl j ∇fki f j fi + ∇2 hkl ∇fl j fk ∇f ji fi + ∇3 hikl fl ∇fk j f j fi +
∇2 hkl ∇fli ∇fk j f j fi + ∇2 hkl fl ∇2 fik j f j fi + ∇2 hkl fl ∇fk j ∇f ji fi +
∇3 hi jl ∇flk fk f j fi + ∇2 h jl ∇2 filk fk f j fi + ∇2 h jl ∇flk ∇fki f j fi +
∇2 h jl ∇flk fk ∇f ji fi + ∇2 hil ∇2 f jlk fk f j fi + ∇hl ∇3 fi jlk fk f j fi +
∇hl ∇2 f jlk ∇fki f j fi + ∇hl ∇2 f jlk fk ∇f ji fi + ∇2 hil ∇flk ∇fk j f j fi +
∇hl ∇2 filk ∇fk j f j fi + ∇hl ∇flk ∇2 fik j f j fi + ∇hl ∇flk ∇fk j ∇f ji fi
(21)
where the products are defined in systems algebra (It
is used the Einstein notation, where the repetition of
indices denotes summation.), fi is the i-th element of
the vector field f and:
∂ 2h
∇hi = ∂ h/∂ xi , ∇2 hi j = (22)
∂ xi ∂ x j
∂ 3h ∂ 4h
∇3 hi jk = , ∇4 hi jkl = (23)
∂ xi ∂ x j ∂ xk ∂ xi ∂ x j ∂ xk ∂ xl
∂ fj ∂ 2 fk ∂ 3 fl
∇f ji = , ∇2 fik j = , ∇3 fi jlk = (24)
∂ xi ∂ xi ∂ x j ∂ xi ∂ x j ∂ xk
Using the identities above, long algebraical ex-
pressions can be expressed via the combination of
smaller terms, which may be more convenient for
analysis and documentation.
3.2 Numerical Computation of Lie Derivatives
As discussed in Conte and de Boor (1980), the error
in the numerical computation of derivatives has two
parts. One is pure discretization error and the other is
an error derived from computer truncation. The pure
discretization error can be reduced choosing rules for
increasing the order for the numerical computation of
derivatives and reducing the discretization step (DS).
In other hand, the error derived from truncation is re-
duced increasing the DS and reducing the algebraical
complexity of the rule for numerical computation of
derivatives (RNCD), which increases with the respec-
tive order. So, in order to determine an algorithm for
the numerical computation of Lie derivatives, in a par-
ticular application, it is necessary to perform compar-
isons between different RNCD and DS.
We have performed an application of numerical
computation of Lie derivatives for a model of aircraft
rotational and translational dynamics. The model is
square with 2 inputs and 2 outputs and can be writen
in the form given by Eq. 1. It is presented in Xu et al.
(2002), is highly nonlinear and has relative degrees
equal to 3 and 4 with respect to its output variables.
In this application, we have chosen to compute all
the Lie derivatives that determine the control law in
20 distinct points of the state space determined ran-
domly. The numerical computation was performed
evaluating the Lie derivatives by the direct applica-
tion of the respective definition and the identities pre-
sented in (3.1). In each case, three RNCD were con-
sidered: Euler forward of first order (EFFO), centered
differences of second order (CDSO) and centered dif-
ferences of fourth order (CDFO). Also, the adopted
discretization steps were 10−2 , 10−3 , 10−4 and 10−5 .
Very close results were found for the numerical
computation via the identities in 3.1 and the direct ap-
plication of Lie derivatives definition.
In every case, convergence in the numerical re-
sults occured with the step size 10−4 , with better per-
formance for the rules CDSO and CDFO, which give,
practically, the same results.
The numerical results where compared with val-
ues determined by evaluation of the Lie derivatives
algebraical expressions. The smallest errors between
numerical and algebraical computation were found for
the rules CDSO and CDFO with the step size 10−4 . In
this case, taking into account the percentual absolute
average error in all the points considered, the worst
result was an error of approximately 10−3 , for a Lie
derivative of fourth order. This shows that, in this
application, the results determined by the numerical
computation of Lie derivatives are very close to those
determined by algebraical expressions.
4 Robust Control Gains Determination
In 2.2, a control law is presented that satisfies the prob-
lem proposed in 2.1, when an ideal model is consid-
ered. In this section, we consider the problem of de-
termining a control law that solves the problem when
the model differs from an ideal model only by para-
metric uncertainties such as presented in Eq. 2.
As discussed in 2.2, the control problem is solv-
able when a control law is such that the reaching con-
ditions in 2.2.2 are satisfied. In order to guarantee that
the reaching conditions are met, we consider a con-
trol law with the same structure given by Eq. 13, with
functions v̂ and B̂ determined from a nominal model
derived from nominal parameters. The control gains that the gains ki are obtained via the following global
{k1 , k2 , . . . km } are determined in order to satisfy the maximization problem:
reaching conditions in the presence of any parametric
uncertainty allowed by limitations as the ones in Eq. ki = max J(x,t, ∆p) (34)
x∈Ω, t∈[t0 , T ], ∀∆p allowed
2.
Suppose that an ideal model is written in function with
of a nominal model as in Eqs 25 and 26. In such rep-
resentation, it is considered that the uncertainties are m
1
aditive in v and multiplicative in B. J(x,t, ∆p), (ηi + |v̂i | + ∑ |∆Bi j v̂ j | + |∆vi | +
∆Bii j=1
v(x,t, ∆p) = v̂(x,t) + ∆v(x,t, ∆p) (25) m
∑ |∆Bi j ||k j |) (35)
B(x, ∆p) = ∆B(x, ∆p)B̂(x) (26) j=1, j6=i

where v̂ and B̂ are nominal functions determined from

The problem in Eqs 34-35 is a non-smooth global
a set of nominal uncertain parameters and v and B are
maximization that may be solved by heuristic methods
ideal functions determined from the nominal parame-
such as the genetic algorithm.
ters and a set of respective actual increments ∆p.
From the definitions in Eqs 25 and 26, ṡ can be
written as: 5 Numerical Solution of Differential Equations
ṡ(x,t, ∆p) = v̂(x,t) + ∆v(x,t, ∆p) + ∆B(x, ∆p)B̂(x) (27)
that Represent Sliding Mode Control Systems

From the nominal functions v̂ and B̂, the proposed The differential equations that represent SMCS with
control law is written as: discontinuous control (DC) do not satisfy the theo-
rem of existence and unicity of solutions of differential
u = −B̂−1 (v̂ + [k1 sgn(s1 ) k2 sgn(s2 ) . . . km sgn(sm )]T ) (28) equations.
Appling the control in Eq. 28 in Eq. 27, one has that: As a method of computation of numerical solu-
tion of differential equations determines a numerical
ṡ = v̂ + ∆v − ∆B(v̂ + [k1 sgn(s1 ) k2 sgn(s2 ) . . . km sgn(sm )]T ) sequence that approximates the solution of a differen-
(29) tial equation, they are inconvenient for the determina-
From the Eq. 29, ṡi is given by: tion of trajectories of SMCS with DC, because the so-
m m lution and existence of such trajectories are not guar-
ṡi = v̂i + ∆vi − ∑ ∆Bi j v̂ j − ∑ ∆Bi j k j sgn(s j ) (30) anteed.
j=1 j=1
A concept that can be applied to treat SMCS with
where v̂i is the i-th element of v̂, ∆Bi j is the (i, j) ele- discontinuous control is that of differential inclusion.
ment of ∆B, ∆vi is the i-th element of ∆v. Differential inclusions are generalizations of differen-
From the Eq. 30, after some algebraical manip- tial equations. When existence of sliding modes is
ulations, for ∆Bii > 0, the reaching conditions in Eqs guaranteed, a solution for the differential inclusion
8a-8b can be written as: that represents the SMCS is also guaranteed. In this
m m
1 case, a numerical method for solving differential in-
ki ≥ (ηi + v̂i − ∑ ∆Bi j v̂ j + ∆vi − ∑ Bi j k j sgn(s j ))
∆Bii j=1 j=1, j6=i clusions can be applied, see, for instance, Raczynski
m
≤
1
(ηi + |v̂i | + ∑ |∆Bi j v̂ j | + |∆vi | +
(n.d.).
∆Bii j=1 Even though numerical methods for solving dif-
m ferential inclusions are more suitable for SMCS with
∑ |∆Bi j ||k j |), for si > 0 (31)
j=1, j6=i
DC, they are not familiar to most practitioner Engi-
neers and not easily available as differential equations
1 m m solvers. Therefore, we propose an approximated ap-
ki ≥ (ηi − v̂i + ∑ ∆Bi j v̂ j − ∆vi + ∑ Bi j k j sgn(s j ))
∆Bii j=1 j=1, j6=i proach based on the continuation approach.
1 m As discussed in 2.2.4, when the DC is replaced by
≤ (ηi + |v̂i | + ∑ |∆Bi j v̂ j | + |∆vi | + a continuous control (CC) that approximates it in some
∆Bii j=1
m sense, the trajectories of the new differential equations
∑ |∆Bi j ||k j |), for si < 0 (32) can approach the original trajectories as the CC tends
j=1, j6=i
to the DC. In this case, the existence of solutions for
From the second inequality in Eqs 31 and (32), the SMCS differential equations is guaranteed and a
one has that, for both cases si > 0 and si < 0, the reach- differential equation solver (DES) can be used. How-
ing condition can be written as: ever, the CC can yield high values for the time deriva-
1 m m tives of the switching functions. In this case, the differ-
ki ≥ (ηi + |v̂i | + ∑ |∆Bi j v̂ j | + |∆vi | + ∑ |∆Bi j ||k j |)(33)
∆Bii j=1 j=1, j6=i ential equation may become stiff and usual DES (low
order Runge-Kutta, for example) may produce unsta-
The inequality in Eq. 33 shall be satisfied for ble numerical responses (Arnold, 2001). In this case,
∀x ∈ Ω, ∀∆p allowed and ∀t ∈ [t0 , T ]. A sufficient adequate DES, such as the one presented in Shampine
condition for the reaching condition to be satisfied is and Reichelt (1997), should be used.
 6 Design Example

We have applied the control law in question to the air-

craft model refered in 3.2.
The output variables are the aircraft speed (V ) and
altitude (h). The relative degrees with respect to these
variables where determined via algebraical computa-
tion of Lie derivatives and analysis of the resulting ex-
pressions. It was verified that the relative degrees are
equal to 3 and 4 for V and h respectively, valid in the
region Ω = {x ∈ R7 ; V 6= 0, −π/2 < α < π/2, β ≥
0}, where α is the state variable angle of attack and β
is an engine state variable.
Via the relationships and properties presented in
Figure 1: Output variables.
2.2, the following values for the design variables were
obtained λ1 = λ2 = 3Hz, η1 = η2 = 10−3 , φ1 =
1/9, φ2 = 20/27.
Time responses for the SMCS where computed
with the MATLAB function ode15s which is a solver
suitable for stiff differential equations.
Robust control gains k1 and k2 where determined
via the maximization proposed in section 4. In the
maximization, we have kept the state and the time as
Figure 2: Control variables.
constants. The state is the equilibrium point at the
Mach 15 and altitude 110000 f t 2 , and the time was
taken equal to zero. Using a combination of genetic An approach to determine robust control gains via
and gradient algorithms implemented in MATLAB, non-smooth global maximization is proposed.
the global maximum for both control gains was de- A brief discussion about evaluation of numeri-
termined for the combination of fractional increments cal solutions of differential equations of sliding mode
{−0.03 − 0.02 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.03} in the uncer- control systems with discontinuous control is pre-
tain parameters mass, moment of inertia, reference sented.
area, reference length, elevator gain and air density, The design of an aircraft control law, which shows
respectively; with the limitations presented in Xu et al. the control effectiveness, is also included for illustra-
(2002). The genetic algorithm used is presented in tion purposes.
Houck et al. (1998), and the gradient algorithm is the The discussions in question may be relevant in
one implemented in the MATLAB function fmincon. the following cases: guidance for practitioner Engi-
The closed loop control system was simulated neers, giving orientations about relevant application
with the combination of uncertainties presented above, tasks; introduction for beginners in the technique, due
for steps of amplitude 100 f /s and 2000 f t in the out- to the paper didactic character; dissemination of the
put variables V and h with respect to their values in an technique for the Control community in general.
equilibrium point. A sample result is presented in the
figures 1 and 2.
In figure 1, the output variables have no overshoot References
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7 Conclusion
In this paper, numerical and algebraical problems in
an application of Sliding Mode Control are discussed.
Numerical and algebraic approaches to evaluate
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firmed via the results of an application.
2 We have used imperial units not SI in order to compare the
results with the ones presented in Xu et al. (2002), that discuss the
same problem.
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