Finite time sliding mode control for robots (Q1367988)

We consider the control of robot arms and propose a decentralized variable structure scheme which eliminates a reaching phase and guarantees an error convergence to zero in a finite time. Based on physical limitations on the arm velocity and acceleration, we determine constraints on the first and second derivatives of each link error, and propose a control law which satisfies these constraints. To achieve this goal, we decompose the dynamic equation of an \(n\)-link robot arm into \(n\) subsystems and introduce a new time-varying sliding mode adaptable to the initial conditions of each subsystem. The simulation results presented show good performance of the proposed algorithm.