Robust Control via Variable Structure and Lyapunov Techniques

A large part of today's fervour on robust control research is focused on those techniques which utilise the Variable Structure Control Method and Lyapunov's Second Method, and which constitute the backbone of the so-called "deterministic" control of uncertain systems. The chapters of this book cover a large spectrum of the recent research and introduce the most innovative ideas in the field. Contained within the volume the reader will find: a survey of control Lyapunov functions; new structures of sliding mode controllers with discussion on higher order sliding modes; new techniques for the design of direct and indirect adaptive controllers; an introduction to the geometric theory of "flat" systems; controllers for plants with component-wise bounded inputs; robust design via linear matrix inequalities and polytopic covering; and some issues on the dissipativity and absolute stability of nonli near systems.