Discontinuous control of high-order generalized chained systems

The stabilization problem for nonlinear systems in a generalized high-order chained form is solved by means of discontinuous state feedback control la ws. The proposed controllers yield exponential convergence of the states to the origin. Moreover, the design does not require the precise knowledge of the system parameters. The method is applied to an underactuated surface v essel and a mobile robot moving on an uneven surface and its effectiveness is demonstrated through simulations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.