Terminal Sliding Mode Controller Tuned Using Evolutionary Algorithms for Finite-Time Robust Tracking Control in a Class of Nonholonomic Systems

This paper deals with utilizing a recursive singularity-free fast terminal sliding mode control method for finite-time robust tracking control in a class of nonholonomic systems described by an extended chained form. To enhance the performance of the proposed method, the constrained parameters in the controller are exactly tuned using evolutionary algorithms such that the tracking error reaches zero in a short time and without chattering. A comparative study is also presented among the applied evolutionary algorithms namely differential evolution, bat optimization, cuckoo optimization and bacterial foraging optimization. Applying the proposed design method leads to a considerable reduction in convergence time of the states as well as the chattering phenomenon. It is shown that the method is robust against disturbance in the input of the system. Numerical simulations for a well-known nonholonomic system, i.e., wheeled mobile robot demonstrate effective improvement in the results compared with conventional terminal sliding mode control method. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.itc.47.1.15031