Adaptive vector sliding mode fault-tolerant control of the uncertain Stewart platform based on position measurements only

This paper investigates the trajectory tracking of a Stewart platform, which is a typical multi-input multi-output nonlinear system, with unmodeled dynamics, parameter uncertainties, friction, and unpredictable actuator faults. An adaptive vector sliding mode fault-tolerant control law is derived to ensure the system is insensitive to uncertainties and drive the state variable errors of the closed-loop system to converge to the origin. Moreover, novel adaptive laws are proposed to update the upper boundary of uncertainty according to the actual system state, which greatly reduces the chattering of sliding mode control. Furthermore, velocity signals are estimated by introducing a simple nonlinear observer, resulting in the proposed controller requiring position measurements only. Finally, numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.