Super-twisting sliding mode finite time control of power-line inspection robot with external disturbances and input delays

Abstract

An adaptive super-twisting sliding mode control (AST-SMC) is proposed for the power-line inspection (PLI) robot system with two degrees of freedom and single control input underactuated with multiple balances. Firstly, the nonlinear dynamic equation of PLI robot is established, and the model is linearized at the nominal equilibrium point. Secondly, a special transformation is introduced to transform the original input delay system into a delay-free model, and an equilibrium manifold linearization (EML) model is established by using scheduling variables to expand the operating range of the controlled system, as a result of which the disturbance observer control (DOC) is designed to estimate the external disturbance. Thirdly, in order to achieve fast convergence and continuous control, the super-twisting sliding mode control(ST-SMC) method is proposed to decrease chattering in the control law. Finally, it can be verified by Lyapunov stability theory that the system reaches the sliding mode surface in finite time and the trajectory tracking error converges to zero in finite time. The simulation results verify that the combination of DOC and AST-SMC has a optimal disturbance approximation and control convergence ability, clarifying the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control scheme.