Approximate continuous fixed-time terminal sliding mode control with prescribed performance for uncertain robotic manipulators

This paper studies an approximate continuous fixed-time terminal sliding mode control (CFTSMC) with prescribed performance for uncertain robotic manipulators. A transformation concerning tracking error using a fixed-time prescribed performance function is proposed to guarantee the transient and steady-state performance of trajectory tracking control for uncertain robotic manipulators within fixed time. Utilizing the transformed error, a smooth fixed-time sliding mode surface is designed. Then, based on the proposed sliding mode surface, an approximate CFTSMC scheme is presented to achieve inherent chattering-free control for uncertain robotic manipulators. According to the Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved that the position tracking error can be bounded in the prescribed performance boundaries and globally converges to a defined small region within fixed time and then approaches exponentially to the origin. Several numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control strategy for uncertain robotic manipulators.