Finite time control of a class of nonlinear switched systems in spite of unknown parameters and input saturation

This article is devoted to the problem of robust stabilization of uncertain nonlinear switched systems with canonical structure. It is assumed that the constant parameters of the subsystems are unknown and cannot be adopted in the controller design. In addition, the dynamics of the subsystems are perturbed via modeling errors and external disturbances. The effects of unknown actuator saturation are compensated via proper adaptive control signals. The derived controller is based on the terminal sliding mode theory and does not need any prior knowledge about the bounds of the lumped uncertain terms. It is proved that once the system states reach the prescribed sliding manifold in a finite time interval, the whole system becomes insensitive to both the lumped uncertainties and the switching dynamics of the system. The common assumption of having known quadratic Lyapunov functions for the subsystems is relaxed and the derived adaptive approach does not force any limitation on the switching signal of the system. Subsequently, non-conservative conditions are provided to guarantee the global finite time bounded stability of the equilibrium state for the overall uncertain nonlinear switched system under arbitrary switching signals. A numerical computer simulation demonstrates the robust performance of the proposed controller.