A predictive approach to adaptive fuzzy sliding-mode control of under-actuated nonlinear systems with input saturation

In this paper, a computationally efficient robust predictive control method is proposed for continuous-time under-actuated SISO systems in the presence of actuator saturation and state-dependent uncertainties. The proposition of this research is to employ the idea of model prediction together with the Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding-Mode Control (AFSMC) for tuning the sliding surface parameters by predicting the anticipated effects of uncertainties. In the proposed scheme, only after the trigger conditions are met, the coefficients of the sliding surface are updated and the AFSMC is applied. Hence, computational complexity can be controlled by adjusting the switching rule. In the AFSMC, a fuzzy system is used to approximate a nonlinear function, and a robust term to compensate for any possible mismatches. An adaptively tuned gain is also applied to the control signal to prevent instability caused by the actuator saturation. Based on the updating sliding surface, fuzzy singletons, the upper bound of the fuzzy approximation error, and the saturation gain are adaptively tuned. Closed-loop stability is shown to be guaranteed using the multiple Lyapunov functions theorem and the Barbalat’s lemma. Finally, the method is applied for the depth control of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), depicting the excellent performance of the proposed method.