Predictive-Adaptive Sliding Mode Control Method for Reluctance Actuator Maglev System

Abstract The control performance of reluctance actuator maglev system is seriously affected by inherent nonlinearities (e.g., hysteresis, eddy current, flux leakage, etc.) and external disturbances. To this end, this paper proposes an enhanced unknown system dynamics estimator (USDE)-based sliding mode control (USDE-SMC) method by a novel predictive-adaptive switching (PAS) controller (USDE-SMC-PAS). First, a USDE is incorporated into SMC to compensate for the uncertainties; Second, an adaptive switching (AS) controller is used to reduce chattering; Finally, the switching controller is modified by PAS to enhance the dynamic response ability and disturbance rejection ability with reduced chattering. In the PAS controller, the switching gain comprises a filtered estimate error part and a residual part, which are obtained by a first-order filter and an adaptive law, respectively. Consequently, the strong disturbance compensation ability, high levitation accuracy, high dynamic response, and reduced chattering property can be achieved simultaneously. The stabilities of USDE-SMC, USDE-SMC with an AS controller (USDE-SMC-AS), and USDE-SMC-PAS in the closed-loop system are analyzed by the Lyapunov theorem. Simulations and experiments are provided to validate the effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed method.