Gain adaptation in sliding mode control of robotic manipulators

In this paper, a novel scheme is proposed to adapt the gains of a sliding mode controller (SMC) so that the problems faced in its practical implementations as a motion controller are overcome. A Lyapunov function is selected for the design of the SMC and an MIT rule is used for gain adaptation. The criterion that is minimized for gain adaptation is selected as the sum of the squares of the control signal and the sliding surface function. This novel approach is tested on a scara-type robot manipulator. The experimental results presented prove its efficacy.