Predefined-time Terminal Sliding Mode Control of Robot Manipulators

In this paper, we present a new terminal sliding mode control to achieve predefined-time stability of robot manipulators. The proposed control is developed based on a novel predefined-time terminal sliding mode (PTSM) surface, on which the states are forced to reach the origin in a predefined time, i.e., the settling time is independent to the initial condition and can be explicitly user-defined via adjusting some specific parameters called the predefined-time parameters. It is also demonstrated that the proposed control can provide satisfactory steady-state performance in the case of both external disturbances and parametric uncertainties. Besides, we present a formal systemic analysis method to derive the sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the predefined-time convergence of the closed-loop system. Finally, the effectiveness and performance of the presented control scheme are illustrated through both theoretical comparisons and numerical simulations.