Author Description

Many problems in tracking control have been identified over the years, such as theavailability of systems states, the presence of noise and system uncertainties, and speedof response, just to name a few. This research is concerned with developing novel integratedcontrol and estimation algorithms to overcome some of these problems in order toachieve an efficient tracking performance. Since there are some significant advantagesassociated with Sliding Mode Control (SMC) or Variable Structure Control (VSC), (fastregulation rate and robustness to uncertainties), this research reviews and extends newfiltering concepts for state estimation, referred to as the Variable Structure Filter (VSF)and Smooth Variable Structure Filter (SVSF). The VSF is combined seamlessly with the SMC to produce an integrated controller called a Sliding Mode Controller and Filter (SMCF). This new controller isshown to be a robust and effective integrated control strategy for linear systems. Fornonlinear systems, a novel integrated control strategy called the Smooth Sliding ModeController and Filter (SSMCF), fuses the SMC and SVSF in a particular form to addressnonlinearities.