Chattering avoidance by second order sliding mode control

Relying on the possibility of generating a second-order sliding motion by using, as control, the first derivative of the control signal instead of the actual control, a new solution to the problem of chattering elimination in variable structure control (VSC) is presented. Such a solution, inspired by the classical bang-bang optimal control strategy, is first depicted and expressed in terms of a control algorithm by introducing a suitable auxiliary problem involving a second-order uncertain system with unavailable velocity. Then, the applicability of the algorithm is extended, via suitable modifications, to the case of nonlinear systems with uncertainties of more general types. The proposed algorithm does not require the use of observers and differential inequalities and can be applied in practice by exploiting such commercial components as peak detectors or other approximated methods to evaluate the change of the sign of the derivative of the quantity accounting for the distance to the sliding manifold.