Design of a perturbation estimator using the theory of variable-structure systems and its application to magnetic levitation systems

A perturbation estimator using the theory of variable structure systems is proposed to enhance the robustness of a pole-placement controller design. In its ideal form, the pole-placement design using feedback-linearization technique achieves a desired performance in nonlinear time-varying systems. However, its performance deteriorates rapidly with the presence of disturbance and parametric uncertainties, referred to as perturbation. The estimate generated by the proposed perturbation estimator is incorporated as an additional input to rectify the uncertainties in the nominal control model of the pole-placement design. The proposed scheme requires neither the measurement of the time derivative of the state vector nor the precise knowledge of system parameters, hut rather the bounds on system perturbation. Chatter and the adverse effects of conservative bounds on system perturbation, often encountered in conventional sliding-mode control (SMC), are alleviated for the controlled plant by the proposed scheme. The benefits of this scheme are demonstrated in this study practically on a magnetic levitation system and its performance is compared with that of the conventional SMC scheme