Robust output regulation of minimum phase nonlinear systems using conditional servocompensators

We consider the design of a robust continuous sliding mode controller for the output regulation of a class of minimum-phase nonlinear systems. Previous work has shown how to do this by incorporating a linear servocompensator in the sliding mode design, but the transient performance is degraded when compared to ideal sliding mode control. Extending previous ideas from the design of ‘conditional integrators’ for the case of asymptotically constant references and disturbances, we design the servocompensator as a conditional one that provides servocompensation only inside the boundary layer; achieving asymptotic output regulation, but with improved transient performance. We give both regional as well as semi-global results for error convergence, and show that the controller can be tuned to recover the performance of an ideal sliding mode control. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.