A novel robust finite time control approach for a nonlinear disturbed quarter-vehicle suspension system with time delay actuation

Abstract

This paper presents a novel robust control approach for a nonlinear uncertain vehicle suspension system with time-delayed actuation and bounded disturbances. Three factors affect the stability and performance of the suspension system: (1) Uncertainty that arises from the difference between the model and the real system. (2) The disturbances that enter mostly from the side of the road to the suspension system. (3) Input delay that occurs by actuator performance. In this study, all three components are considered simultaneously, and sliding mode and backstepping methods have been used to overcome them. A nonlinear model is considered to more accurately describe the behaviour of the suspension and controller design. The Lyapunov function is inspired by the backstepping algorithm, and stability in the Lyapunov concept is obtained for the closed-loop system under the proposed robust finite time control. To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed controller, simulation scenarios are considered in the MATLAB environment. Simulation results verify good active suspension performance regardless of the presence of unknown time delay and disturbances in the nonlinear model.