AN ASYMPTOTIC TRACKING CONTROL STRATEGY FOR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS WITH UNCERTAIN NONLINEAR FRICTION

Abstract

Modeling nonlinear friction effects is a challenging problem. In this paper, a tracking controller is proposed for a system with uncertain nonlinear friction dynamics. Instead of using a specific friction model, we assume that the friction dynamics are represented by a function, which is unknown except its being continuously differentiable and Lipschitz continuous with known Lipschitz constants. It is shown that the scheme results in friction identification and trajectory position and velocity tracking. The analysis is done using Lyapunov-based stability method.