Disturbance Observer-Based Sliding Mode Controller for Regulating Pantograph–Catenary Contact Force

Abstract

For most electrified railways, pantographs play a vital role in transmitting energy from overhead line to vehicles, and therefore a stable and continuous contact behavior is required. This paper proposes a disturbance observer-based sliding mode controller (DO-SMC) for the problem of pantograph–catenary contact force regulation. The simulation results show that the DO-SMC with a chattering alleviation approach can effectively reduce contact force fluctuation through a reasonable control input.