The book is a collection of contributions concerning the theories, applications and perspectives of Variable Structure Systems (VSS). Variable Structure Systems have been a major control design methodology for many decades. The term Variable Structure Systems was introduced in the late 1950’s, and the fundamental concepts were developed for its main branch Sliding Mode Control by Russian researchers Emelyanov and Utkin. The 20th Century has seen the formation and consolidation of VSS theory and its applications. It has also seen an emerging trend of cross-fertilization and integration of VSS with other control and non-control techniques such as feedback linearization, ?atness, passivity based control, adaptive and learning ? control, system identi?cation, pulse width modulation, H geometric and algebraic methods, arti?cial intelligence, modeling and optimization, neural networks, fuzzy logic, to name just a few. This trend will continue and ?ourish in the new millennium. To re?ect these major developments in the 20th Century, this book - cludes 16 specially invited contributions from well-known experts in VSS theory and applications, covering a wide range of topics. The ?rst chapter, “First Stage of VSS: People and Events” written by Vadim Utkin, the founder of VSS, oversees and documents the historical developments of VSS in the 20th Century, including many interesting events not known to the West until now. The second chapter, “An Integrated Learning Variable Structure Control Method” written by Jian-Xin Xu, addresses an important issue regarding control integration between variable structure control and learning control.

The book covers the latest theoretical results and sophisticated applications in the field of variable-structure systems and sliding-mode control. This book is divided into four parts. Part I discusses new higher-order sliding-mode algorithms, including new homogeneous controllers and differentiators. Part II then explores properties of continuous sliding-mode algorithms, such as saturated feedback control, reaching time, and orbital stability. Part III is focused on the usage of variable-structure systems (VSS) controllers for solving other control problems, for example unmatched disturbances. Finally, Part IV discusses applications of VSS; these include applications within power electronics and vehicle platooning. Variable-structure Systems and Sliding-Mode Control will be of interest to academic researchers, students and practising engineers.

This unique book fulfils the definite need for an accessible book on variable structure systems and also provides the very latest results in research on this topic. Divided into three parts - basics of sliding mode control, new trends in sliding mode control, and applications of sliding mode control - the book contains many numerical design examples, so that readers can quickly understand the design methodologies and their applications to practical problems. Primarily aimed at students and researchers in the field, the book will also be useful for practising control engineers.

This book comprises a selection of papers that were first presented at VSS98 (5th International Workshop on Variable Structure Systems) held in Sarasota, Florida. This workshop was the fifth in a series of VSS international workshops, and the first to be held in the United States. Work presented herein on theoretical developments and applications on VSS and Sliding Mode, reflects how trends have advanced beyond the original ideas that are now well documented in a number of books and research monographs. In particular, the concepts of Sliding Sector and Second Order Sliding Mode introduced in this volume, will stimulate discussions and invite further extensions. Also, the focus on Sampled Data systems represents a positive trend towards practical industrial implementations of sliding mode controllers.

This book comprises a selection of papers that were first presented at VSS98 (5th International Workshop on Variable Structure Systems) held in Sarasota, Florida. This workshop was the fifth in a series of VSS international workshops, and the first to be held in the United States. Work presented herein on theoretical developments and applications on VSS and Sliding Mode, reflects how trends have advanced beyond the original ideas that are now well documented in a number of books and research monographs. In particular, the concepts of Sliding Sector and Second Order Sliding Mode introduced in this volume, will stimulate discussions and invite further extensions. Also, the focus on Sampled Data systems represents a positive trend towards practical industrial implementations of sliding mode controllers.

This book comprises a selection of papers that were first presented at VSS98 (5th International Workshop on Variable Structure Systems) held in Sarasota, Florida. This workshop was the fifth in a series of VSS international workshops, and the first to be held in the United States. Work presented herein on theoretical developments and applications on VSS and Sliding Mode, reflects how trends have advanced beyond the original ideas that are now well documented in a number of books and research monographs. In particular, the concepts of Sliding Sector and Second Order Sliding Mode introduced in this volume, will stimulate discussions and invite further extensions. Also, the focus on Sampled Data systems represents a positive trend towards practical industrial implementations of sliding mode controllers.