Robust tracking control of uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown control directions

A global robust tracking control design procedure is proposed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. The key point is that the signs of multiplicative uncertainties, the so-called control directions, are not assumed to be known a priori. The class of systems can be of arbitrary dynamic order and the unmatched additive uncertainties need not satisfy the global Lipschitz condition. It is proved that under the proposed control, all closed-loop states are bounded and the tracking error converges to any prescribed small neighborhood of the origin. The results of this paper enlarge the class of uncertain nonlinear systems for which global robust tracking control can be designed. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.