Variable gains decentralized super-twisting sliding mode controllers for large-scale modular systems

This paper deals with the design of a variable gains super-twisting sliding mode-based decentralized control scheme with application to large-scale modular systems. The system under consideration is composed by a interconnection of so-called active nodes, where the control signal acts, and nonactive nodes, which are not subjected to control actions. A recently proposed scheme to vary the gains for super-twisting architecture is employed to asymptotically achieve reference model-based control, thus ensuring robustness and insensitiveness with respect to uncertainties and disturbances acting on the input channel of each active node. Numerical simulations based on a large-scale mechanical system are provided to assess the proposed control scheme