Through this article, we present an advanced prescribed performance-tracking control system with finite-time convergence stability for uncertain robotic manipulators. It is therefore necessary to define a suitable performance function and error transformation to guarantee a prescribed performance within a finite time. Following the definitions mentioned, a modified integral nonlinear sliding-mode hyperplane is constructed from the transformed errors. By using the designed nonlinear sliding-mode surface and the super-twisting reaching control law, an advanced approach to the prescribed performance control was formed for the trajectory tracking control of uncertain robotic manipulators. The proposed controller exhibits improved properties, including estimated convergence speed and a predefined upper and lower limit for maximum overshoot during transient responses. Furthermore, the maximum allowable size of the control errors at the steady-state can be predefined and these errors will inevitably converge to zero within a finite time, while the proposed controller can provide a smooth control torque without the loss of its robustness. It is shown that the proposed control system is globally stable and convergent over a finite time. A comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm was already conducted via the simulation of an industrial robot manipulator.
Keywords: finite-time control; prescribed performance control; robot manipulators; sliding mode control.