Robust controller design for uncertain nonholonomic systems

This paper deals with a new class of nonholonomic control systems with strongly nonlinear disturbances and drift terms. The objective is to design a robust nonlinear state feedback law which simultaneously solves the global exponential regulation problem for all plants in the class. A switching control strategy is employed to get around the smooth stabilization burden associated with nonholonomic systems. The systematic strategy involves the introduction of a state-scaling technique and the application of the so-called integrator backstepping procedure. Extension to the output-feedback case follows readily. Our theoretical development is validated via simulations