Sliding mode control — Basic concepts and current trends

The theory of variable structure systems (VSS) with sliding modes is currently one of the most significant research topics within the control engineering domain. Moreover, recently a number of important applications of the theory in the field of power electronics, motion control, robotics, bioprocess etc. have also been reported. Therefore, this paper presents a brief introduction to the theory of sliding mode control, then enumerates the most important novel trends in fundamental research in this field and finally briefly mentions some areas of successful engineering applications.