Stabilization Control for an Inverted Pendulum on a Cart: A Terminal Sliding Mode Approach

A study of the inverted pendulum on a cart is conducted in this paper. The system represents a classical nonlinear underactuated problem mimicking real-life systems. The decoupled underactuated system is controlled by using a terminal sliding mode stabilization controller and a sliding mode up swing controller. The sliding mode controller provides a robust solution to the problem and is easy to implement in real-time applications. Simulation results are given to justify the designed controller and it is seen that the complete controller stabilizes both the angular position and the linear position of the pendulum and cart, respectively. The results of the terminal controller are also compared with conventional PID controller and first-order sliding mode controller and a 28 % improvement in the overall settling time of the system is observed. The chattering of the system is also reduced by 15 % when the terminal sliding mode is applied.