This paper presents a novel adaptive twisting sliding mode control strategy combined with a speed-sensorless cascade nonlinear observer for the high-performance control of linear induction motors (LIMs). The primary objective is to achieve accurate speed and rotor flux tracking without relying on mechanical sensors, thereby enhancing system reliability and reducing hardware complexity. For this purpose, a cascade nonlinear observer is designed and applied to the class of nonlinear affine systems representing LIM dynamics. Based on the interconnected form of the LIM mathematical model, the observer simultaneously reconstructs both the motor speed and rotor fluxes in real time. The stability of the proposed cascade observer is analyzed using Lyapunov theory, ensuring the convergence of the estimation errors under bounded disturbances. Complementing the observer, two adaptive gain twisting sliding mode controllers are developed: one for speed tracking and another for flux regulation. These controllers are robust against external disturbances and parameter uncertainties, even when the bounds of such disturbances are unknown. This feature significantly enhances the practical applicability of the control system in real-world industrial environments. To validate the performance and robustness of the proposed control scheme, a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiment was conducted. Comparative studies with existing state-of-the-art sensorless control methods demonstrate that the proposed cascade nonlinear observer-based approach achieves faster convergence, higher estimation accuracy, and better disturbance rejection capabilities, while requiring less computational effort.

This paper presents the design of a finite-time sliding mode control (FT-SMC) algorithm for a two-axis robotic arm, grounded in the principles of sliding mode control (SMC). SMC is a robust nonlinear control strategy known for its rapid response and has been extensively applied in robotic arm control. However, traditional SMC suffers from a convergence speed that is highly dependent on the initial system state; specifically, larger deviations from the sliding surface result in prolonged convergence times. To overcome this limitation, the FT-SMC approach introduces a novel sliding surface and a corresponding control law, enabling the system to reach the sliding surface within a predefined time frame and maintain motion along it thereafter. This study outlines a comprehensive methodology for designing a robotic arm controller based on FT-SMC. The dynamic model of the robotic arm is first derived using the Newton-Euler method, leading to the formulation of state-space equations that account for system uncertainties and external disturbances. A second-order differentiator based on SMC is then developed, with its parameters optimized for performance. A non-singular terminal sliding surface and an associated control law are subsequently constructed, and the Lyapunov stability theory is employed to ensure finite-time convergence to the sliding surface. Finally, the proposed FT-SMC algorithm is validated through comparative Simulink/SolidWorks simulation experiments against Second-Order Sliding Mode Control (SOSMC) and Proportional-Derivative (PD) control algorithms. The results demonstrate the algorithm’s superior effectiveness, achieving enhanced tracking accuracy and stability.

To address the rigid temporal constraints and high-precision trajectory tracking requirements in modern industrial automation (e.g., high-speed pick-and-place or collaborative assembly), this paper proposes a novel composite control strategy for robotic manipulators that integrates Actor–Critic reinforcement learning with predefined-time sliding mode control (PTC-RLC). Existing predefined-time control (PTC) schemes usually rely on excessively large switching gains when dealing with strong disturbances, which easily triggers severe chattering in the system’s actuators and degrades dynamic performance. To this end, a novel predefined-time sliding surface based on artificial delay feedback is designed, ensuring that the position tracking error can strictly converge within a user-explicitly set time $T_c$ regardless of the system’s initial states, thereby significantly enhancing temporal determinism. Meanwhile, a reinforcement learning agent based on the Actor–Critic architecture is constructed to approximate and dynamically compensate for the system’s lumped unknown dynamics and external disturbances online, minimizing the control law’s reliance on large robust gains. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the semi-global uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is strictly proved. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that under severe operating conditions with parameter mismatches and time-varying disturbances, the proposed control strategy not only achieves high-precision and singularity-free trajectory tracking within the predefined time, but also effectively suppresses high-frequency chattering phenomena compared to the traditional non-singular terminal sliding mode control (NTSMC), outputting a smoother control torque and demonstrating strong potential for practical engineering implementations.

Traditional sliding mode control (SMC) lacks an active mechanism for redistributing energy among state channels during transient convergence, resulting in a rigid trade-off between response speed, overshoot suppression, and energy efficiency. This paper proposes a virtual state coupled SMC method that introduces a dynamic virtual state with bilinear product coupling $x_1{x}_2$ into the sliding surface. Unlike conventional virtual states that serve as static linear combinations or observer-based estimates, the proposed virtual state evolves dynamically and establishes an active energy exchange channel between the real and virtual state dynamics. Linearization and Lyapunov-based analyses prove local asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. The coupling strength $\gamma$ is shown to be decoupled from the linearized local eigenvalues and thus governs the energy–performance trade-off independently, while the condition $c>\gamma /4$ guarantees a non-vanishing domain of attraction. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed method achieves up to 53.2% control energy reduction under disturbance-free conditions compared with conventional SMC. Under persistent high-frequency disturbances, increasing $\gamma$ reduces oscillations by 54.2% at a controllable energy cost of 45.7%. Systematic parameter selection guidelines are provided, and Monte Carlo simulations (500 trials, $\pm 30\%$ parameter perturbations) confirm 100% convergence. The proposed method offers an independently adjustable energy–performance trade-off mechanism suitable for sensor-based motion systems with stringent transient and energy requirements.