Small-time stabilization of nonholonomic or underactuated mechanical systems: the unicycle and the slider examples
It provides a constructive solution to a known stabilization problem for two classes of mechanical systems that are difficult to stabilize.
This paper constructs explicit time-varying feedback laws that achieve small-time stabilization for nonholonomic (unicycle robot) and underactuated (slider) mechanical systems, which are not stabilizable by continuous state feedback.
This paper concerns the small-time stabilization of some classes of mechanical systems which are not stabilizable by means of at least continuous state feedback laws. This is the case of nonholonomic mechanical systems, an example being the unicycle robot, or for underactuated mechanical systems, an example being the slider. Explicit time-varying feedback laws leading to small-time stabilization are constructed for these two control systems. The main tools are homogeneity, backstepping, and desingularization technics.