Prescribed Finite-Time Adaptive Neural Tracking Control for Nonlinear State-Constrained Systems: Barrier Function Approach

The purpose of this article is to present a novel backstepping-based adaptive neural tracking control design procedure for nonlinear systems with time-varying state constraints. The designed adaptive neural tracking controller is expected to have the following characters: under its action: 1) the designed virtual control signals meet the constraints on the corresponding virtual control states in order to realize the backstepping design ideal and 2) the output tracking error tends to a sufficiently small neighborhood of the origin with the prescribed finite time and accuracy level. By combining the barrier Lyapunov function approach with the adaptive neural backstepping technique, a novel adaptive neural tracking controller is proposed. It is shown that the constructed controller makes sure that the output tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin with the prespecified tracking accuracy and settling time. Finally, the proposed control scheme is further tested by simulation examples.