State estimation for nonlinear systems under model uncertainties:: a class of sliding-mode observers

This paper deals with the classical problem of state estimation, considering partially unknown, nonlinear systems with noise measurements. Estimation of both, state variables and unstructured uncertain term, are performed simultaneously. In order to transform the measured disturbance into system disturbance, an alternative system representation is proposed, which lead a more advantageous observer structure. The observer proposed contains a proportional-type contribution and a sliding term for the measurement of error, which provides robustness against noisy measurements and model uncertainties. Convergence analysis of the estimation methodology proposed is performed, analysing the equation of the dynamics of the estimation error; it is shown that the observer exhibits asymptotic convergence. Estimation of monomer concentration, average molecular weight, polydispersity and filtering of temperature in a batch stirred polymerization reactor illustrates the good performance of them observer proposed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.