Stabilization of the Reaction Wheel Pendulum: A Comparative Study of Sliding Mode and Backstepping Control in Discrete-Time

Abstract

This paper explores two nonlinear control strategies aimed at stabilizing the reaction wheel pendulum. Discrete-time sliding mode control and discrete-time backstepping control are introduced for the reduced reaction wheel pendulum model. A discrete-time change of variables approach is applied to derive a reduced model of the dynamical system. After outlining the common design steps for both control methods, the control structures and stability analyses are presented where the primary objective is to stabilize the pendulum at its unstable equilibrium point. Numerical simulations are conducted to test both nonlinear controllers under varying initial conditions for the reaction wheel pendulum. Comparative results are presented and analyzed to assess the effectiveness of each strategy.