One of the main fields of study in the control of dynamical systems has
been the effective control of time-varying systems with uncertain
parameters and external disturbances. In contrast to stochastic adaptive
controllers with identification algorithms, the deterministic control of
uncertain time-varying systems has a fixed nonlinear feedback
controller, which operates effectively over a specified magnitude range
of a class of system variations. If the variations satisfy certain
matching conditions, complete insensitivity to system uncertainties can
be achieved. The two main approaches are Variables Structure and
Lyapunov control. The contents of this book reflect the research output
of many authors. The chapters include material of an introductory nature
as well as some of the latest research results. Attention has also been
focussed upon some of the main areas of application, which include
electric motor drives, robotics and flight control systems. The book
should prove useful to control designers, theoreticians and graduate
students.