Combined Backstepping/Second-Order Sliding-Mode Boundary Stabilization of an Unstable Reaction-Diffusion Process

In this letter we deal with a class of open-loop unstable reaction-diffusion PDEs with boundary control and Robin-type boundary conditions. A second-order sliding mode algorithm is employed along with the backstepping method to asymptotically stabilize the controlled plant while providing at the same time the rejection of an external persistent boundary disturbance. A constructive Lyapunov analysis supports the presented synthesis, and simulation results are presented to validate the developed approach.