Control of a Symmetric Chaotic Supply Chain System Using a New Fixed-Time Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Technique Subject to Control Input Limitations

Control of supply chains with chaotic dynamics is an important, yet daunting challenge because of the limitations and constraints there are in the amplitude of control efforts. In real-world systems, applying control techniques that need a large amplitude signal is impractical. In the literature, there is no study that considers the control of supply chain systems subject to control input limitations. To this end, in the current study, a new control scheme is proposed to tackle this issue. In the designed control input, limitations in control inputs, as well as robustness against uncertainties, are taken into account. The proposed scheme is equipped with a fixed time disturbance observer to eliminate the destructive effects of uncertainties and disturbances. Additionally, the super-twisting sliding mode technique guarantees the fixed-time convergence of the closed-loop system. After that, a symmetric supply chain system is presented, and its chaotic attractors are demonstrated. Finally, the proposed controller is applied to the symmetric supply chain system. Numerical simulations exhibit the proposed scheme's excellent performance even though the system is subjected to control input limitations and time-varying uncertainties.