The pendubot is a classical highly non-linear system that has been widely
used in many laboratories to demonstrate the responses of the system when
applying control algorithms, to analyse dynamical equations, and to study
the parameter identification algorithms. The objective of this paper is to
design the controller to stabilize the pendubot at equilibrium points (TOP
and MID) and to track the defined trajectory. Firstly, mathematical
equations of the pendubot are derived by the Euler?Lagrange method. Thence,
a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to identify the parameters of the
system based on the collected data of the output states of the system when
applying impulse inputs. After that, sliding mode control (SMC) is designed
to balance the system at the equilibrium points and track the defined
trajectory. The chattering caused by SMC is reduced by fuzzy-sliding mode
control (FSMC). The proposed FSMC method solves the problem induced by SMC
by applying fuzzy logic. Additionally, the partial feedback linearisation
(PFL) method is introduced to design the swing-up system. Finally, both
simulation and experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness
and robustness of the proposed methods.