Summary
This article studies the problem of practical prescribed‐time tracking for pure‐feedback nonlinear systems, where the transient behavior, steady‐state precision, settling time as well as the rate of convergence can be preset irrespective of initial conditions. With the help of a time‐dependent function and a state‐dependent function, a simple coordinate transformation is established to construct a neuro‐adaptive controller to achieve the tracking purpose. In particular, the proposed controller does not need to update the design parameters in accordance with different initial conditions, which makes the controller more versatile. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through two practical systems, namely, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), and a robotic system.