Modeling and robust control of a high speed train pantograph

Abstract

For high-speed trains, active control of the pantograph is crucial technology to collect electrical current from the overhead contact wire. In this paper, a mathematical model of the pantograph-catenary system is developed to design a controller, and then a sliding mode controller is proposed to regulate the contact force in the presence of variation in the equivalent stiffness of the catenary system. Although the proposed controller is based on the standard sliding mode control theory for output regulation problems, a design parameter is introduced to guarantee the existence of sliding mode from a practical point of view. Furthermore, the physical interpretation of the dynamics during sliding mode is given by analysis.