Backstepping Controller Design for Pantograph-Catenary System

This paper proposes an active control method to suppress the contact force fluctuation between pantograph and catenary for high-speed trains with external disturbance. First, fitted by using the non-linear least square method, stiffness of catenary is applied to the Pantograph-Catenary system(PCS). Second, a backstepping control strategy for PCS is developed to decrease fluctuation of the contact force. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed control strategy has strong robustness and disturbance-attenuation ability. The control performances of the closed-loop systems can be shaped as desired by suitably choosing the design parameters. Finally, simulation studies are presented to validate the proposed scheme.