Finite time output parameter estimation for a class of nonlinear systems

In this letter, a novel scheme is proposed to identify in finite time the value of an unknown output parameter for a class of nonlinear dynamical systems. Inspired by the Super-Twisting Sliding Mode Algorithm (STA), the identification problem is solved in an innovative way, consisting of two steps. An STA observer is firstly designed to track in finite time the system output. Exploiting the observer behaviour during the sliding motion, a second scheme, still inspired by the STA, is used to estimate the unknown value of the output parameter, thus solving the identification problem in finite time. The numerical simulations based on district heating systems validate the effectiveness of the proposed identification method.