Sliding-Mode Control Strategies for PMSM speed control: A Comprehensive Review, Taxonomy and Research Gaps

TL;DR

The paper surveys Sliding Mode Control (SMC) strategies for PMSM speed control from 2020 to 2025, highlighting a shift from classic discontinuous SMC toward adaptive, higher-order, and data-driven variants that mitigate chattering while preserving robustness. It presents a unified taxonomy of SMC variants (conventional, terminal, integral, higher-order, fractional, adaptive) and discusses observer-based, hybrid, and optimization-enhanced designs, with a focus on PMSM-specific dynamics and disturbances. Key contributions include a comprehensive literature catalog, a critical synthesis of robustness versus computational cost, and the identification of persistent gaps such as hardware validation, energy-efficiency assessment, and real-time tuning strategies. The work establishes a reference framework for researchers and informs a companion Part II that offers a unified benchmark and comparative simulations. Overall, the findings underscore a maturation of SMC for PMSMs, driven by hybrid architectures, disturbance observation, and intelligent parameter tuning, with real-time hardware validation and standard benchmarks guiding future progress.

Abstract

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) are widely employed in high-performance drive systems due to their high efficiency, power density, and precise dynamic behavior. However, nonlinearities, load disturbances, and parameter uncertainties present persistent challenges to control. Sliding-Mode Control (SMC) remains one of the most reliable strategies for high-performance PMSM drives. Yet, the rapid proliferation of adaptive, fractional-order, and intelligent variants has fragmented recent literature. This paper presents a comprehensive review and taxonomy of SMC-based PMSM speed-control methods published between 2020 and 2025. More than 200 studies are systematically analyzed and classified according to control order, surface design, disturbance-observer integration, optimization approach, and intelligent augmentation. Trends in publication activity, dominant hybrid structures, and application domains are quantitatively summarized. The review reveals a clear evolution from conventional discontinuous SMC toward adaptive, higher-order, and data-driven frameworks that mitigate chattering while preserving robustness. Persistent research gaps are identified in hardware validation, energy-efficiency assessment, and real-time tuning strategies. The taxonomy and critical synthesis provided herein establish a coherent reference for researchers and form the conceptual foundation for the companion paper (Part II), which delivers a unified benchmark and comparative simulation study of representative SMC designs.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: PMSM Internal Schematic
• Figure 2: Block diagram of a typical PMSM control system, showing the DSP, feedback sensors, CPLD logic, inverter, and resolver-based position feedback zhou2015hardware.
• Figure 3: Complete control architecture of a PMSM drive based on FOC. The system comprises an outer speed control loop, inner current regulation loops, Park and Clarke transformations, SVPWM, and encoder-based feedback.
• Figure 4: Taxonomy of Sliding Mode Control (SMC) strategies for PMSM speed regulation, covering control orders, surface designs, reaching laws, observers, hybrid methods, and structural configurations.
• Figure 5: Chattering in Conventional SMC