In recent years, fractional order calculus has been widely used in science and engineering. Many fractional-order sliding mode controllers (FSMC) have been developed to enhance control performance. The FSMC has faster response and convergence speed in the initial stage due to the fractional operator. This means that the fractional sliding mode controller will yield a high output, which can more easily lead to input saturation.

In this project, we compare the various types of FSMC experimentally and analytically. In the experimental part, we apply the controllers on a micro-robotics setup, which consists of rotating permanent magnets to generate the required magnetic field for controlling multiple micro-robots, which are micro-scale permanent magnets, in this case.