Though chaotic behaviors are exhibited in many simple nonlinear models, physical chaotic systems are much more complex and contain many types of uncertainties. This paper presents a robust adaptive neural control scheme for a class of uncertain chaotic systems in the disturbed strict-feedback form, with both unknown nonlinearities and uncertain disturbances. To cope with the two types of uncertainties, we combine backstepping methodology with adaptive neural design and nonlinear damping techniques. A smooth singularity-free adaptive neural controller is presented, where nonlinear damping terms are used to counteract the disturbances. The differentiability problem in controlling the disturbed strict-feedback system is solved without employing norm operation, which is usually used in robust control design. The proposed controllers can be applied to a large class of uncertain chaotic systems in practical situations. Simulation studies are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the scheme.
