The problem of stabilizing the chain of three integrators by a
piecewise continuous constrained control is studied. A feedback law in the
form of three nested saturators specified by six—three model and three
design—parameters is proposed. Global stability of the closed-loop system
is studied, and an optimization problem of determining the feedback
coefficients ensuring the greatest convergence rate near the equilibrium
while preserving global asymptotic stability is stated. It is shown that
the loss of global stability results from arising hidden attractors, which
come to existence when the convergence rate becomes greater than or
equal to a critical value depending on the control resource. A numerical
procedure for constructing hidden attractors is developed. The bifurcation
value of the convergence rate, which is an exact upper bound of the
parameter values ensuring global asymptotic stability of the closed-loop
system, is determined numerically by solving an algebraic system of four
equations.