Operator-based robust right coprime factorisation approach is an interesting approach for non-linear control. It provides an effective framework for non-linear unstable system. In practice, the input constraint always exists, which induces that the real control input is different from the controller output, thus the input constraint may destabilise the system. However, control system design for non-linear plants with input saturation has seldom been studied due to the difficulties in dealing with non-linearity. Also in operator-based robust right coprime factorisation method, input saturation is not considered. In this paper, a new control system design for non-linear unstable plants with input saturation is proposed. Based on the robust right coprime factorisation, an operator-based switching controller is designed, which avoids the unstable region. Moreover, based on the proposed design scheme, the output tracking performance is also realised, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Umemoto, K. and Deng, M. (2011) 'Operator-based non-linear control system design for unstable plants with input saturation', Int. University, where he was an Assistant Professor and then an Associate Professor. His research interests include living body measurement; operator-based non-linear system modeling, control and fault detection; strong stability-based control; and robust parallel compensation. This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled 'Nonlinear control system desing for unstable plants with input saturation using robust right coprime factorization' presented at the