MATLAB Simulation of Active Disturbance Rejection Controller

Active Disturbance Rejection Controller (ADRC) is an advanced control strategy widely applied in industrial control systems, with its main advantage being effective suppression of both internal and external disturbances. However, practical ADRC implementation faces a significant challenge - multiple parameters requiring manual tuning with complex coupling relationships, making the debugging process tedious and lacking clear direction.

To simplify ADRC parameter tuning, MATLAB simulation serves as an efficient auxiliary tool. By building simulation models, one can systematically analyze each parameter's impact on system performance. For instance, how changes in observer bandwidth, controller gains, and nonlinear feedback parameters affect system response speed, overshoot, and steady-state error. In MATLAB implementation, this typically involves creating transfer function models or state-space representations using Control System Toolbox functions like tf() or ss(), followed by parameter sweep simulations.

During simulation, parameter sensitivity analysis or optimization algorithms (such as Genetic Algorithm or Particle Swarm Optimization) can be employed to automatically find optimal parameter combinations, reducing manual debugging randomness. MATLAB's Optimization Toolbox provides functions like ga() for genetic algorithm implementation, where users can define cost functions evaluating system performance metrics like ISE (Integral Square Error) or IAE (Integral Absolute Error).

MATLAB's Simulink environment is particularly suitable for validating such control algorithms, with its rich toolbox ecosystem (like Control System Toolbox) enabling rapid parameter tuning and performance evaluation. Through comparative analysis of simulation results under different operating conditions, general parameter adjustment rules can be summarized, providing reference for practical engineering applications. The optimized ADRC parameters obtained through simulation can significantly improve control system dynamic performance and disturbance rejection capability, making ADRC more accessible for engineering implementation.