Transfer Function Analysis and Implementation of Active Disturbance Rejection Control

Abstract: To support the adoption of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) in industrial practice, this article aims at improving both understanding and implementation of ADRC using traditional means, in particular via transfer functions and a frequency-domain view. Firstly, to enable an immediate comparability with existing classical control solutions, a realizable transfer function implementation of continous-time linear ADRC is introduced. Secondly, a frequency-domain analysis of ADRC components, performance, parameter sensitivity, and tuning method is performed. Finally, an exact implementation of discrete-time ADRC using transfer functions is introduced for the first time, with special emphasis on practical aspects such as computational efficiency, low parameter footprint, and windup protection.