Autotuning process controller with enhanced load disturbance rejection

This work presents an autotuning process controller aimed at providing efficient rejection of load disturbances, in a class of situations that are typical in process control, and not easy to treat with most standard autotuning controllers. The regulator structure is not completely fixed a priori, though it can be reduced to a PID in simple cases. This is a significant peculiarity with respect to the main research stream on autotuning regulators, that refers essentially to fixed-structure (PID) regulators. Both a simulation and a laboratory example are reported.