When a control system contains uncertainties that change over time, such as unmodeled system dynamics and disturbances, an adaptive controller can compensate for the changing process information by adjusting its parameters in real time. By doing so, such a controller can achieve desired reference tracking despite the uncertainties in the plant dynamics.

Simulink^® Control Design™ software provides a model-free, real-time adaptive control method for computing controller parameters that maximize an objective function derived from the your control system. For more information, see Extremum Seeking Control.