Toward state estimation by high gain differentiators with automatic differentiation

Most applications of automatic differentiation concern the field of optimization in the broadest sense. This means that many applications only need first and second order derivatives. An exception are control engineering problems, where higher order derivatives are required. This contribution addresses a control engineering problem, namely the estimation of variables that are not measured directly. This problem can be solved with high gain observers and high gain differentiators. They are typically calculated symbolically. We show how automatic differentiation can be used for the implementation of high gain differentiators.