A reference model is an abstract, authoritative description of the desired behaviour or structure of a system, used as the standard against which an actual implementation is measured or controlled. In control theory it specifies the ideal closed-loop response that a model-reference adaptive controller drives the plant to follow. In evaluation it serves as the baseline whose outputs define the expected target.
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- In model-reference adaptive control, the controller adjusts its parameters so the plant output converges to the reference model’s response despite uncertainty. More broadly, reference models give designers a precise specification of correct behaviour, separating what the system should do from how it is realised.