Disturbance observer is an inner-loop output-feedback controller whose role
is to reject external disturbances and to make the outer-loop baseline
controller robust against plant's uncertainties. Therefore, the closed-loop
system with the DOB approximates the nominal closed-loop by the baseline
controller and the nominal plant model with no disturbances. This article
presents how the disturbance observer works under what conditions, and how one
can design a disturbance observer to guarantee robust stability and to recover
the nominal performance not only in the steady-state but also for the transient
response under large uncertainty and disturbance