AbstractIn this paper, we present the design of boundary controllers for a two‐dimensional, spinning flexible rotor system. Specifically, we develop a model‐based boundary controller which exponentially regulates the rotor's displacement and the angular velocity tracking error, and an adaptive boundary controller which asymptotically achieves the same control objective while compensating for parametric uncertainty. As opposed to previous boundary control work, which focused on the velocity setpoint problem and placed restrictions on the magnitude of the desired angular velocity setpoint, the proposed control architecture achieves angular velocity tracking with no restrictions on the magnitude of the desired velocity trajectory. Experimental results conducted on a flexible rotor tested are presented to illustrate the feasibility of implementing the proposed boundary control laws. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.