Learning control for gradually varying references in iteration domain was considered in this research,and a composite iterative learning control strategy was proposed to enable a plant to track unknown iteration-dependent trajectories.Specifically,by decoupling the current reference into the desired trajectory of the last trial and a disturbance signal with small magnitude,the learning and feedback parts were designed respectively to ensure fine tracking performance.After some theoretical analysis,the judging condition on whether the composite iterative learning control approach achieves better control results than pure feedback control was obtained for varying references.The convergence property of the closed-loop system was rigorously studied and the saturation problem was also addressed in the controller.The designed composite iterative learning control strategy is successfully employed in an atomic force microscope system,with both simulation and experimental results clearly demonstrating its superior performance.