In this paper, an adaptive two degrees of freedom (2Dof) PI controller based on a just-in-time learning (JITL) method is proposed for predictive speed control of permanent magnet synchronous linear motor (PMSLM). Firstly, to guarantee the high identification accuracy and high real-time performance simultaneously, an improved JITL method is proposed to estimate the controlled model parameters of speed control system. Then, based on the dynamic controlled model, a simplified generalized predictive control (GPC) supplies a 2Dof proportional integral (PI) controller with suitable control parameters to follow a sinusoid-type speed command in operating conditions. The main motivation of this paper is the extension of the predictive controller to replace traditional PI controller in industrial applications. Finally, the efficacy and usefulness of the proposed controller are verified through the experimental results. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.