This paper presents an effective robust predictive control scheme for the active power filter (APF) using a smith-predictor based current regulator, which show superior features when compared to proportional-integral (PI) controllers in terms of an enhanced closed-loop bandwidth and an improved current tracking accuracy. A moving average filter (MAF) is implemented using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for signal pre-processing to eliminate the switching ripple contamination. An adaptive linear neural network (ADALINE) is used for individual harmonic estimation to achieve selective compensation purpose. The effectiveness and validity of the devised control algorithm are confirmed by extensive simulation and experimental results.