This paper develops and uses a robust differentiator via sliding modes applied to velocity and acceleration measurements. From the only measure of the position, we are being able to accurately estimate the velocity and the acceleration of a servo drive system. Initially developed by Levant, this differentiator is based on high-order sliding modes. The goal of this work is to show the importance of the choice of the differentiator design in the control of an electropneumatic system. A comparative study is made between the 2nd-order robust differentiator and a classic digital differentiation algorithm, in order to show the influence of the structure differentiation algorithm on the control of the electropneumatic system.