A pseudospectral collocation method for the brachistochrone problem

Most direct methods solve finite time horizon optimal control problems with nonlinear programming solver. In this paper, we propose a numerical method for solving nonlinear optimal control problem with state and control inequality constraints. This method used quasilinearization technique and Haar wavelet operational matrix to convert the nonlinear optimal control problem into a quadratic programming problem. The linear inequality constraints for trajectories variables are converted to quadratic programming constraint by using Haar wavelet collocation method. The proposed method has been applied to solve Optimal Control of Multi-Item Inventory Model. The accuracy of the states, controls and cost can be improved by increasing the Haar wavelet resolution.

An algorithm, based on quasi-linearization and state variable parametrization by using Chebyshev polynomials, is proposed to solve the nonlinear optimal control problem subject to terminal state constraints and control saturation constraints. By the virtue of the second method of quasi-linearization and state parametrization, the difficult nonlinear optimal control problem is converted into a sequence of standard quadratic programming problems. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

In this brief, numerical techniques for an efficient implementation of the spline transcription (ST) method by using the pseudospectral framework are proposed. It intends to develop a new approach to the ST method, analyses with which can be carried out with nearly the same level of computational burden without resorting to a specific type of collocation points as in the pseudospectral method. Therefore, the piecewise continuous polynomial interpolation is converted into a global spline interpolation, which has the same forms as the Lagrange interpolation and is used to derive the formulas for the partial integration and the differentiation. Using these formulas, the nonlinear optimal control problem can be transcribed in a similar manner as in the pseudospectral method and analyzed with numerical techniques and mathematical theories established well for the pseudospectral method. Also, this brief shows the Lagrange and tension spline interpolation can be used for the proposed methods. Numerical accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are accessed through its applications to the solution of two nonlinear optimal control problems on uniform nodes. The predicted results of states, controls, and costates are well correlated with the optimal solutions. Finally, this brief recommends the use of advanced grid topologies to enhance both accuracy and convergence by using the flexibility in node selections with the proposed methods.

Existing methods for nonlinear robust control often use scenario-based approaches to formulate the control problem as nonlinear optimization problems. Increasing the number of scenarios improves robustness, while increasing the size of the optimization problems. Mitigating the size of the problem by reducing the number of scenarios requires knowledge about how the uncertainty affects the system. This paper draws from local reduction methods used in semi-infinite optimization to solve robust optimal control problems with parametric uncertainty. We show that nonlinear robust optimal control problems are equivalent to semi-infinite optimization problems and can be solved by local reduction. By iteratively adding interim globally worst-case scenarios to the problem, methods based on local reduction provide a way to manage the total number of scenarios. In particular, we show that local reduction methods find worst case scenarios that are not on the boundary of the uncertainty set. The proposed approach is illustrated with a case study with both parametric and additive time-varying uncertainty. The number of scenarios obtained from local reduction is 101, smaller than in the case when all 214+3x192 boundary scenarios are considered. A validation with randomly drawn scenarios shows that our proposed approach reduces the number of scenarios and ensures robustness even if local solvers are used.

A new fractional orthogonal basis and its application in nonlinear delay fractional optimal control problems

This work develops an optimization method based on a new class of basis function, namely the generalized Bernoulli polynomials (GBP), to solve a class of nonlinear 2-dim fractional optimal control problems. The problem is generated by nonlinear fractional dynamical systems with fractional derivative in the Caputo type and the Goursat–Darboux conditions. First, we use the GBP to approximate the state and control variables with unknown coefficients and parameters. Afterwards, we substitute the obtained values for the variables and parameters in the objective function, nonlinear fractional dynamical system and Goursat–Darboux conditions. The 2-dim Gauss–Legendre quadrature rule together with a fractional operational matrix construct a constrained problem, that is solved by the Lagrange multipliers method. The convergence of the GBP method is proved and its efficiency is demonstrated by several examples.

An approximating state-dependent control method based on modified pattern search optimization for nonlinear optimal control problem

Here, a two-phase algorithm based on integrating particle swarm optimization (PSO) with modified hybrid genetic algorithm (MHGA) is proposed for solving the associated nonlinear programming problem of a nonlinear optimal control problem. In the first phase, PSO starts with a completely random initial swarm of particles, where each of them contains two random matrices in time nodes. After phase 1, to achieve more accurate solutions, the number of time nodes is increased. The values of the associated new control inputs are estimated by linear or spline interpolations using the curves computed in the phase 1. In addition, to maintain the diversity in the population, some additional individuals are added randomly. Next, in the second phase, MHGA, starts by the new population constructed by the above procedure and tries to improve the obtained solutions at the end of phase 1. MHGA combines a GA with a successive quadratic programming, SQP, as a local search. Finally, we implement the proposed algorithm on some well-known nonlinear optimal control problems. The numerical results show that the proposed algorithm can find almost better solution than other proposed algorithms. Keywords: Optimal control problem, Hybrid genetic algorithm, ?particle swarm optimization, Spline interpolation.

In this paper, an iterative computational method is proposed to handle constrained nonlinear quadratic optimal control problems. with terminal state constraints, saturation state and saturation control variables constraints. The method is based on replacing the original constrained nonlinear optimal control problem by a sequence of constrained linear time-varying quadratic optimal control problems. To this end, an iterative technique is used to replace the original constrained nonlinear dynamic system by a sequence of constrained linear time-varying systems. Then each of constrained linear time-varying quadratic optimal control problems is approximated by a quadratic programming problem by parameterizing each of the state variable by a finite length Legendre polynomials with unknown parameters. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulation results of a constrained nonlinear optimal control problem are presented.

Solution of nonlinear optimal control problems on analog parallel networks is proposed. Recurrent neural networks whose dynamic equations have a Lyapunov function are developed. Such circuits relax to an equilibrium which is the minimum of the Lyapunov function. Nonlinear optimal control problems are formulated in terms of a Lyapunov function and thus are solved using the recurrent networks. Convergence for linear and nonlinear classes of problems is considered. The method is demonstrated by developing and simulating a network to solve a nonlinear vibration problem. Simulation results demonstrate solution times are accurate and extremely fast. Solution times are shown to be independent of the size of the problem.

A chebyshev polynomial method for optimal control with state constraints

In this paper, the nonlinear optimal control problem is investigated for spacecraft formation flying with collision avoidance. Based on a nonlinear model of formation flying, two optimal tracking control laws are proposed to ensure the formation pattern converges to the predetermined configuration. The first optimal control law which combines Lyapunov optimizing control with a trajectory-following optimization technique is developed to solve the finite-time nonlinear optimal control problem. For the second controller, an extended [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] method is applied to design a closed-form feedback control scheme for nonlinear control problem of spacecraft formation flying with non-standard cost functions. By taking into account the flying safety, a repulsive control scheme is incorporated in the optimal controller to ensure collision avoidance and minimize the performance index. Finally, a numerical example is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

A EROSPACE engineering applications greatly stimulated the development of optimal control theory during the 1950s and 1960s, where the objective was to drive the system states in such a way that some defined cost was minimized. This turned out to have very useful applications in the design of regulators (where some steady state is to be maintained) and in tracking control strategies (where some predetermined state trajectory is to be followed). Among such applications was the problem of optimal flight trajectories for aircraft and space vehicles. Linear optimal control theory in particular has been very well documented and widely applied, where the plant that is controlled is assumed linear and the feedback controller is constrained to be linear with respect to its input. However, the availability of powerful low-cost microprocessors has spurred great advantages in the theory and applications of nonlinear control. The competitive era of rapid technological change, particularly in aerospace exploration, now demands stringent accuracy and cost requirements in nonlinear control systems. This has motivated the rapid development of nonlinear control theory for application to challenging, complex, dynamical real-world problems, particularly those that bear major practical significance in aerospace, marine, and defense industries. Infinite-time horizon nonlinear optimal control (ITHNOC) presents a viable option for synthesizing stabilizing controllers for nonlinear systems by making a state-input tradeoff, where the objective is to minimize the cost given by a performance index. The original theory of nonlinear optimal control dates from the 1960s. Various theoretical and practical aspects of the problem have been addressed in the literature over the decades since. In particular, the continuous-time nonlinear deterministic optimal control problem associated with autonomous (time-invariant) nonlinear regulator systems that are affine (linear) in the controls has been studied by many authors. The long-established theory of optimal control offers quite mature and well-documented techniques for solving this control-affine nonlinear optimization problem, based on dynamic programming or calculus of variations, but their application is generally a very tedious task. Bellman’s dynamic programming approach reduces to solving a nonlinear first-order partial differential equation (PDE), expressed by the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation. The solution to the HJB equation gives the optimal performance/cost value (or storage) function and determines an optimal control in feedback form under some smoothness assumptions. Alternatively, in the classical calculus of variations, optimal control problems can be characterized locally in terms of the Hamiltonian dynamics arising from Pontryagin’s minimum principle. These are the characteristic equations of the HJB PDE, which result in a nonlinear, constrained two-point boundary value problem (TPBVP) that, in general, can only be solved by successive approximation of the optimal control input using iterative numerical techniques for each set of initial conditions. Numerically, even though the nonlinear TPBVP is somewhat easier to solve than the HJBPDE, control signals can only be determined offline and are thus best suited for feedforward control of plants for which the state trajectories are known a priori. Therefore, contrary to the dynamic programming approach, the resultant control law is not generally in feedback form. Open-loop control, however, is sensitive to random disturbances and requires that the initial state be on the optimal trajectory. In contrast, nonlinear optimal feedback has inherent robustness properties (inherent in the sense that it is obtained by ignoring uncertainty and disturbances). The potential difficulty with the HJB approach is that no efficient algorithm is available to solve the PDE when it is nonlinear and the problem dimension is high, making it impossible to derive exact expressions for optimal controls for most nontrivial problems of interest. The optimal can only be computed in special cases, such as linear dynamics and quadratic cost, or very low-dimensional systems. In particular, if the plant is linear time invariant (LTI) and the (infinite-time) performance index is quadratic, then the corresponding HJB equation for this infamous linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) problem reduces to an algebraic Riccati equation (ARE). Contrary to the well-developed and widely applied theory and computational tools for theRiccati equation (for example, see [1]), theHJB equation is difficult, if not impossible, to solve for most practical applications. The exact solution for the optimal control policies is very complex

Robust dynamic bus controls considering delay disturbances and passenger demand uncertainty

Multitask learning and nonlinear optimal control of the COVID-19 outbreak: A geometric programming approach