Automatic scenario generation for efficient solution of robust optimal control problems

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.

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This paper deals with various duality results for a new class of constrained robust nonlinear control problems. Concretely, we introduce a minimisation problem associated with a vector of functionals of multiple integral type. In addition, the considered multi-objective controlled optimisation problem is governed by several mixed constraints generated by partial derivatives of second order and uncertain data. For this new class of control problems, we establish and characterise Wolfe, Mond-Weir and mixed type robust dual models. To this aim, by using the notion of convex multiple integral functional, generated by a controlled second-order Lagrangian with uncertain data, and the concept of robust weak efficient solution to the problem under study, we build a new mathematical context to state and prove the duality theorems.

This paper investigates the robust optimal control problem of a class of continuous-time, partially linear, interconnected systems. In addition to the dynamic uncertainties resulted from the interconnected dynamic system, unknown bounded disturbances are taken into account throughout the learning process, wherein the system’s dynamics and the disturbances are assumed unknown. These challenges lead the collected online data to be imperfect. In this scenario, traditional data-driven control techniques, such as adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and robust ADP, encounter a challenge in approximating the optimal control policy precisely due to imperfect data and computational errors. In this paper, a novel data-driven robust policy iteration method is proposed to simultaneously solve the robust optimal control problems. Without relying on the knowledge of the system’s dynamics, the external disturbances or the complete state, the implementation of the proposed method only needs to access the input and partial state information. Based on the small-gain theorem, the notions of strong unboundedness observability and input-to-output stability, it is guaranteed that the learned robust optimal control gain is stabilizing and that the solution of the closed-loop system is uniformly ultimately bounded despite the existence of dynamic uncertainties and unknown external disturbances. The simulation results reveal the efficiency and practicality of the proposed data-driven control method. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —This work is motivated by the use of reinforcement learning to improve the quality of designing adaptive optimal controllers for engineering applications. Adaptive dynamic programming methods, in particular policy iteration (PI), are widely used in solving optimal control problems. However, due to the iterative nature of PI, the approximated optimal control policy may be inaccurate and imprecise. Especially, when using imperfect system’s measurements instead of the modelling information. This can result in causing the learned control policy to deviate from the actual optimal policy. This becomes more challenging in the existence of dynamic uncertainties and unknown external disturbances which corrupt the measurements and result in imperfect data. This work investigates the conditions on the uncertainties such that the proposed novel data-driven PI algorithm is robust to system’s uncertainties, unknown external disturbances and imperfect measurements. The approximated robust optimal control policy performs robustly in the existences of imperfect data and uncertainties, and at the same time is close enough to the optimal control policy.

We introduce the tensor numerical method for solving optimal control problems that are constrained by fractional two‐ (2D) and three‐dimensional (3D) elliptic operators with variable coefficients. We solve the governing equation for the control function which includes a sum of the fractional operator and its inverse, both discretized over large 3D spacial grids. Using the diagonalization of the arising matrix‐valued functions in the eigenbasis of the one‐dimensional Sturm–Liouville operators, we construct the rank‐structured tensor approximation with controllable precision for the discretized fractional elliptic operators and the respective preconditioner. The right‐hand side in the constraining equation (the optimal design function) is supposed to be represented in a form of a low‐rank canonical tensor. Then the equation for the control function is solved in a tensor structured format by using preconditioned CG iteration with the adaptive rank truncation procedure that also ensures the accuracy of calculations, given an ‐threshold. This method reduces the numerical cost for solving the control problem to (plus the quadratic term with a small weight), which outperforms traditional approaches with complexity in the 3D case. The storage for the representation of all 3D nonlocal operators and functions involved is also estimated by . This essentially outperforms the traditional methods operating with fully populated matrices and vectors in . Numerical tests for 2D/3D control problems indicate the almost linear complexity scaling of the rank truncated preconditioned conjugate gradient iteration in the univariate grid sizen.

This paper builds up two equivalence theorems for different kinds of optimal control problems of internally controlled Schrodinger equations. The first one is an equivalence of the minimal norm and the minimal time control problems where the target sets are the origin of the state space. (The minimal time control problems are also called the first type of optimal time control problems.) The second one is an equivalence of three optimal control problems: optimal target control problems, optimal norm control problems, and the second type of optimal time control problems.

Robust optimal control of connected and automated vehicle platoons through improved particle swarm optimization

In general, optimal control problems rely on numerically rather than analytically solving methods, due to their nonlinearities. The direct method, one of the numerically solving methods, is mainly to transform the optimal control problem into a nonlinear optimization problem with finite dimensions, via discretizing the objective functional and the forced dynamical equations directly. However, in the procedure of the direct method, the classical discretizations of the forced equations will reduce or affect the accuracy of the resulting optimization problem as well as the discrete optimal control. In view of this fact, more accurate and efficient numerical algorithms should be employed to approximate the forced dynamical equations. As verified, the discrete variational difference schemes for forced Birkhoffian systems exhibit excellent numerical behaviors in terms of high accuracy, long-time stability and precise energy prediction. Thus, the forced dynamical equations in optimal control problems, after being represented as forced Birkhoffian equations, can be discretized according to the discrete variational difference schemes for forced Birkhoffian systems. Compared with the method of employing traditional difference schemes to discretize the forced dynamical equations, this way yields faithful nonlinear optimization problems and consequently gives accurate and efficient discrete optimal control. Subsequently, in the paper we are to apply the proposed method of numerically solving optimal control problems to the rendezvous and docking problem of spacecrafts. First, we make a reasonable simplification, i.e., the rendezvous and docking process of two spacecrafts is reduced to the problem of optimally transferring the chaser spacecraft with a continuously acting force from one circular orbit around the Earth to another one. During this transfer, the goal is to minimize the control effort. Second, the dynamical equations of the chaser spacecraft are represented as the form of the forced Birkhoffian equation. Then in this case, the discrete variational difference scheme for forced Birkhoffian system can be employed to discretize the chaser spacecraft's equations of motion. With further discretizing the control effort and the boundary conditions, the resulting nonlinear optimization problem is obtained. Finally, the optimization problem is solved directly by the nonlinear programming method and then the discrete optimal control is achieved. The obtained optimal control is efficient enough to realize the rendezvous and docking process, even though it is only an approximation of the continuous one. Simulation results fully verify the efficiency of the proposed method for numerically solving optimal control problems, if the fact that the time step is chosen to be very large to limit the dimension of the optimization problem is noted.

Decomposition method for solving two optimal control problems and one optimization problem in batch fermentation is proposed. The problems are formulated based on a nonstructured mathematical model with slowly varying parameters and a finite cost criterion of maximum end production. Dependence of the model parameters on one physical or chemical parameter, which could easily be used as a control input is introduced analytically in the model equations and three model descriptions are obtained by nonlinear difference equations. Sensitivity functions of state trajectories towards slowly varying coefficients are introduced to account for model uncertainties. Based on them extended optimal control and optimization problems are formulated.

Previous article Next article The Reduction of Certain Control Problems to an “Ordinary Differential” TypeJ. WargaJ. Wargahttps://doi.org/10.1137/1010036PDFBibTexSections ToolsAdd to favoritesExport CitationTrack CitationsEmail SectionsAbout Previous article Next article FiguresRelatedReferencesCited byDetails Stationarity conditions in optimal control problems class related to dynamical objects group control Cross Ref On the First- and Second-Order Conditions in Optimal Control Problems Related to Autonomous Objects Group lifecycle Cross Ref Optimal Control Problems with Time Delays: Constancy of the HamiltonianRichard B. Vinter25 July 2019 | SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, Vol. 57, No. 4AbstractPDF (525 KB)On obtaining the stationarity conditions in an optimal control problem for a trajectory with a smooth contact with the phase boundary Cross Ref On one Method to Obtain Stationarity Conditions for an Optimal Control Problem Trajectory With a Smooth Boundary ContactIFAC-PapersOnLine, Vol. 51, No. 32 Cross Ref The Maximum Principle for Optimal Control Problems with Time DelaysA. Boccia and R. B. Vinter19 September 2017 | SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, Vol. 55, No. 5AbstractPDF (407 KB)Problems with relaxed shifted controls and the pointwise maximum principleNonlinear Analysis: Theory, Methods & Applications, Vol. 75, No. 3 Cross Ref The Instability of Optimal Control Problems to Time DelayAlexey S. Matveev26 July 2006 | SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, Vol. 43, No. 5AbstractPDF (340 KB)On the Characterization of Properly Relaxed Delayed ControlsJournal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Vol. 209, No. 1 Cross Ref Approximation of strongly relaxed minimizers with ordinary delayed controlsApplied Mathematics & Optimization, Vol. 32, No. 1 Cross Ref Jack Warga: In Appreciation14 July 2006 | SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, Vol. 33, No. 2AbstractPDF (809 KB)Minimizing approximate original solutions for commensurate delayed controlsApplied Mathematics Letters, Vol. 7, No. 5 Cross Ref How to Properly Relax Delayed Controls Cross Ref A proper relaxation of shifted and delayed controlsJournal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Vol. 169, No. 2 Cross Ref Optimal controls and their discontinuities in quadratic problems of delay systemsIEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol. 30, No. 7 Cross Ref Optimal Controls with PseudodelaysJ. Warga18 July 2006 | SIAM Journal on Control, Vol. 12, No. 2AbstractPDF (1227 KB)A conservative bound on the estimation error covariance matrix in the presence of correlated driving noise and correlated discrete measurement noiseJournal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Vol. 43, No. 2 Cross Ref References Cross Ref Volume 10, Issue 2| 1968SIAM Review History Submitted:18 October 1967Published online:18 July 2006 InformationCopyright © 1968 Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsPDF Download Article & Publication DataArticle DOI:10.1137/1010036Article page range:pp. 219-222ISSN (print):0036-1445ISSN (online):1095-7200Publisher:Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

In this paper, an infinite horizon optimal robust guaranteed cost control scheme of a class of continuous-time uncertain nonlinear systems is established based on adaptive dynamic programming. The main idea lies in that the optimal robust guaranteed cost control problem can be transformed into an optimal control problem. Actually, the optimal cost function of the nominal system is nothing but the optimal guaranteed cost of the original uncertain system. A critic neural network is constructed to help solving the modified Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation corresponding to the nominal system. Then, an additional stabilizing term is introduced to reinforce the updating process of the weight vector and reduce the requirement of an initial stabilizing control. An example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the present control approach.

1 A Survey on Computational Optimal Control.- Issues in the Direct Transcription of Optimal Control Problems to Sparse Nonlinear Programs.- Optimization in Control of Robots.- Large-scale SQP Methods and their Application in Trajectory Optimization.- Solving Optimal Control and Pursuit-Evasion Game Problems of High Complexity.- 2 Theoretical Aspects of Optimal Control and Nonlinear Programming.- Continuation Methods In Boundary Value Problems.- Second Order Optimality Conditions for Singular Extremals.- Synthesis of Adaptive Optimal Controls for Linear Dynamic Systems.- Control Applications of Reduced SQP Methods.- Time Optimal Control of Mechanical Systems.- 3 Algorithms for Optimal Control Calculations.- Second Order Algorithm for Time Optimal Control of a Linear System.- An SQP-type Solution Method for Constrained Discrete-Time Optimal Control Problems.- Numerical Methods for Solving Differential Games, Prospective Applications to Technical Problems.- Construction of the Optimal Feedback Controller for Constrained Optimal Control Problems with Unknown Disturbances.- Repetitive Optimization for Predictive Control of Dynamic Systems under Uncertainty.- Optimal Control of Multistage Systems Described by High-Index Differential-Algebraic Equations.- A New Class of a High Order Interior Point Method for the Solution of Convex Semiinfinite Optimization Problems.- A Structured Interior Point SQP Method for Nonlinear Optimal Control Problems.- 4 Software for Optimal Control Calculations.- Automated Approach for Optimizing Dynamic Systems.- ANDECS: A Computation Environment for Control Applications of Optimization.- Application of Automatic Differentiation to Optimal Control Problems.- OCCAL: A mixed symbolic-numeric Optimal Control CALculator.- 5 Applications of Optimal Control.- A Robotic Satellite with Simplified Design.- Nonlinear Control under Constraints of a Biological System.- An Object-Oriented Approach to Optimally Describe and Specify a SCADA System Applied to a Power Network.- Near-Optimal Flight Trajectories Generated by Neural Networks.- Performance of a Feedback Method with Respect to Changes in the Air-Density during the Ascent of a Two-Stage-To-Orbit Vehicle.- Linear Optimal Control for Reentry Flight.- Steady-State Modelling of Turbine Engine with Controllers.- Shortest Paths for Satellite Mounted Robot Manipulators.- Optimal Control of the Industrial Robot Manutec r3.

A penalty/least-squares method for optimal control problems for first-order elliptic systems

In this paper we investigate the use of optimal control techniques to improve Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) for drop foot correction on hemiplegic patients. A model of the foot and the tibialis anterior muscle, the contraction of which is controlled by electrical stimulation has been established and is used in the optimal control problem. The novelty in this work is the use of the ankle accelerations and shank orientations (so-called external states) in the model, which have been measured on hemiplegic patients in a previous experiment using Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs). The optimal control problem minimizes the square of muscle excitations which serves the overall goal of reducing energy consumption in the muscle. In a first step, an offline optimal control problem is solved for test purposes and shows the efficiency of the FES optimal control for drop foot correction. In a second step, a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) problem - or online optimal control problem, is solved in a simulated environment. While the ulitmate goal is to use NMPC on the real system, i.e. directly on the patient, this test in simulation was meant to show the feasibility of NMPC for online drop foot correction. In the optimization problem, a set of fixed constraints of foot orientation was applied. Then, an original adaptive constraint taking into account the current ankle height, was introduced and tested. Comparisons between results under fixed and adaptive constraints highlight the advantage of the adaptive constraints in terms of energy consumption, where its quadratic sum of controls, obtained by NMPC, was three times lower than with the fixed constraint. This feasibility study was a first step in application of NMPC on real hemiplegic patients for online FES-based drop foot correction. The adaptive constraints method presents a new and efficient approach in terms of muscular energy consumption minimization.

This thesis deals with the study of optimal control problems for the incompressible Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. Particular attention to these problems arises from several applications in science and engineering, such as fission nuclear reactors with liquid metal coolant and aluminum casting in metallurgy. In such applications it is of great interest to achieve the control on the fluid state variables through the action of the magnetic Lorentz force. In this thesis we investigate a class of boundary optimal control problems, in which the flow is controlled through the boundary conditions of the magnetic field. Due to their complexity, these problems present various challenges in the definition of an adequate solution approach, both from a theoretical and from a computational point of view. In this thesis we propose a new boundary control approach, based on lifting functions of the boundary conditions, which yields both theoretical and numerical advantages. With the introduction of lifting functions, boundary control problems can be formulated as extended distributed problems. We consider a systematic mathematical formulation of these problems in terms of the minimization of a cost functional constrained by the MHD equations. The existence of a solution to the flow equations and to the optimal control problem are shown. The Lagrange multiplier technique is used to derive an optimality system from which candidate solutions for the control problem can be obtained. In order to achieve the numerical solution of this system, a finite element approximation is considered for the discretization together with an appropriate gradient-type algorithm. A finite element object-oriented library has been developed to obtain a parallel and multigrid computational implementation of the optimality system based on a multiphysics approach. Numerical results of two- and three-dimensional computations show that a possible minimum for the control problem can be computed in a robust and accurate manner.