Optimal control of systems with hard control bounds

The paper introduces a new method for finding optimal control of algebraic dynamic systems. The structure of algebraic dynamical systems is nonlinear with quadratic and bilinear terms. A new hybrid extended Fourier series is introduced, and state and control variables of the system are expanded by this series. Moreover, properties of new series are presented, and integration and product operational matrices are obtained. Using operational matrices, optimal control of the systems is converted to a set of simultaneous nonlinear algebraic relations. An illustrative example is included to compare our results with those in the literature.

Optimal control of fractional order systems is a long established domain of fractional calculus. Nevertheless, it relies on equations expressed in terms of pseudo-state variables which raise fundamental questions. So in order remedy these problems, the authors propose in this paper a new and original approach to fractional optimal control based on a frequency distributed representation of fractional differential equations called the infinite state approach, associated with an original formulation of fractional energy, which is intended to really control the internal system state. In the first step, the fractional calculus of variations is revisited to express appropriate Euler Lagrange equations. Then, the quadratic optimal control of fractional linear systems is formulated. Thanks to a frequency discretization technique, the previous theoretical equations are converted into an equivalent large dimension integer order system which permits the implementation of a feasible optimal solution. A numerical example illustrates the validity of this new approach.

The problem of optimal control of time-varying linear singular systems with quadratic performance index has been studied using the Runge–Kutta–Butcher algorithm. The results obtained using the Runge–Kutta (RK) method based on the arithmetic mean (RKAM) and the RK–Butcher algorithms are compared with the exact solutions of the time-varying optimal control of linear singular systems. It is observed that the result obtained using the RK–Butcher algorithm is closer to the true solution of the problem. Stability regions for the RKAM algorithm, the single-term Walsh series method and the RK–Butcher algorithms are presented. Error graphs for the simulated results and exact solutions are presented in graphical form to highlight the efficiency of the RK–Butcher algorithm. This algorithm can easily be implemented using a digital computer. An additional advantage of this method is that the solution can be obtained for any length of time for this type of optimal control of time-varying linear singular systems.

Q-learning solution for optimal consensus control of discrete-time multiagent systems using reinforcement learning

Optimal control of multivariable systems with pure time delays

In this paper, the problem about optimal iterative learning control of general nonlinear discrete-time systems has been studied. Based on contraction mapping principle, if some mild assumptions are given, we can obtain some sufficient conditions for the existence of optimal iterative learning control of general nonlinear discrete-time systems. These conditions are generalizations of the existence conditions of optimal iterative learning control of linear discrete-time systems.

Optimal trajectory tracking control of robotic manipulator system added by discrete-time fast terminal sliding mode predictive approach.

Optimal control methods have gained significant attention due to their promising performance in nonlinear systems. In general, an optimal control method is regarded as an optimization process for solving the optimal control laws. However, for uncertain nonlinear systems with complex optimization objectives, the solving of optimal reference trajectories is difficult and significant that might be ignored to obtain robust performance. For this problem, a double-closed-loop robust optimal control (DCL-ROC) is proposed to maintain the optimal control reliability of uncertain nonlinear systems. First, a double-closed-loop scheme is established to divide the optimal control process into a closed-loop optimization process that solves optimal reference trajectories and a closed-loop control process that solves optimal control laws. Then, the ability of the optimal control method can be improved to solve complex uncertain optimization problems. Second, a closed-loop robust optimization (CL-RO) algorithm is developed to express uncertain optimization objectives as data-driven forms and adjust optimal reference trajectories in a close loop. Then, the optimality of reference trajectories can be improved under uncertainties. Third, the optimal reference trajectories are tracked by an adaptive controller to derive the optimal control laws without certain system dynamics. Then, the adaptivity and reliability of optimal control laws can be improved. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve better performance than other optimal control methods.

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.

This paper considers the global optimal control for nonlinear interconnected large-scale systems with respect to linear quadratic functional. A successive approximation procedure is proposed to design the feedforward feedback nearly optimal control law. By introducing the Successive Approximation Approach of the nonlinear differential equation theory, a nonhomogeneous linear two-point boundary value problem sequence is constructed to approximate the nonlinear large-scale two-point boundary value problem, which is the necessary condition of the nonlinear control problem. By iteratively solving this nonhomogeneous linear approximating sequence, a global nearly optimal control law that composed of a linear closed-loop feedback compensatory term and an open-loop feedforward compensatory term is designed. An algorithm is presented to design certain qualified nearly optimal control law by truncating an infinite iteration result. An illustrative example shows the validity of the algorithm.

Stochastic optimal control of unknown linear networked control system in the presence of random delays and packet losses

This paper deals with the optimal control of a one-machine two-product manufacturing system with setup changes, operating in a continuous time dynamic environment. The system is deterministic. When production is switched from one product to the other, a known constant setup time and a setup cost are incurred. Each product has specified constant processing time and constant demand rate, as well as an infinite supply of raw material. The problem is formulated as a feedback control problem. The objective is to minimize the total backlog, inventory and setup costs incurred over a finite horizon. The optimal solution provides the optimal production rate and setup switching epochs as a function of the state of the system (backlog and inventory levels). For the steady state, the optimal cyclic schedule is determined. To solve the transient case, the system's state space is partitioned into mutually exclusive regions such that with each region, the optimal control policy is determined analytically.

An efficient method is introduced for solving optimal control and optimal parameter selection problems of nonlinear differential-algebraic systems involving general constraints. These infinite dimensional problems are converted into the finite dimensional optimization problems by using the control parametrization technique. Moreover, the transformed time locations for the control variables are included in such problems. As a result, optimal control problems become acausal optimal parameter selection problems. A modified version of differential evolution is introduced to solve these problems. The integration of the penalty functions is used to ensure the solution onto the feasible domain of the problems. Two industrial systems, a chemical reactor and a robotics arm, are used to illustrate the robustness and effectiveness of the method. The control effects can be improved by selecting the proper time locations as observed from the simulated results.

Feedback control of open quantum systems is of fundamental importance for practical applications in various contexts, ranging from quantum computation to quantum error correction and quantum metrology. Its use in the context of thermodynamics further enables the study of the interplay between information and energy. However, deriving optimal feedback control strategies is highly challenging, as it involves the optimal control of open quantum systems, the stochastic nature of quantum measurement, and the inclusion of policies that maximize a long-term time- and trajectory-averaged goal. In this work, we employ a reinforcement learning approach to automate and capture the role of a quantum Maxwell’s demon: the agent takes the literal role of discovering optimal feedback control strategies in qubit-based systems that maximize a trade-off between measurement-powered cooling and measurement efficiency. Considering weak or projective quantum measurements, we explore different regimes based on the ordering between the thermalization, the measurement, and the unitary feedback timescales, finding different and highly non-intuitive, yet interpretable, strategies. In the thermalization-dominated regime, we find strategies with elaborate finite-time thermalization protocols conditioned on measurement outcomes. In the measurement-dominated regime, we find that optimal strategies involve adaptively measuring different qubit observables reflecting the acquired information, and repeating multiple weak measurements until the quantum state is ‘sufficiently pure’, leading to random walks in state space. Finally, we study the case when all timescales are comparable, finding new feedback control strategies that considerably outperform more intuitive ones. We discuss a two-qubit example where we explore the role of entanglement and conclude discussing the scaling of our results to quantum many-body systems.

In this article, we prove the continuity property of the Combined $L^{1}-L^{2}$ (CLOT) optimal control for linear systems. For this, we give first-order necessary conditions for the CLOT optimal control problem based on the non-smooth maximum principle. From these necessary conditions, we prove that if the problem is normal, then the CLOT optimal control (if it exists) is continuous with respect to time. Simulation results are shown to illustrates the continuity property of the CLOT optimal control.