Adaptive pseudospectral methods for solving constrained linear and nonlinear time-delay optimal control problems

In this paper, we first develop an adaptive shifted Legendre–Gauss (ShLG) pseudospectral method for solving constrained linear time-delay optimal control problems. The delays in the problems are on the state and/or on the control input. By dividing the domain of the problem into a uniform mesh based on the delay terms, the constrained linear time-delay optimal control problem is reduced to a quadratic programming problem. Next, we extend the application of the adaptive ShLG pseudospectral method to nonlinear problems through quasilinearization. Using this scheme, the constrained nonlinear time-delay optimal control problem is replaced with a sequence of constrained linear-quadratic sub-problems whose solutions converge to the solution of the original nonlinear problem. The method is called the iterative-adaptive ShLG pseudospectral method. One of the most important advantages of the proposed method lies in the case with which nonsmooth optimal controls can be computed when inequality constraints and terminal constraints on the state vector are imposed. Moreover, a comparison is made with optimal solutions obtained analytically and/or other numerical methods in the literature to demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of the proposed methods.     

A new direct method based on the Chebyshev cardinal functions for variable-order fractional optimal control problems

In this paper, a new direct method based on the Chebyshev cardinal functions is proposed to solve a class of variable-order fractional optimal control problems (V-OFOCPs). To this end, a new operational matrix (OM) of variable-order (V-O) fractional derivative in the Caputo sense is derived for these basis functions and is used to obtain an approximate solution for the problem under study. In the proposed method, the state and the control variables are expanded in terms of the Chebyshev cardinal functions with unknown coefficients, at first. Then, the OM of V-O fractional derivative and some properties of the Chebyshev cardinal functions are employed to achieve a nonlinear algebraic equation corresponding to the performance index and a nonlinear system of algebraic equations corresponding to the dynamical system in terms of the unknown coefficients. Finally, the method of constrained extremum is applied, which consists of adjoining the constraint equations derived from the given dynamical system and the initial conditions to the performance index by a set of undetermined Lagrange multipliers. As a result, the necessary conditions of optimality are derived as a system of algebraic equations in the unknown coefficients of the state variable, control variable, and Lagrange multipliers. Furthermore, some numerical examples of different types are demonstrated with their approximate solutions for confirming the high accuracy and applicability of the proposed method.     

Solution of delay fractional optimal control problems using a hybrid of block-pulse functions and orthonormal Taylor polynomials

This paper introduces an efficient direct approach for solving delay fractional optimal control problems. The concepts of the fractional integral and the fractional derivative are considered in the Riemann–Liouville sense and the Caputo sense, respectively. The suggested framework is based on a hybrid of block-pulse functions and orthonormal Taylor polynomials. The convergence of the proposed hybrid functions with respect to the L²-norm is demonstrated. The operational matrix of fractional integration associated with the hybrid functions is constructed by using the Laplace transform method. The problem under consideration is transformed into a mathematical programming one. The method of Lagrange multipliers is then implemented for solving the resulting optimization problem. The performance and computational efficiency of the developed numerical scheme are assessed through various types of delay fractional optimal control problems. Our numerical findings are compared with either exact solutions or the existing results in the literature.     

A walsh series direct method for solving variational problems

This paper establishes a clear procedure for the variational problem solution via the Walsh functions.technique. First the Walsh functions are introduced and their properties briefly summarized. Then an operational matrix is derived for integration use. The variational problems are solved by means of the direct method using the Walsh series. An illustrative example and a practical application to a heat conduction problem are included.     

Orthogonal functions approach to optimal control of delay systems with reverse time terms

Using block-pulse functions (BPFs)/shifted Legendre polynomials (SLPs) a unified approach for computing optimal control law of linear time-varying time-delay systems with reverse time terms and quadratic performance index is discussed in this paper. The governing delay-differential equations of dynamical systems are converted into linear algebraic equations by using operational matrices of orthogonal functions (BPFs and SLPs). The problem of finding optimal control law is thus reduced to the problem of solving algebraic equations. One example is included to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach.     

Necessary conditions for Chebyshev-Bolza optimal control problems

A performance index consisting of a Chebyshev absolute maximum functional plus terminal and integral cost is applied to the optimal control of dynamical systems. First-order necessary conditions are derived for a large class of systems. Utilizing the necessary conditions, analytic examples are worked in demonstrating many of the properties of this class of systems.     

A hybrid approximation scheme for discretizing constrained quadratic optimal control problems

In this paper, a composite Chebyshev finite difference method for solving linear quadratic optimal control problems with inequality constraints on state and control variables is introduced. This method is an extension of Chebyshev finite difference scheme and is based on a hybrid of block-pulse functions and Chebyshev polynomials using the well known Chebyshev–Gauss–Lobatto nodes. The excellent properties of hybrid functions are used to convert optimal control problem into a mathematical programming problem whose solution is much more easier than the original one. Various types of optimal control problems are investigated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approximation scheme. The method is simple, easy to implement and provides very accurate results.     

A boundary residual method with heat polynomials for solving unsteady heat conduction problems

In this paper, we present a new method for solving unsteady heat conduction problems, which is based on a time–space boundary residual method with heat polynomials. More specifically, it employs an integral least squares criterion for the initial and boundary residuals so as to determine the unknown coefficients in a trial expansion of heat polynomials. Though it treats only one-dimensional cases, the present approach shows a good applicability for such heat conduction problems.     

A novel structure for the optimal control of bilateral teleoperation systems with variable time delay

The purpose of designing a controller for a teleoperation system is achieving stability and optimal operation in the presence of factors such as time delay, system disturbance and modeling errors. In this article three new schemes for teleoperation systems are suggested using an optimal control to reduce the error of tracking between the master and slave systems. In the first scheme optimal controller has been designed in both the master and slave subsystems and by a suitable combination of the output signals of both controllers and exerting it to the slave, it has tried to create the best performance with regard to tracking. In the second scheme, as in the first one, optimal controller is applied to both the master and slave systems and the output of each controller is then applied to its own system, and by changing the system parameters and weighting factors, it has tried to reduce the tracking error between the master and the slave subsystems. In the third structure optimal control is applied to the master. In all three structures the positions of master-slave are compared together and controlling signals are applied to the master or slave so that they can track each other in the least possible time. In all schemes the effectiveness of the system is shown through the simulations and they are compared with each other.     

A direct method based on the Chebyshev polynomials for a new class of nonlinear variable-order fractional 2D optimal control problems

The main goal of this study is to develop an efficient matrix approach for a new class of nonlinear 2D optimal control problems (OCPs) affected by variable-order fractional dynamical systems. The offered approach is established upon the shifted Chebyshev polynomials (SCPs) and their operational matrices. Through the way, a new operational matrix (OM) of variable-order fractional derivative is derived for the mentioned polynomials.The necessary optimality conditions are reduced to algebraic systems of equations by using the SCPs expansions of the state and control variables, and applying the method of constrained extrema. More precisely, the state and control variables are expanded in components of the SCPs with undetermined coefficients. Then these expansions are substituted in the cost functional and the 2D Gauss-Legendre quadrature rule is utilized to compute the double integral and consequently achieve a nonlinear algebraic equation.After that, the generated OM is employed to extract some algebraic equations from the approximated fractional dynamical system. Finally, the procedure of the constrained extremum is used by coupling the algebraic constraints yielded from the dynamical system and the initial and boundary conditions with the algebraic equation extracted from the cost functional by a set of unknown Lagrange multipliers. The method is established for three various types of boundary conditions.The precision of the proposed approach is examined through various types of test examples.Numerical simulations confirm the suggested approach is very accurate to provide satisfactory results.     

A novel mesh discretization strategy for numerical solution of optimal control problems in aerospace engineering

An effective approach is proposed for optimal control problems in aerospace engineering. First, several interval lengths are treated as optimization variables directly to localize the switching points accurately. Second, the variable intervals are usually refined into more subintervals homogeneously to obtain the trajectories with high accuracy. To reduce the number of optimization variables and improve the efficiency, the control and the state vectors are parameterized using different meshes in this paper such that the control can be approximated asynchronously by fewer parameters where the trajectories change slowly. Then, the variables are departed as independent variables and dependent variables, the gradient formulae, based on the partial derivatives of dependent parameters with respect to independent parameters, are computed to solve nonlinear programming problems. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to the classic moon lander and hang glider problems. For the moon lander problem, the proposed approach is compared with CVP, Fast-CVP and GPM methods, respectively. For the hang glider problem, the proposed approach is compared with trapezoidal discretization and stopping criteria methods, respectively. The numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

A sampling-period-partitioning approach for stability analysis of sampled-data systems with constant delay

This paper is concerned with the stability of sampled-data systems with constant delay. Firstly, by dividing the interval of sampling periods in two subintervals, two separate looped functionals are employed in each of these subintervals. Then, a new Lyapunov functional that combines classical Lyapunov functionals and looped-functionals is constructed. Furthermore, several zero equalities which consider the intrinsic relationships of state vectors in the system are introduced into the derivative of the constructed functional, and some stability criteria with less conservatism are obtained in forms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, two numerical examples are carried out as to verify the effectiveness and advantages of our method.     

Intermittent control strategy for synchronization of fractional-order neural networks via piecewise Lyapunov function method

In this paper, the synchronization problem of fractional-order neural networks (FNNs) with chaotic dynamics is investigated via the intermittent control strategy. Two types of intermittent control methods, the aperiodic one and the periodic one, are applied to achieve the synchronization of the considered systems. Based on the dynamic characteristics of the intermittent control systems, the piecewise Lyapunov function method is employed to derive the synchronization criteria with less conservatism. The results under the aperiodically intermittent control show more generality than the ones via the periodically intermittent control. For each of the aperiodic and periodic cases, a simple controller design process is presented to show how to design the corresponding intermittent controller. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.     

Numerical solutions of optimal control for linear Volterra integrodifferential systems via hybrid functions

By applying hybrid functions of general block-pulse functions and Legendre polynomials, linear Volterra integrodifferential systems are converted into a system of algebraic equations. The approximate solutions of linear Volterra integrodifferential systems are derived. Using the results we obtain the optimal control and state as well as the optimal value of the objective functional. The numerical examples illustrate that the algorithms are valid.     

Numerical solutions of optimal control for linear time-varying systems with delays via hybrid functions

By applying hybrid functions of general block-pulse functions and Legendre polynomials, the linear-quadratic problem of linear time-varying systems with delays are transformed into the optimization problem of multivariate functions. The approximate solutions of the optimal control and state as well as the optimal value of the objective functional are derived. The numerical examples illustrate that the algorithms are valid.     

A process transfer model-based optimal compensation control strategy for batch process using just-in-time learning and trust region method

The advantages of maximally transferring similar process data for modeling make the process transfer model attract increasing attention in quality prediction and optimal control. Unfortunately, due to the difference between similar processes and the uncertainty of data-driven model, there are usually a more serious mismatch between the process transfer model and the actual process, which may result in the deterioration of process transfer model-based control strategies. In this research, a process transfer model based optimal compensation control strategy using just-in-time learning and trust region method is proposed to cope with this problem for batch processes. First, a novel JITL-JYKPLS (Just-in-time learning Joint-Y kernel partial least squares) model combining the JYKPLS (Joint-Y kernel partial least squares) process transfer model and just-in-time learning is proposed and employed to obtain the satisfactory approximation in a local region with the assistance of sufficient similar process data. Then, this paper integrates JITL-JYKPLS model with the trust region method to further compensate for the NCO (necessary condition of optimality) mismatch in the batch-to-batch optimization problem, and the problem of estimating experimental gradients is also avoided. Meanwhile, a more elaborate model update scheme is designed to supplement the lack of new data and gradually eliminate the adverse effects of partial differences between similar process production processes. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed optimal compensation control strategy is demonstrated through a simulated cobalt oxalate synthesis process.     

An improved event-triggered control method for fuzzy systems under membership functions online learning

This paper is concerned with the problem of adaptive event-triggered (AET) based optimal fuzzy controller design for nonlinear networked control systems (NCSs) characterized by Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy models. An improved AET communication scheme with a memory adaptive rule is proposed to enhance the utilization of the state response vertex data. Different from the existing ET based results, the improved AET scheme can save more communication resources and acquire better system performance. The sufficient criteria of performance analysis and controller design are presented for the closed-loop control system subject to mismatched membership functions (MFs) and AET scheme. And then, a new MFs online learning algorithm on the basis of the gradient descent approach is employed to optimize the MFs of fuzzy controller and obtain optimal fuzzy controller for further improving system performance. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to verify the advantage and effectiveness of the provided controller design technique.     

A unified Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolskii method for solving nth order nonlinear systems

A unified theory is presented for obtaining the transient response of nth order nonlinear systems with small nonlinearities by Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolskii method. The method is a generalization of Bogoliubov's asymptotic method and covers all three cases when the roots of the corresponding linear equation are real, complex conjugate, or purely imaginary. It is shown that by suitable substitution for the roots in the general result that the solution corresponding to each of the three cases can be obtained. The method is illustrated by examples.